I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

In fact, Gao De was similar to them, having only arrived today. There were no traces of his personal life, and he had few changes of clothes. The guest room hadn't been used much. Nevertheless, Lu Ban still made some discoveries.

“He had this in his luggage.”

Lu Ban opened Gao De's suitcase, which contained clothes, cigarettes, and two books.

One of them is "Shadow of Terror" by Gu Du, and the other is "Crane's Cry Notes".

"Crane's Cry Notes?"

Stone frowned when he saw the words on the cover. He didn't open it, mainly because he didn't know the level of pollution it contained.

Most of the things involving Daoist Heming are quite dangerous. Even secondhand records containing his words and deeds could be contaminated. Stone must be very careful.

Then, he saw Lu Ban directly open the thread-bound book.

"???"

Stone instinctively took a few steps back, reached for his revolver, fearing that Lu Ban might suddenly go berserk and attack those around him indiscriminately.

Lu Ban didn't pay attention and quickly flipped through the contents.

According to his memory, this "Crane's Cry Notes" was only a "good" quality product in the "Silent Department Store," and its pollution level was far from exceeding the standard.

This is true.

Lu Ban quickly finished reading the book. He felt that even if he memorized it, it shouldn't cause him to lose his rationality.

Oh, I've lost my mind. Never mind then.

The contents of this book were not written by Heming Daoren himself, but were recorded by his descendants as a record of Heming Daoren's words. To use a familiar analogy, "Heming Bitan" is to Heming Daoren what "The Analects" is to Confucius.

Actually, it's not certain how many of these sentences were actually spoken by Daoist Heming.

For example, Lu Ban felt that the phrase "early to bed and early to rise is the way to maintain good health" was definitely not something that crazy guy who ascended to immortality would say.

Furthermore, this book is a handwritten copy.

Handwritten copies are not uncommon in the ruined capital. Just like in Lu Ban's era, many people read pirated copies or hand-typed pirated copies. In the ruined capital, handwritten copies are unofficial and circulated among the people. Sometimes, those who can read make extra money by copying a book and selling it.

Since it's handwritten, mistakes are inevitable. Misspellings, omissions, and corrections are quite common. Sometimes the person copying the book might omit a few pages, or suddenly have a burst of inspiration to add a few annotations, or even smuggle their own personal ideas into the book. What was originally a legendary adventure story might suddenly turn into a romance, and it's quite normal for the tear-jerking romance to transform into a leveling-up and monster-fighting story.

So, whether it's fortunate or unfortunate, this book has added a lot of personal opinions and omitted some parts, thus reducing its level of contamination.

Even if Qin Tiantian saw it, it wouldn't cause any serious problems, that's Lu Ban's assessment.

Without pollution, there is naturally no knowledge or power. According to Lu Ban, this book is actually a record of the idol's words and deeds compiled by fans.

[Brother Heming ate noodles this morning, but he said they weren't good and didn't finish them, leaving most of the bowl uneaten. I know Brother Heming felt sorry for the noodles and released them back into the wild. Brother Heming is so gentle, I'm so happy!]

[Brother Heming gazed at the flowers outside the window for ten minutes today. He must have seen the meaning of life in their blooming and withering, and gained profound enlightenment. When will I ever have such insights as him?]

[Why did Brother Heming take his first step out the door with his left foot today? What lesson did he want to teach us? I pondered this for three days, and only when I saw him take his first step with his right foot today did I understand. He wanted to tell us that we should be unconventional and not too bound by rules!]

Content like this is basically idol records filtered through massive fan lenses. Even eating a pancake can be interpreted as enlightenment for Daoist Heming, and visiting someone is considered a major breakthrough. It's even more extreme than the fan circles on Weibo.

It's unclear whether it's because Daoist Heming is skilled at this method of torturing fans to convert them into an audience, or because people in this era are less knowledgeable and therefore unconsciously admire those who possess extraordinary abilities.

Anyway, in this book, Daoist Heming is portrayed as an omnipotent, god-like figure.

If Gao De tries to understand Heming Daoren through this book, it's basically the same as trying to understand the Führer by reading "The Struggle of the Führer"—he'll only become a brainless fan.

Lu Ban didn't know if this former gangster was a die-hard fan of Daoist Heming. He only knew that Gao De was not just there to mourn his friend as he appeared on the surface. He probably knew Daoist Heming far better than Browning's children.

Considering that Gaode acted as an intermediary to sell this Stormy Mountain Villa to Gaode, he might actually know that Byron master.

only……

Lu Ban then turned his gaze to Gao De's empty abdomen.

Who killed him?

Chapter 623 is a locked-room murder!

Gao De's death was definitely not something a normal human could easily accomplish. Moreover, he had spoken with Lu Ban and the others just a few hours before, meaning he was murdered after returning to his room from the restaurant, and he even had time to take a shower in between.

"We need to confirm the alibi. As for the locked room... in this situation, a locked room can't contain the monster."

As Stone spoke, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor.

