Chapter 218: Artist

As Chen Chuan stared at the river outside, he said, “If my guess is correct, he had wanted to use Black Orchid to get materials for him, then use Yangzhi City’s rivers to complete the set up of a ritual. This might let him engulf a part of or even the entire city in his ritual.”

Lei Guangcheng said nothing for a while, but when he did, his voice was clear and held a stern note. “Chen Chuan, please tell me everything you saw and the clues you found. Take your time. I’ll listen carefully.”

“Okay.” Then, Chen Chuan started telling him about the tiles he saw during his first mission with Ren Xiaotian, along with his discovery today.

At the end, he said, “Mr. Lei, I suspect that the stuff that Black Orchid spilled at North Ornament Highlands is one of the materials for a ritual.

“If I can just prove it, then the rumors of the earth providing wellness and beauty benefits are information that the cultist leaked intentionally. He might also have sent some of his men to buy the red earth.”

“We’ve inspected the red earth before. We haven’t come to a conclusion as to what it is, but the red earth in itself isn’t enough to become a material for a ritual.

“Still, there’s something unique about Yangzhi City’s water. If both of them are combined, it might lead to some unique effects. This is something that can be easily overlooked. I’ll have someone look into this later.”

Chen Chuan then said, “If the cultist had been able to do this in the river right next to Black Orchid, the company must know about it. They might have encouraged it behind the scenes, even.

“But nothing has changed, even after Black Orchid’s collapse, so I’m inclined to believe that he didn’t manage to finish it. Yet based on what I saw, he doesn’t seem to have completely given up on his idea.”

“According to what you discovered, the ritual is set up based on the waterways in the city. Then, he should be thinking about getting the entire city involved in his ritual, but using the waterways alone isn’t enough. They only cover the perimeter of the city. He still needs to cover a lot of the spaces in the downtown area in his ritual, and the rivers alone won’t be enough for that.”

At this point, he suddenly stopped talking for a moment. “One moment...”

Chen Chuan heard the sound of pages turning, suggesting that Lei Guangcheng was flipping through some documents. After a while, he heard the man’s voice again. This time, he sounded really strict.

“If he’s setting up his ritual based on the rivers and waterways, then the ritual he performed at Olive Street shouldn’t just be to transfer vital energy. That should have just been a cover and for it to be part of this huge ritual he’s planning to perform.

“If that’s the case, the ritual at the abandoned factory at the east of the city is also one of the segments of this large ritual.

“Before this, we’ve discovered and destroyed multiple rituals in the south and north of the city. While the distance between each is different, all of them were close to waterways of various sizes or subterranean rivers. It corresponds to what you’d said.

“Judging from this, this person should have planned this a long time ago, and he’s patient. He’s been slowly pushing his plan forward for years while improving upon his craft. Then, he’s going to slowly piece together this puzzle of his.”

At this point, Lei Guangcheng’s voice turned indifferent. “But this is too big of an operation, and he’s too idealistic. He can only produce the effects he wants if the Cult Investigation Bureau didn’t exist in Yangzhi City.”

Chen Chuan nodded at that. By the looks of it now, even if the Cult Investigation Bureau hadn’t known about this plan, their professionalism had still allowed them to ruin most of the cultist’s plan.

But that was also because they had someone as experienced as Lei Guangcheng at the helm. What if Lei Guangcheng hadn’t been the director?

Chen Chuan couldn’t help but remember what had happened to Lei Ying three years ago. This didn’t seem like a coincidence.

After some thinking, he asked, “Mr. Lei, what sort of effects will the ritual produce?”

Lei Guangcheng thought about it before saying, “I can’t tell right now. This ritual isn’t in any of our records. He must have modified it based on the situation in the city.

“We’ve never encountered anyone trying to perform a ritual of such a scale either. We don’t even know whether he can succeed or not. I’d even say that the cultist himself doesn’t know whether he can do it. He might just be pursuing success in his craft this time. Perhaps he can only try to get the effects he wants after attempting the ritual once.”

“If that’s the case, he might have used Black Orchid, though I think the company doesn’t care about investing in his little project. While the company isn’t around anymore, the cultist still seems to want to attempt the ritual,” Chen Chuan pointed out.

Lei Guangcheng said grimly, “We’ve destroyed a lot of segments of the ritual, so it’s already impossible for him to achieve the scale he wants. But if he only completes part of it, it won’t be meaningful to him. There’s still one possible way for him to do it, though.

“If he flips the borders of the ritual, directing them outward instead of inward to target the regions and people beyond the waterways, it might be possible for him to pull it off.

“Beyond the waterways... That means, outside the city?”

Suddenly, Chen Chuan remembered the Blood Scars Gang attacking Cai Hamlet. Some cultists had been among the gang members. Could they have been planning to do just that?

...Wait.

