Chapter 1 The Beginning

The call to the Special Affairs Bureau connected.

The female customer service representative on the other end of the line said softly in a delicate voice, "This is Yin City Red Star Organic Fertilizer Co., Ltd. For fertilizers, go to Red Star. How may I help you?"

Li Ang roared, "Huifeng Road, north of the city, shantytown, come quickly!"

The customer service representative's voice instantly turned serious, "Please describe in detail what happened so we can dispatch police force according to the situation..."

"At least Level 7 or above, look at the satellite map yourself." Li Ang interrupted the customer service representative and hung up the phone.

Li Ang, armed with the weapon of dialectical materialism, did not overthink Zou Zhengze's words, because the information he had on hand was too little to derive an objective conclusion.

Whether Zou Zhengze's reincarnation theory was true or false, right or wrong, objective or biased, was not so important at this time, place, and occasion.

Above the shantytown, black clouds were gloomy and thick, slowly rotating like a vortex, stirring up howling winds that lifted sewage, gravel, garbage, and even entire concrete walls and rooftop floors from the alleys, all into the black cloud vortex.

Some children who poked their heads out of the windows were even lifted up by the strong wind. Fortunately, their parents grabbed their wrists and ankles, kicked against the walls, and pulled them back into the house.

Panicked cries rose and fell. Zou Zhengze, standing under the vortex, looked distressed and waved his hand, stirring up a high-speed flow of demonic Qi Gang Wind that shattered the battle axe Li Ang threw into pieces dozens of meters away.

Although he had only lived here for a few months, he had developed deep feelings for these simple people.

Old Zhang, the cement worker who contracted pneumoconiosis and depended on his wife while bedridden; Old Chen, whose arm was severed by a machine in the factory; Grandma Luo, who suffered from leukemia, was abandoned by her children, and could only survive by scavenging; Young Lin, who was blind but supported his mildly mentally handicapped parents with his massage skills; and those Xiong Hai Zi (rascals) whose faces were often dirty and mischievous but were not inherently bad...

They were at the bottom of the social food chain, the "garbage population" in the mouths of some superiors. Even a glance on the road would make people hurriedly look away, fearing to arouse resentment of the wealthy.

"People in the bottom-level, mutually harmful society have low quality, are full of hostility, and always think about retaliating against society. How disgusting and terrifying."

"You're poor because you're lazy."

"Who told you not to work hard when you were young? You deserve to be at the bottom for the rest of your life."

"If you have bad luck, don't blame society."

Successful people in modern cities said this, their voices full of indifference and superiority.

Zou Zhengze scanned the dilapidated shantytown, looking at the familiar faces, the dim lives, his eyes full of pity and love.

"Suffering." He sighed, "Those with bitter lives not only have no hope of turning over in this life but also cannot retain the essence of their souls in the hope of the next life.

Ants still try to survive, let alone humans? Since you have no hope in this life and are reluctant to end your lives yourselves, let me help you. Merge with me and wait for the Six Paths of Reincarnation to reopen, and welcome the arrival of the new world together."

Zou Zhengze opened his mouth, absorbing the decades of accumulated grief, misery, resentment, and negative emotions in the shantytown. His originally thin body rapidly swelled to the point of tearing his clothes.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack...

His bones all over his body were growing and extending, making a crisp sound like exploding soybeans. Many wildly growing bone spurs ruthlessly tore through his tendons, exposing flesh and blood to the air.

His muscles swelled and expanded, and red and black runes, filled with filthy and evil meaning, were engraved on his bronze-colored skin. Just a glance made Li Ang feel dizzy, and he seemed to hear sacrilegious chanting in his ears.

So strong...

Even the Shan Xiao (mountain demon) in the Guhan Temple did not have such terrifying power.

Li Ang retreated rapidly, moving like a rabbit and a falcon, stopping on a rooftop two or three buildings away. His body was still trembling from instinct, and the black umbrella behind him seemed to be intimidated and frightened, shaking frantically.