"This……"

The old butler and maid rushed over, and when they saw Gao De's body, the old butler, with his full head of silver hair and monocle, was momentarily at a loss for breath.

The maid's reaction was even more dramatic; she didn't even have time to scream before she fainted on the spot, collapsing onto the floor with a thud, completely disoriented.

"We need to protect the scene first."

Stone said, glancing at the body.

"A serious murder has occurred here. Call the police immediately."

For Stone, understanding the secrets of the Stormy Lodge was certainly important, but the mission was simply to keep them alive until the Night of the Souls. From a pragmatic point of view, staying at the police station was clearly safer than staying at the Stormy Lodge.

"Good, good."

The old butler hesitated for a moment before turning around, stepping over the unconscious maid, and going to the telephone in the corridor to make a call.

At this moment, Rum also arrived at the scene.

When he saw Gao De's appearance, he instinctively frowned and covered his nose.

Then he saw the old butler making a phone call in the corridor.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Rum asked anxiously.

“I was there, uh, calling the police was Mr. Stone’s order…”

The old butler had just picked up the microphone when Rum's words made him freeze again.

"Don't call the police! Listen, don't call the police! If the police come, they'll take us all away. Crane Cry Taoist and the Soul Summoning Ceremony aren't officially permitted. If they find out, they'll arrest us all. Not only will Father not be able to come back, but this manor might also be confiscated!"

Rum explained somewhat incoherently that he was clearly worried that when the police arrived, they would fabricate charges against them in various ways, imprison them in jail, never to see the light of day again, or one day choke to death in their cells while eating.

The police in the ruined capital city clearly don't have a good reputation. As protectors of the upper class, it's often a pipe dream to expect them to do things for money. More often than not, these police officers take the money but don't do anything, and may even cause trouble for themselves.

In the ruined capital, if you don't have any real powerful backers, you can easily be harassed and investigated by the police to extract money from you.

Furthermore, given that this mansion is related to Daoist Heming, once the police find out, they will definitely seize it and expel Rum and the others without exception, and then slowly investigate the place themselves.

Therefore, Rum felt he would rather die here than call the police.

"But……"

The old butler looked at Stone.

"This is a murder case, and it may involve supernatural forces. It's dangerous to stay here any longer."

Stone took the microphone from the old butler.

However, after picking up the receiver and listening for a moment, and then trying to turn the dial, he put the receiver down.

"The phone line is down."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a roar came from outside the window.

The group rushed to the window and saw that the road and utility poles in the distance had been washed away by the mudslide from the mountain. The road was blocked, the utility poles had fallen, and bursts of electricity were spreading along the thick black wires.

Soon, all the lights in the villa went out, and the corridor fell into silence and darkness. Only the storm outside the window, with its flashes of lightning and thunder, illuminated everyone's faces.

Are there any other routes down the mountain?

Stone asked the old butler.

"No, there's only one road leading down the mountain."

The old butler was a little nervous, but he answered immediately.

"The road down the mountain is blocked, and telephone and power lines have been cut. We have completely lost contact with the outside world. We have no choice but to stay here until the storm is over."

Stone turned to the others and spoke.

“But don’t worry, I made an agreement with Sheriff Holler before I came here. If I don’t keep in regular phone contact, the police will send someone here. And now…”

Stone took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

“If I don’t call Sheriff Holler in another hour, he’ll know I’m in trouble. The police will arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest, and if all goes well, we can sit in front of the warm fireplace and drink tea tomorrow night.”

Looking at Stone, Rum suddenly became agitated.

"How could you? This is my father's inheritance, this is..."

He tried to grab Stone by the collar, but Stone moved first, dodging Rum's move and pinning him against the wall, his hands locked behind his back.

"Please calm down, Mr. Rum. I will not notify the police unless something serious happens."

He instructed the old butler to notify the other servants to temporarily seal off God's room and the two surrounding guest rooms, and the group returned to the dining room.

Sia was unaware of what was happening. She was already enjoying the roast chicken and potatoes served by the servants. Although the lack of electricity meant the restaurant could only be lit by candles, it didn't affect her enjoyment of the food at all.

"You're back. What happened?"

With a chicken leg in one hand and vegetables skewered with a fork in the other, Xia asked.

"Gao De is dead, he died in bed, and his internal organs have all disappeared."

Lu Ban's bluntness stunned the maids in the restaurant.

"Oh."

Xia responded, then took out the potato stuffed inside the roast chicken on the plate in front of her and took a bite.

"We've lost contact with the outside world, so we can't get out for the time being."

Stone said something else, then sat down opposite Sia and started eating his dinner.

Lu Ban cut the roasted chicken on the plate with a knife and happily began to eat.

In the flickering candlelight, Rum watched the three people feasting and was momentarily at a loss for what expression to make.

Stone and Lu Ban had just seen a corpse, and it was in that state, yet now they could eat without any problems. What kind of strong mentality is that?

"You guys can actually eat that much?"

Rum asked weakly, pulling up a chair to sit down and looking at the food on the table, feeling a little nauseous.