"They even want the silver ones, but only the ones I've worn. Thinking about it, these guys are kind of perverted," Iselin frowned.

"What about gems and diamonds?" Li Cheng颐 continued to ask.

"I don't know... I don't have any of those things. My blonde hair is made from gold jewelry given to me by a previous sister," Iselin replied.

Li Cheng颐 planned to go out this time and get all sorts of things to test and see what the hard currency of the Black Sea was.

He wanted to ask more questions, but he saw Iselin raise a finger and shush him.

He immediately understood that it was coming.

He turned his head to look ahead.

On the other side of the bed, a faint light was slowly illuminating from the darkness.

But that light was not the bright yellow or white of a lamp.

It was a faint red light.

A somewhat hazy, somewhat serene red.

Looking out from under the bed, one could see a large black bookshelf, occupying an entire wall, slowly emerging.

Many books were standing upright on the bookshelf.

Some were very thick, with hard covers, and the covers were written with strange, twisted, unrecognizable characters.

Some were very thin, randomly inserted into the gaps between the shelves, placed above the thick books.

On the left side of the bookshelf was a small round table made of black wood, with cloud patterns on the legs.

On the right side was a black-brown leather sofa, a single sofa.

The armrests of the sofa already had traces of wear and tear from years of use, some fading, revealing the grayish-white underneath.

Everything looked normal.

This was like a study used by an ordinary person, a study with a bed for sleeping.

This was also normal; some people just liked to sleep in their study.

Li Cheng颐 and Iselin exchanged a look.

"Have you been here before?" he asked.

"No, first time," Iselin replied.

"Want to try going out?" Li Cheng颐 asked again.

"Wait a bit. The duration of stay in different places varies. If we transform as soon as we go out, we might get completely lost and not be able to return," Iselin whispered.

"How do you know?"

"I've been there," Iselin replied. "After going out and returning to under the bed, the starting point is different. I lay there for a long time before relying on my connection with the main body to return."

"Okay..." Li Cheng颐 felt once again that Iselin was incredibly useful.

Without her, he would probably fall into a lot of pitfalls.

The two of them waited, lying there.

About five minutes later.

With a *whoosh*, the sound of a sliding door came.

Immediately afterward, a slippery, dragging sound, like a mop being dragged across the floor, drilled into their ears.

Soon, a tall humanoid figure, draped in a black robe with golden patterns printed on the edges, slowly walked to the sofa and sat down.

It was not until it sat down that the two of them could see clearly that this black-robed person was wearing a pale white mask, and its lower body was made up of black tentacles, like the black tentacles of an octopus.

"It's a Believer!" Iselin breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Quick, take out your things, I'll help you exchange!" she quickly patted Li Cheng颐.

Li Cheng颐 immediately took out the Greed Heart and handed it to her.

Watching Iselin carefully place the Greed Heart can on the ground and push it out,

He then remembered what a Believer was.

Iselin had mentioned before that the Believers worshiped a group of strange beings of Aslathrune.

Iselin said they were very friendly and could exchange things.

He wanted to see what he could exchange for.

The Greed Heart can was pushed out and stopped on the thick black-red carpet in the room.

The Believer also noticed the movement there. Its masked face looked over here and stood up.

With a hissing sound, it slowly walked to the bed, bent down, and picked up the can from the carpet.

Examining the can for a while, it seemed a little interested.

Turning around, it returned to the sofa.

After thinking about it, the Believer reached out and took a book from the bookshelf.

The book was neither thick nor thin, with a brown-black outer skin, tinged with red, like tree bark.

Then, holding the book, it returned to the bed, placed it on the ground, and pushed it under the bed.

"Quick, catch it. This is what we're exchanging for!" Iselin patted Li Cheng颐.

The latter nodded, reached out his hand, and gently pinched it with his flower-scaled glove-clad fingers, and brought it in.

"Let's go back," Iselin pulled him, and they slowly retreated from under the bed.

Li Cheng颐 also followed him back, and soon, holding the book, he crawled out from under the bed.

"What's the use of this thing?" He picked up the book and looked at the packaging.

The cover of the book had two vertically drawn patterned bands.

The patterned bands were composed of many smaller teardrops, spheres, and figure-eight patterns, fused and squeezed together.

In the middle of the two patterned bands was a white symbol the size of an egg.

This symbol looked like a sharp bone knife, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a hole in the middle and a handle, like a tool used for some kind of ritual.

"Open it and take a look?"

Iselin was also very curious on the side.

Li Cheng颐 nodded and opened the cover.

Unexpectedly, the inside of the book was full of neat, strange characters, without anything abnormal.

It seemed that this was really just a book.

"How is it?" Iselin asked curiously on the side.

Li Cheng颐 was about to answer, but suddenly felt the surrounding light distort.

His heart was startled, knowing that he might be exiting.

Before, there had been no movement while under the bed. Now it seemed that he might not be able to completely exit the flash while under the bed.

After all, he had been in here for some time.

"Brother? Brother?" Iselin's voice seemed to be stretched out, slowed down, coming from a very far away place.

Li Cheng颐 grabbed the book, and a burst of dizziness flashed through his mind.

*Poof.*

His eyes blurred, and Iselin disappeared.

The room instantly returned to its original state.

The marks on the wall made by the iron bed also disappeared automatically.

He was back in reality.

The dead corner of the Gripping Hand had a very peculiar characteristic: the scene was the same as reality when entering.

And Iselin, as the main body of the Gripping Hand, might control a portion of the dead corner area.

The other part was other beings on the other side of the bed.

So far, Li Cheng颐 still didn't know how to completely exit the Gripping Hand, because with Iselin there, this dead corner was more of a help than a hindrance to him. He didn't want to quit either.

Standing in the bedroom, he raised his hand and looked at his right hand.