That place was too far from the main river and seemed completely out of the way. If the cultist was planning to set up his ritual to target those outside the city, he still had to place the arrays near the rivers to achieve his desired results.

The only place that was more important beyond the river and could be of use...

Suddenly, he thought of a place.

Spill Hill.

This mountain was located southeast of the city and was really close to White Riverbank. There was also a railway at the foot of the hill that had already been bombed several times over the years.

While it had been repaired, someone might just target it again.

Spill Hill also happened to be one of the mountains mentioned in

the Legend of the Three Mountains.

Supernatural beings appeared frequently there. The Hill Demon Chen Chuan had vanquished was one of its residents.

The Hill Demon wasn’t the only supernatural being in the hill. If rituals could be used to control supernatural beings that were already in the hill, then even if trains could run through Spill Hill once more, it would still become a really dangerous place, especially when the resistance group kept causing trouble there.

The group also seemed to have ties to the Blood Scars Gang and the cultist. Could the key be at Spill Hill?

The more he pondered over this, the likelier it seemed. That was why he told Lei Guangcheng about his thoughts.

Lei Guangcheng said gravely, “It’s possible. The key lies in what sort of goal that cultist is trying to achieve. Based on what he has done in the past, if he can’t achieve a certain effect, then this ritual is meaningless to him.

“The government has been trying to figure out who to sell Black Orchid Co.’s building to. Many mega corporations are coming to Yangzhi City. When the representatives of the domestic companies come, they’ll do so in armored cars, but those from foreign companies have to take the train. The newly repaired railway might become a new target because of it.

“Even if there’s only a slight possibility of this, we can’t overlook it. I’ll try and communicate with the relevant departments and look into this from the shadows.

“If we can get confirmation about this, we must do whatever it takes to stop it. Chen Chuan, by then, we might give you this mission. Wait for my call.”

After Chen Chuan set down the receiver, he walked out of the phone booth and stared at the flowing river outside.

He had no interest in protecting the people from those mega corporations, but most of the passengers of the train were actually normal civilians, and they were innocent.

Speaking of which, regardless of whether it was Shen Zheng’s accident or Chen Chuan’s own, he could find traces of the cultist’s involvement in both cases. If that was the case, it was only right for Chen Chuan to return the “favor.”

***

Around the same time, one of the team leaders of the resistance group, Bao Yuan, was in a secret base in Uptown Wharf City. He was talking to someone on the phone.

“Mr. Han, I’ll do what I promised to do, but don’t you think it’s about time you gave us the weapons and funds you promised us?

“You went to the Chaotic Land to hide and left us behind to fight those Constabulary hounds. If we need to fight those guys and eat, we need firearms.

“The last batch? Don’t even talk about those. The Constabulary hounds sniffed them out while they were on their way here, and we didn’t get them at all...

“Heh... I

will

do it. I’ve always done everything that I’ve promised Black Orchid to do, haven’t I?

“Speaking of which, I need to be frank with you. You know what exactly we do. If I don’t step forward to do something, my guys won’t accept me as their leader, don’t you think?

“So, you don’t have to worry about me not fulfilling my end of the promise. The moment I get the stuff, I’ll attack. No matter how much I achieve, you won’t lose out, right?

“Alright. Okay. I’ll wait, then. The moment we get the funds and weapons, we’ll attack.

“Just watch me. This time, I’ll return your gift.”

With a click, Bao Yuan hung up and said to the team member beside him. “It’s settled. We’ll get the stuff in a few days. Once we have the money and weapons, we’ll go back to Yangzhi City and cause major havoc there this time.”

That team member perked up, but after some thinking, he reminded Bao Yuan, “I think those guys from Cai Hamlet have been looking for us. What should we do?”

Bao Yuan scowled at that. “They’re lucky the Blood Scars Gang didn’t get rid of them. We don’t have the time nor energy to fight them right now. Just ignore them.”

“But with them holding us back, we can’t do a lot of things. They also keep talking bad about us to the senior leadership. Why don’t we just get rid of them?” the team member complained.

“No can do. We can’t do it ourselves. In any case, we won’t meet them this time. But if they come and bother us, we’ll fight them. Go and tell our guys to keep in line for the time being and not cause any trouble,” Bao Yuan ordered sternly.

“Got it.” That team member left sullenly.

A thought struck Bao Yuan, and he went to the telegraph room next door and said to the telegraph clerk inside. “Send a telegram to Artist and ask him whether he can send the drawing over on time.”

The telegraph clerk sent the telegram based on his order.

Bao Yuan didn’t leave. Instead, he waited in the room. But even after one hour, he didn’t receive any answer. Still, Bao Yuan remained patient. When almost two hours passed, the telegraph clerk finally received an answer, and Bao Yuan stood up before getting closer to the telegraph clerk. He asked, “What did he say?”

After interpreting the telegram, the telegraph clerk looked up and said, “Artist said that he has enough supplies and canvases, so he can deliver the drawing on time.”