And between his eyebrows, a fleshy tumor was pulsating and swelling. As the skin tore apart and pus splattered, a scarlet and scorching vertical pupil appeared in the center of his brow bone, examining this unknown new world with chaotic and evil eyes.

The Tian Mo Gong (Demonic Art of the Heavenly Devil) was an outright demonic scripture, advocating devouring flesh and blood, chewing souls, and nourishing oneself.

And the Yin-Yang Two Extremes Demonic Path, the internal cultivation method of the Tian Mo Gong, was even more condensed with pure malice of selfishness and greed.

Zou Zhengze, as a veteran player, only slightly circulated the Yin-Yang Two Extremes Demonic Path and already felt somewhat overwhelmed, unable to maintain his human form any longer. He transformed into a three-eyed giant, ten meters tall, covered in bone spurs.

The transformation of life form was extremely painful, but Zou Zhengze's face only showed serenity, peace, compassion, and tenderness.

"My name is Dizang (Ksitigarbha), in the turbid world of the Five Turbidities, in the human, heaven, and hell realms, I often manifest myself to save all living beings, freeing them from disasters. Seeing you now is no different from seeing myself. I am going to that house now to protect it."

Zou Zhengze, both Buddha and Demon, held a black lotus flower cast from pure demonic Qi in his hand and recited, "The Three Realms are without peace, like a burning house. Filled with all kinds of suffering, it is extremely terrifying. If I don't enter hell, who will?"

Once again, he began to breathe deeply.

In the shantytown, the bedridden pneumoconiosis worker, the middle-aged woman who ran a semi-clandestine business to support her children, the scavenging old man abandoned by his family, the abandoned infant with a cleft lip... everyone felt a warm, peaceful breeze blowing gently.

Their bodies had never been so light and healthy, their minds had never been so tranquil and joyful. The joy of ascending to the Realm of Ultimate Bliss swept away the bitterness and misfortune of this life.

Was this the Realm of Ultimate Bliss?

The souls smiled and flew towards the Buddha-Demon in the sky, while Zou Zhengze, smiling silently, had the evil scriptures on his skin slowly flowing, as if he was ready to welcome "guests."

"There is no place for you in this feast of Ultimate Bliss," Zou Zhengze looked at Li Ang in the distance and said with a smile, "Leave, I don't want to kill you."

He had been operating in this shantytown for a long time. Yin Qi (Yin energy) and Demon Qi (demonic energy) were deeply buried underground like pillars, waiting for the moment to mature. Even without Li Ang's visit, he would have absorbed the souls of all the residents of the shantytown before the police investigating Wang Fangni's case arrived tonight.

As for the Special Affairs Bureau's arrest, he didn't have to worry too much. He was confident that he could escape capture with a certain prop.

Once he escaped the encirclement, he could once again hide his identity, seek out those who were hopeless and suffering in the world, give them compassionate salvation, and give them true hope for the next life.

That's right, salvation. Zou Zhengze firmly believed that what he was doing was righteous and moral.

Do not be deterred by the terror of truth, for all things are permitted.

Do not be bound by moral laws, for all things are allowed.

Serving the light but working in the dark, even if he transformed into a demon, he would still be a compassionate Buddha who bore all living beings to escape from the world like a burning house.

Li Ang gritted his teeth and looked outside the shantytown, which was still shrouded in the night, silent and still.

Special Affairs Bureau, do you have to be so slow to come to work?!!!

"Fuck!"

Li Ang drew the black umbrella from behind him and said with a wry smile, "This time, it might be over. If things look bad later, you should run first."

Chai Cuiqiao's head popped out of the black umbrella, her watery eyes staring at Li Ang, "We'll run together. You promised to buy me a phone."

"Buy, buy, buy, okay?" Li Ang sighed, took out the "Conscience-less Cannon" from his backpack, and bombarded Zou Zhengze in the air.