The book was still grasped in his hand, between the claws of the flower-scaled armor.

With a thought, Li Cheng颐's whole body of flower-scaled armor instantly disintegrated, scattered, and disappeared as countless segments of *Mao Fei Lian's* (pinyin) purple-red petals.

Holding the book, he walked to the only window in the bedroom and, using the outside light, examined the book.

First, he took a photo with his phone.

The lens was blank, obviously, like the goods in the Silent Shop, this thing could not be used by anyone other than himself.

As a transaction item given by the Believer, Li Cheng颐 didn't believe that this was just an ordinary book.

He thought for a while, turned and walked out of the room, and went downstairs to the lobby.

"Does anyone have paper and a pen? Can I borrow it?"

Among the people present, Xiao Zong, who was serving dishes, raised his hand.

"I have it, Boss. I'll get it for you."

He put a bowl of black mushy dish on the dining table, turned and ran out of the hall to his room.

After a short while, he entered with a notebook and a gel pen.

"Boss, did you find something?"

He handed the things to Li Cheng颐, with a hint of curiosity on his face.

"I just suddenly wanted to write something down," Li Cheng颐 didn't want to reveal that Iselin could help him.

If it was revealed that there was an existence within a dead corner that could communicate, it might attract many people with ulterior motives.

The fewer things the better, so he couldn't say anything about the book in his hand either.

After all, this book was obtained through the transaction that Iselin led him to.

Holding the paper and pen, he quickly returned to the room, sat down at the only table, and began to copy the symbols on the mysterious book.

A completely new language, with no clues, he wouldn't be able to learn it on his own.

But relying on a computer, relying on AI, there might be hope to analyze it.

If one were to talk about the origin of the text on this book, it wasn't completely without any clues.

The Believers worship the giant beast Aslathrune.

So, searching from this clue might lead to some key points.

*

*

*

Yunshan County.

In the mountains and forests, a team of men and women in camouflage uniforms, carrying fully armed field equipment, slowly made their way along a forest path towards Wolf Cave.

The person leading the team, walking in the front, was a balding, paunchy middle-aged man.

The weather was slightly cold, it was already December, but he was still sweating slightly, wiping the sweat from his forehead and temples with a tissue as he walked.

His name was Zhao Shengpeng, a very powerful name, surpassing the Peng bird.

This showed his parents' expectations for him.

But in reality, he was thirty-nine years old this year and had worked hard for more than ten years to finally sit in the position of Director of the Yunshan County Security Bureau.

Because of the remote location, there were not many people around this place. Recently, there had been a series of murders, and the higher-ups had given him a lot of pressure.

In the Yi Nation, the Security Bureau and the Nine Instruments were not managed by the same department.

They were two separate systems.

If the Federation was the highest administrative body, determining the promotion and appointment of other officials,

Then the Nine Instruments were powerful Mechanist organizations within the country, equivalent to semi-amnesty.

The Security Bureau, on the other hand, was a completely national organization.

The Nine Instruments gathered the strongest Mechanists in the entire Yi Nation, most of whom were trained by the state, and a small portion were top experts recruited from various places.

So, the composition was more complex.

The Security Bureau was much weaker in terms of force and had functions similar to those of the police. There were also Mechanists holding high positions, but not many.

Moreover, the Director-General of the Security Bureau was also one of the strongest Mechanists in a high position within the Nine Instruments.

"Director, we've been to this place so many times, and we haven't found anything. Just running around like this, time after time, isn't a solution," a slightly fat middle-aged man in the team complained.

"There's no choice. Recently, several people have disappeared and gotten lost in this area. Satellite positioning can't find them either. It's damn strange. The Wolf Cave disappearance case before has already been closed, and the files have been placed in the archives. How long has it been, and it's happening again?"

Zhao Shengpeng was also very helpless.

"But wandering around like headless flies isn't a solution either," another person in the team sighed.

"Speaking of which, a few days ago, about ten people suddenly disappeared from the Second Labor Prison in the county. It was discovered when counting the number of people. They also disappeared while doing labor reform on a farm near here," a third person said.

"Someone must be causing trouble!" Zhao Shengpeng gritted his teeth. "I don't believe this crap!" He tightened his grip on the gun in his hand.

"Are you guys scared? If you're scared, then get your asses back to me!"

"Director, that's not what we mean. We're the Security Bureau! Yunshan County relies on us to hold the line, standing on the front line. If we're all afraid, is there any hope for this place?" the slightly fat middle-aged man said unhappily.

"To be honest, no one standing in this place is a coward! All the real cowards are in the bureau!"

"Well said!"

The others cheered.

"I give you this!" Zhao Shengpeng gave him a thumbs up.

"We were born and raised in this place. All the neighbors around are people we know, uncles, aunts, grandpas, grandmas. When you think about it carefully, which family doesn't have decades of friendship? Since we're wearing this skin, I can understand if you usually cheat and get some benefits. But at critical moments, you have to be able to stand up and hold your ground!"

Zhao Shengpeng sighed.

"That's the principle! Director is right! Good pep talk!" A group of people shouted again.

"Let's go, let's go take a look around Wolf Cave first. Maybe..."

*Poof!*

Zhao Shengpeng's expression froze, and he suddenly stood frozen in place.

He slowly lowered his head and saw that in the center of his chest, a black, sharp claw had appeared at some point.

The claw pierced through his bulletproof vest from his back, penetrated his sternum, and protruded from the front, carrying a large amount of blood.

The others were stunned.

No one reacted at all.

Even the various detection devices they carried had no reaction.

"Director!!"

*Bang bang bang bang!!*

Suddenly, roars and gunshots rang out in the mountains and forests.

But soon, in less than five seconds, they all disappeared, extinguished.

Everything returned to the previous silence.

(End of this chapter)