Chapter Seventy-One: The Boy Unbound by Taboos and the Forbidden

He turned to look at Boss Su and also smiled, “What a pity.”

“What’s a pity?”

“It’s a pity you dug it up too soon.” As Chen Qing spoke, a chilling atmosphere began to permeate the room. Boss Su glanced up at the air conditioner, but it was clearly not running.

When forging artifacts, temperature is crucial.

Chen Qing turned back to him and added, “Had you waited a little longer, all your henchmen, those who went underground, including yourself and anyone who handled it, would’ve been doomed.”

Chen Qing smiled, and no matter how pale Boss Su’s face became, he turned and walked to the front of the painting album.

“Touch it with your hand,” Bu Zhaozhao spoke.

“Just like with intangible relics?” At these words, everyone except the henchman turned pale.

“It’s much worse,” Bu Zhaozhao said calmly, unconcerned. “It’s just a failed attempt. If you’re lucky, you might be able to exchange a few words with the lingering consciousness of the deceased.”

Chen Qing nodded and placed his palm on the album. Boss Su dared not utter a word, though he looked at the album with pain in his eyes.

Kallans dared not speak, knowing that each craft had its master.

The henchman kept silent because his boss was quiet.

In Chen Qing’s eyes, the world suddenly turned dark.

“Care to show yourself?” From the shadows, a resentful voice emerged, “A sorcerer? I never expected, after a thousand years, that sorcerers would still exist.”

“Humanity will never go extinct. Any power will be reclaimed and reused,” Chen Qing replied, not asking what a sorcerer was—it was obvious.

“He destroyed my path to resurrection!”

“You can’t be resurrected,” Chen Qing laughed. “With your meager skills, creating an F-level intangible relic is already the pinnacle. And you still dream of resurrection?”

“I am alive now! I can eat! I can drink! I can enter anyone’s world! Why am I not alive?”

He was silent and shook his head, “Lady, your corpse has rotted for who knows how long. It’s only because your resentment is deep enough that you’ve transformed into an intangible relic. But honestly, once a relic is truly formed, you fade away. In the end, others profit. Give it up. It’s pointless.”

The voice in the shadow was silent for a while, then finally refused, “Better a miserable existence than a good death. He broke my arrangement, so he must pay the price.”

Chen Qing sighed, nodded, and asked, “How about having him kowtow to you twice? Then send you back with better offerings.”

The voice hesitated, seemingly agreeing.

“I’ll tell him... when he dreams.”

As the voice faded, light returned to Chen Qing’s world. He looked at the two expectant faces behind him and smiled, nodding.

“She’ll explain everything to you in your dreams.”

Boss Su grew nervous. “What do you mean... In dreams?!”

“You dismantled her home, broke her arrangement. It’s fortunate she’s let go, or else...” Chen Qing smiled, changed the subject, “You’ve excavated so many paintings—sell a few and use them as offerings. Don’t be stingy.”

Boss Su’s face flushed, twisting awkwardly before asking Chen Qing, “Can’t... Can’t I just not return them? I haven’t been able to... be a man for years now.”

Chen Qing’s lips curled; he instantly understood everything. He waved his hand, helpless, “Deal with her yourself, don’t ask me. I’ve given you the solution. If you want to die, negotiate terms with her yourself.”

Listening to Chen Qing, Boss Su finally relaxed the tension in his chest.

---

“Oh, one more thing.” As he was leaving, Chen Qing frowned, “Don’t forget what I told you before—make sure your people don’t check unknown messages.

A lot of people could die.”

The two made their way downstairs, where police officers had already sealed off the scene.

In one night, two suicides and one accidental death. That’s a major case anywhere.

They watched Boss Su and Chen Qing walk out, their faces slightly creased.

As they approached, their eyes finally settled on Chen Qing.

“You’re... Chen Qing, right?” Some officers guarding the cordon seemed to recognize him.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“I knew I wasn’t mistaken.” They looked at Chen Qing and breathed a sigh of relief. “Captain Jiang didn’t come, so what are you doing here?”

Chen Qing touched his chin, hesitated for a moment, and glanced back at the restaurant, “I... was about to have a meal here, but now I haven’t eaten, and the boss escorted me out.”

The officers nodded, understanding, and lifted the cordon for Chen Qing. “Go on, get some food. It’s been a busy day. Captain Jiang told us about you.” They smiled at Chen Qing, and soon Kallans followed him out, as did Boss Su...

