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Many were unsettled by these strange incidents.

Some wanted to wash their hands of the matter, calling it bad luck, while others engraved bats as a form of superstition, clinging to the idea that this was related to magic, insisting that those in higher places needed to step in and take action. There were also those who believed it was just a sleight of hand, asserting that the truth would inevitably be uncovered if investigations continued, crying out that this serial killer must be captured at all costs.

However, as the saying goes, “ten people, ten colors”—countless individuals harbored numerous thoughts, each differing in meaning. What really mattered, regardless of intent, was the will conveyed above.

“Cease the investigation.”

Above wasn’t concerned about reports from below or commands to carry on. They simply demanded an immediate halt to the inquiries.

This too was a perplexing matter to comprehend.

“I don’t understand why we’re stopping the investigation! If this serial killer is roaming freely, public safety is at risk! If the Communist Party would just trust me, I could capture that bastard and give him a good beating myself!”

“Look at this bastard’s hands. Doesn’t it remind you of the torture technicians back in the Qing Dynasty? No, those technicians at least worked for money and official positions—this guy seems to be doing it just for fun, right? Someone like him should be captured and executed immediately! He must be made to suffer through the foulest food three times a day before finally being killed!”

Some passionate public security officers raised their voices upon hearing the upper decision.

…But only when they were among themselves.

It was an unavoidable situation. Every action was recorded, and these records were applied to the social credit system.

It was widely known that credit scores impacted one’s entire life.

Not just work evaluations, but truly affecting life on every level.

For instance, a high credit score guarantees discounts when purchasing items or larger benefits when applying for rental services or loans. Conversely, a low score could prevent someone from using public transport and necessitate enduring the stares of the Communist Party.

Ah, of course, the specific disadvantages of a low credit score were never clearly stated.

But since ancient times, hadn’t the people of China relied on government proclamations for information?

Through various channels, they learned about the horrific consequences of a low credit score, leading them to desperately avoid being placed on the “government-designated blacklist.”

This is why they refrained from openly expressing dissatisfaction and instead gathered among coworkers to complain, likely due to the government’s nature of collecting information, leading them to subconsciously include loyalty-laden phrases in their grumbling, attempting to dodge responsibility.

Yeah.

That was the end of it.

No backlash from below, and no romantic souls risking defiance to search for the perpetrator against the upper command. No one prioritized their duty over their own lives, and in a nation like China, where surveillance eyes were scattered across the entire territory, such actions weren’t truly possible…

Thus, the eerie occurrences were quietly buried.

In other words, it meant that things progressed without any interruption.

Public security acted as something of a minimal obstacle.

And now they had even removed that, so what could occur…

[Another corpse has been discovered… This time, more than ten a day…]

[…It’s not like we’re back in the days of tyrants sacrificing people, what on earth… ]

[I wonder if Daji has returned to suck the souls out of people… ]

The numbers grew.

They accelerated.

The daily discovery of bodies continued to increase, and the whispers of the “strange occurrences” that were circulating quietly transformed into urban legends that enveloped the entire region.

They say, when the sun sets, don’t wander about.

There’s a man with a shopping bag, and inside that bag, there lies the flesh of a person, still wet with blood. If you notice him, he’ll come after you with a knife to eliminate any witnesses…

They say, a malevolent practitioner seeks to become an immortal.

After killing people, he extracts the insects known as the “three corpses” from their bodies to use as materials for his elixirs. If the insects die quickly once outside, he removes the person’s facial skin and wraps it up for transport…

They say, beware of seemingly wealthy individuals.

A rich man connected to high-ranking Communist Party officials has gone insane due to bloodlust. Therefore, he’s killing people and cannot endure without collecting their facial skins…

…Countless urban legends birthed in fear.

Imagination grows boundlessly in fear, and all sorts of tales began to float like dark shadows beneath the surface. Some of them came to be regarded as truth, sending people trembling in terror, while others drew them into beliefs in superstitions and religions—the very things the Communist Party despised.

In that process, people inevitably found themselves pondering one question.

“What is the government, what is the Communist Party doing that they can’t capture this killer?”

This represented a distrust towards the government.

A sense of resentment against the Communist Party who chose to stand by while they should have been taking drastic action.

Of course, those were individuals who had been brainwashed into loyalty training, so the intensity of such “blasphemous thoughts” didn’t seem very strong.

Even if they existed, they still had to appear to behave.

…

…

“Because that is very… very secret and crucial planning…”

* * *

If we look at the countries that have adopted communism as their political ideology, a peculiar commonality emerges.

That is, they have an uncanny tendency to dig underground.

Take Vietnam, for instance; they engaged in guerilla warfare from tunnels against American forces, and North Korea, which has now turned into a land of ghosts, didn’t just stop at constructing numerous bunkers—not only that, they went so far as to hollow out entire mountains to use as nuclear development bases. Not to mention the long tunnels connected to South Korea, which reportedly were constructed so robustly and stably that they seemed to have directly learned from moles.

What about the granddaddy of communism, the Soviet Union?

There’s no need to mention it.

Bunkers were naturally strewn everywhere, and nuclear facilities were built underground by default.

Important military facilities and weapons factories were created underground to prevent damage from bombings, not to mention that even transportation like subways was constructed with incredible depth.

If you visit Russia, it’s often necessary to descend quite a way to utilize the subway, a relic of Soviet times.

Yet, the depth isn’t just commonplace.

It’s complicated like an anthill, spreading out like a spider web.

Even officials related to the Soviet-era subway could not fully appreciate its breadth; it was truly on the level of being called an “underground world.”

Now, it has become almost unrecognizable where the facilities are located and where they lead.

This held true for China as well.

Though quite twisted, China also adored digging down, as it adhered to communism as its political ideology, just like other communist nations.

They loved it.

They really loved it.

China has surpassed merely mimicking the now-defunct Soviet Union.

As Sima Qian said, “Qing takes from blue and surpasses blue.”

Disciples must strive to surpass their masters.

In an effort to outdo what the Soviet Union, the birthplace of communism, crafted, China buried everything underground. Not just simple military facilities, but secret passageways, political prisoner camps, insurgent re-education camps, nuclear research institutes, dormitories for nuclear physicists, bioweapon testing grounds, etc.—everything requiring discretion and sensitivity was chosen to be buried underground.

This tradition began even decades ago, long before the economy developed sufficiently, in an era when they merely scraped out a living.

Like the time when emperors mobilized their subjects for labor, they utilized countless citizens to establish facilities underground, accumulating data while conducting sensitive operations beneath the surface.

Sensitive matters.

Matters that needed to evade external scrutiny.

These could also be referred to as weaknesses.

And that precisely explains everything.

That explains why bizarre incidents are occurring, yet no investigations are being permitted.

Swoosh.

And now,

Another entity is drawing close to that very weakness.

One that makes sounds not befitting a human.

Leading countless insects…

 

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