Early the next morning, the Shen Gang's camp was significantly emptier. For a moment, Xiao Lin wondered if they had fled overnight.
However, Shan Yi was still at the camp. He said that most of the camp's people had gone to Block 13 to scout the area.
Besides that, he also brought Xiao Lin thirty gold coins. This was the portion allocated to Xiao Lin after they tallied the Yang Gang's assets.
After a simple breakfast, Shan Yi drove the off-road vehicle to take Xiao Lin to the Satellite Town.
A journey that originally took seven or eight hours was completed in just two.
However, Xiao Lin didn't let Shan Yi get close to the Institute. He got out two kilometers away and walked the rest of the way back.
When he walked near the Institute, his phone connected to the network, and a security alert popped up.
He opened the message and saw that Yan Jie had been there. He waved at the camera, stuffed a letter into the mailbox in front of the door, and finally pointed at the mailbox.
His movements were stiff and mechanical, making Xiao Lin want to laugh.
He opened the mailbox and tore open the envelope. Scrawled on it were the words: "Mr. Xiao Lin, Mr. Bai has arrived and came to visit. Unfortunately, you were not home. Please reply upon your return."
Mr. Bai is in the Satellite Town?
Xiao Lin still remembered this name. The owner of Blue Dragon Mining, Lan Shiyu's boss. He had met the other party once on the mental internet.
Yue Taizhou hoped he would investigate whether a promotion system existed in this world.
If anyone was most likely to know this information, it would be Mr. Bai, who was a Transcendent.
"Hmm, then I'll go meet Mr. Bai first, compile the information I have, and then report it to the Professor together," Xiao Lin thought.
However, he didn't go immediately. Instead, he returned to the Institute first.
He put down the things in his backpack, took a shower, ate, changed clothes, and only went out after he was fully prepared.
When he arrived at the Government Building, it was deserted. Only Xu Guang from the Enforcement Team was sitting on a bench in the lobby on duty.
He was about 1.7 meters tall, with a rather juvenile baby face, looking like the type of character who would be popular with women.
Seeing Xiao Lin, he flashed a sunny smile: "Mr. Xiao Lin? Didn't they say you went out? When did you get back?" As he spoke, he clumsily pulled a cigarette from the pack and offered it.
"Thanks, I don't smoke," Xiao Lin declined politely and then answered, "I got back an hour ago. I saw the note your captain left and came over."
"Is our captain's handwriting really that ugly?"
Xiao Lin didn't answer but silently nodded. It was indeed very ugly.
Xu Guang didn't smoke either. He snapped the cigarette box shut and put it back in his pocket before saying: "But you really came at a bad time. They all went to the mine. Don't know when they'll be back. Why don't you wait upstairs for a while? I'll go notify them?"
"No need. I'll go to the mine and find them personally."
"Do you know the way?"
"I have a satellite map. I can find it."
"That won't be necessary. I'll take you there. Just wait a moment while I arrange some work for them."
Before Xiao Lin could agree, Xu Guang had already dived into the office. A moment later, he came out wearing the Enforcement Team's windbreaker uniform.
The two chatted while walking towards the mine.
"Why did Mr. Bai suddenly come over? Does it have something to do with me?" Xiao Lin asked.
"It has nothing to do with you. It's about the matter at the mine," Xu Guang honestly shook his head and said, "But I can't tell you about that yet. Mr. Bai hasn't decided whether to drag you into it."
"Matter at the mine?"
"Yeah, anyway, that matter is quite serious," Xu Guang still answered honestly.
Then he finally realized he might have said a bit too much and countered with a question: "Where did Mr. Xiao go in the last few days? How did you suddenly disappear?"
"I went to Madman's Howl to do some research."
"To Madman's Howl for research?" Xu Guang was somewhat surprised. "Actually, that place is quite dangerous, especially the Wisdom Demon in Block 13."
"Hmm, I went to investigate the Wisdom Demon. And by the way eliminated it."
Xu Guang suddenly fell completely silent.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Lin asked.
"Nothing, just... suddenly feel like there's a thick wall between us..." Xu Guang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Actually, it's not that bad," Xiao Lin said, somewhat embarrassed.
"But you took down the Wisdom Demon! Even the Town Mayor couldn't handle that guy's mental pollution."
"Even if I took it down, it's not that bad."
As they chatted, they arrived at the mine. The mine was quite large, with scattered wooden buildings and large piles of stone and coal around.
At this moment, a group of people was gathered in the center of the mine, not knowing what they were doing. Mr. Bai was in the crowd, looking exactly like the image Xiao Lin saw on the mental internet. He was in his forties, tall, dressed in white, and looked elegant.
"Mayor, Mr. Bai, Mr. Xiao Lin is here," Xu Guang shouted from a distance.
Mr. Bai looked over, nodded politely to Xiao Lin, and then turned his gaze back.
Lan Shiyu also nodded and smiled at Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin walked over. The crowd automatically made way for him. Only then did he realize there was a stone coffin in the very center of the crowd.
It didn't look very new, but it was intact overall. There was an imprint of a quill pen on the lid.
"Mr. Xiao Lin, nice to see you. However, I apologize, we are a bit busy right now. I hope you don't mind," Mr. Bai said calmly, looking at the coffin.
Xiao Lin shook his head to indicate he didn't care, because he vaguely sensed the uneasy atmosphere emanating from the coffin.
His pupils began to spread like liquid, constantly dividing into new pupils. The Wisdom Demon vision was activated.
He said softly: "Limestone material. Although it looks man-made, there are actually no traces of manual carving. It's as if it formed naturally.
"And it looks like it has existed for hundreds of years, but actually the time is very short. The damage types don't match at all.
"The Satellite Town is rainy. With frequent water seepage, the coffin should show crumbling and surface peeling. But it only has cracks.
"It completely defies logic. It is a... thing that shouldn't exist."
When he finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent. Many eyes were full of panic.
Mr. Bai nodded and said: "Thank you, Mr. Xiao Lin. It seems we can basically confirm it's that thing."
"So you know what this is?" Xiao Lin asked.
Mr. Bai nodded: "The Writer's Coffin."
Xiao Lin didn't understand, but before he could ask further, Lin Niannian spoke up: "Can we throw the coffin somewhere else? Like drag it to Madman's Howl and bury it?"
She was still leaning on a cane, but she looked much better.
However, Mr. Bai shook his head: "It's no use. The moment the coffin appeared, we were all under the Writer's influence. Any action is just pushing the narrative."
"Should we open it?" Lan Shiyu asked.
"Open it. If we haven't found the manuscript elsewhere, it's very likely in the coffin."
Lan Shiyu raised his hand to signal. Yan Jie and several miners stepped forward, inserted iron bars into the缝隙 of the coffin, pried it loose with force, and then several people pushed the lid open.
Inside was a completely desiccated corpse. The corpse's hands were placed on its chest, holding several sheets of yellowed parchment.
Xiao Lin could see that those parchments were something very powerful.
Seeing this corpse, the people around also became restless. The fear intensified.
"It really is Simon..."
"Are we dead for sure?"
"Don't worry, with Mr. Bai here..."
Mr. Bai raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, then bent down and pulled out the stack of papers, slightly unfolding them.
On the first line of the first page, this sentence was written:
"Everything started on the day a stone coffin was dug up. After that, a terrible disaster began to spread in the town."
Mr. Bai didn't read further. Instead, with a snap, he rolled the papers back up.
"Mr. Bai..." Lan Shiyu started, but before he could say anything, Mr. Bai interrupted him: "Let's go back to the Government Center first."