Hunter of Mysterious Creature

"However, a few months later, Shang Dalin's body began to change," Ye Jiu continued, without looking at the thick stack of documents, as if all the information was stored in his mind, "According to Shang Hongxiu's memories, Shang Dalin's weight plummeted, and he became as thin as a skeleton. He started coughing continuously, often coughing up blood."

"Sounds like tuberculosis," Sun Hang commented.

"The symptoms indeed resemble tuberculosis, but according to experts' analysis, Shang Dalin developed these symptoms because he was already an infected person at this point. Moreover, his infection process probably entered an accelerator, causing his organs to begin mutating, losing their original normal functions..." Ye Jiu spoke eloquently, "In addition, during that period, Shang Dalin also became nervous, suspicious, and irritable, often beating and kicking women imprisoned in the underground palace for no reason."

"Does every infected person behave like this during the acceleration phase?" Sun Hang asked.

"You'd have to ask Yang Qi and the others, I'm not a researcher," Ye Jiu said, "After that, Shang Dalin began muttering words like 'tomb', 'resurrection', 'rebirth'. Shang Hongxiu and the others didn't understand, nor did they dare ask—because during that period, several women had been beaten to death by Shang Dalin."

"This Shang Dalin, maybe he wants to mimic those ancient Egyptian pharaohs, making himself into a mummy, sleeping in a tomb for thousands of years, and then resurrecting, right?" Sun Hang joked, "Got to say, this guy sure has some daring thoughts."

"Don't interrupt me, where was I? Oh, right, several women were beaten to death by Shang Dalin," Ye Jiu continued, "Although Shang Dalin seemed half-dead, his strength had become incredibly great. Shang Hongxiu witnessed a woman trying to escape being caught by Shang Dalin, who crushed her skull solely with the strength of his five fingers."

"Is this power gained after mimetic infection?"

"Yes," Ye Jiu nodded, then realized, "I told you not to interrupt me, damn it, where was I again?"

"Crushing the head."

"Anyway, it's just like that. Shang Dalin, due to mimetic infection, is about to fully demonize himself, hoping to ensure his 'resurrection' in the future by building this underground palace into a tomb... He captured many people from outside to work for him, manufacturing terracotta and burial items... The bones you found in those caves earlier are the remains of these people. Before performing the 'resurrection ritual' on himself, Shang Dalin used these people as experimental subjects, resulting in all of them becoming highly distorted infected individuals, dying in those caves."

Ye Jiu pulled out a thick stack of files separated by labeled tabs from the pile of documents, handing them to Sun Hang: "These are the unresolved disappearance cases in Dubhe Tower city and surrounding villages and towns over those years, with the number of disappearances and the timing matching almost perfectly... At least 130 people died in Shang Dalin's underground palace."

Sun Hang quickly flipped through these files, most being old resident records and yellowed dossiers archived in the Public Security Bureau for nearly a hundred years.

"So, those women were also experimental subjects?"

"No, they weren't," Ye Jiu shook his head, "By the time it came to them, Shang Dalin's 'transformation surgery' was already successful, having implanted a meme that could render one 'immortal' into their bodies. As a price, their hearts would crystallize and be sealed within an eternal lamp. As long as the eternal lamp remains lit, they must stay in the underground palace forever, unable to go anywhere... Only when the eternal lamp extinguishes and the crystallized heart returns to their body can they regain freedom, but at the same time, their lives enter a countdown."

"So, these women count as... living burial items?"

"Pretty much," Ye Jiu nodded, "That's all Shang Hongxiu managed to tell."

"What about the red crystal?" Sun Hang glanced at the stack of files, noting the disappearance records and dossiers occupied only a small portion.

"Following the Juedra lead, Dubhe Tower found a person—the witness of the Vatican Treasure Vault theft, currently the director of the Christian Historical and Cultural Archive in Chunming City, last Pope's youngest son: Casim Borgia," Ye Jiu said, "But Kasim stated he had never heard of any red crystal-like treasure in Vatican's vault. As for why all the countries in Europe issued a wanted notice for Juedra, it was entirely due to the Pope's request... The Dubhe Tower even secretly used an object with lie detection abilities against regulations; the result showed Kasim was telling the truth, not a single word was a lie."

"How old was this Kasim when the theft occurred?" Sun Hang asked.

"Nine years old."

"Then it's normal he doesn't know... If I were the Pope, I wouldn't tell a child about the existence of such an item either," Sun Hang said, "Since there's no gain from Kasim, what about the research institute? Those researchers have been in the underground palace for three days, have they figured out anything yet?"