Just as Boss Su was about to pass, the cordon dropped.

“Su Bowen! Witnesses claim you were in close contact with the deceased recently! You’d better think carefully about what you want to say, or you may not be able to speak at all later!”

He forced a smile and obediently stayed within the cordon for questioning.

And Chen Qing? After leaving the scene, he walked towards the outer part of the pedestrian street.

He had said he wanted to eat, and so he had to eat something.

“You’re not going to explain things to those officers?”

Beside him, Bu Zhaozhao appeared.

“Do you know who’s spreading the news?” His face was grave. “And I don’t know what the offspring are capable of now.

Just knowing they can control victims to spread themselves is meaningless; they want to expand. Keeping these people alive is obviously more useful.”

Bu Zhaozhao was silent for a moment. “Maybe his power requires blood sacrifices to recover?

He’s capable of more now.”

Chen Qing neither affirmed nor denied, but his expression remained somber.

Beside him, Kallans looked nervous. “Who are you talking to?”

He listened, raised his hand, and pointed to the space above his shoulder. “Here, surname: Bu, first name: Zhaozhao. Say hello to the lovely Miss Ghost.”

Kallans’ finger trembled, and he looked in the direction Chen Qing indicated, nodding awkwardly. “Hi?”

...

In a small shop on the street, Chen Qing and Kallans sat in the innermost corner, as if the spot had some special allure.

Seated deep inside, Chen Qing tapped the phone screen, filling the notepad with dense text.

“Kallans, honestly, why can’t the club give us the client’s information in advance?”

“It’s normal not to give it.” Kallans smiled, looking calm. “For most entrusted tasks, the client is the weaker side.

The club needs to mediate, and finding a mutually agreeable point isn’t easy.

Giving the client’s information in advance could cause unnecessary trouble.

For example, if the client is held hostage and forced to terminate the commission.”

---

“So after the task is done, it doesn’t matter?”

He shrugged, nonchalant, “If the client cares, just don’t meet at first.”

Chen Qing understood. “Since I’ve met the client, and because of the task, we become ‘friends’—that’s normal, right?”

Kallans agreed, nodding, “Yes, as long as it doesn’t affect the commission, the club has no reason to interfere with your actions.”

“In that case...” Chen Qing pondered for a while, opened a vivid red website on his phone, with only two entrances: a chatroom and a swap area.

He pushed his phone onto the table. “I need Boss Su to join this chat group. Any ideas?”

Kallans frowned, surprised, but didn’t answer directly. Instead, he advised, “If you want to set up such a chatroom, the club already has one.

Not many people will join, and it’s hard for you to profit as a middleman like the club does.”

“I don’t care about that profit.” Chen Qing shook his head and explained, “I need to integrate my network, and I need a usable chain of connections.

Boss Su is suitable. As a forger of antiques, I have enough leverage to control him, and he knows many hidden codes.”

Chen Qing smiled and repeated, “I think he’s suitable.”

Kallans nodded, reviewed the website four or five times, and after memorizing it, said to Chen Qing, “Rest assured, by this time tomorrow, you’ll see him on the site.”

After speaking, Kallans left.

In the night, Chen Qing was left alone.

“Aren’t you going to ask him where to advance to an intangible relic?”

Bu Zhaozhao was curious.

“No.” Chen Qing was silent for a moment. “He’s still a club member, and for now, it’s hard to tell him everything.”

“And you’re willing to tell ordinary people?”

“Buy pipes in the western market, gunpowder in the eastern market; if the east and west merchants never meet, they’ll just think I’m renovating my house.”

Chen Qing laughed and left.

He had already told Jiang Wan about the photos in the police station, but after a night’s investigation, no trace of transmission was found.

They also checked with the service provider and examined the three people Chen Qing mentioned, yet still couldn’t find the sender.

Overnight, the city seemed to be in turmoil...

The next day, as Chen Qing rose and headed to school as usual, he noticed the students on the road acting furtively.

He tapped the pendant on his chest, and Bu Zhaozhao’s figure appeared beside the students.

“Hey... Have you heard? A lot of people died in the city’s police station!”

“Yeah, I heard. They say it’s haunted now!”

“Haunted?” A boy sneered, “I don’t believe it! After school, let’s go take some photos?”

“Sure! Damn, I’ve never seen a ghost! I bet my resentment is bigger than theirs!”