Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 335 The Night of Pleasure Arrives
"A night of pleasure, a mysterious ritual?"

Han Su put down the phone and took the elevator back to the underground secret room.

Looking up, one can see that the underground chamber has undergone tremendous changes compared to the last time one entered.

A black robe, resembling a cape, hung on the wall. On the desk sat a beautiful cup, and in the center of the desk was a pure white mask with no expression.

The most eye-catching item was a strangely shaped, high-tech chair placed behind the desk. It was tall and heavy, giving off an almost unbearable feeling.

These were the four rewards that appeared in the castle after he saved someone last time.

For every person saved, there is a reward; this principle has never changed.

The person Han Su saved the most people was the last time, when he directly rescued four children. Thus, these four strange rewards appeared abruptly in the secret room.

However, unlike the other rewarded items which are often easy to find a use for, Han Su saw these rewards on the first day he returned to the castle. He also secretly came down twice in the past two days to examine them over and over again, but he did not find any special use for them.

At first, he even put on the robe to see if it had the ability to make him invisible in the castle, but it didn't. It was just an old robe, and he didn't know who had worn it.

The cup, however, was covered with a layer of dull dust, and it vaguely looked like it had a crystal-like or glassy bottom.

As for its shape, it looks a bit like it's made of a crystal skull.
It's clearly just half a skull...

After reviewing the four rewards one by one once more, Han Su slowly put them down and turned on the surveillance camera in the secret room. This was the most valuable reward he had received since saving Lü Xiaoba last time, and he could use it to understand what the various monsters were doing.

"Taking advantage of this joyous night, how about setting up a mysterious ritual of your own?"

After carefully recalling everything the mysterious person on the phone had told him, Han Su pondered his intentions.

What is certain is that the person on the other end of the phone did not lie to me about this ceremony.

He's a madman who worships the emperor. It's uncertain whether he'll plot against me in the end, but he probably just wants things to proceed smoothly in the beginning.

"Now that I've decided to accept all of this, I won't hesitate any longer!"

"The banquet for the night of pleasure will be held in three hours, and I only have about two hours to prepare."

"..."

After carefully considering the situation, Han Su resolutely stood up.

He first went to the wall and whispered to Duke Black Cat for a while: "What I'm about to do is too risky, Duke Black Cat, you must help me... I have indeed forgotten about you, but I always feel that we are very close!"

Duke Black Cat glanced at him in surprise, as if he thought he was talking nonsense, of course they were very familiar with each other.

Han Su got up, took the elevator back to the first floor, and then went into the kitchen. He used the passageway to climb up to the second floor.

He had already spotted Madam Flesh Horn's location while he was in the underground chamber, so he tiptoed straight to the pharmacy where Song Yushi was imprisoned and, following the directions of the person on the phone, searched for the bottle of medicine that the person had described in detail.

This is the first step in preparing for that mysterious ritual.

The bottle contains a light brown medicine that has a faint, bitter almond smell.

Han Su was very careful, and soon found two purple bottles in the medicine cabinet, but he couldn't quite tell them apart.

Although the man on the other end of the phone tried his best to describe it, the purple medicine bottle was easy to find, but the light brown medicine and the subtle bitter almond smell were really hard to distinguish.

Han Su knew that if he chose the wrong bottle, the consequences would be severe, and he became conflicted.

"you……"

A faint voice sounded from behind. It was from the petri dish. Song Yushi opened her eyes: "What are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a reagent that supposedly allows people to smell the scents they imagine..."

Han Su didn't turn around, but lowered his voice to answer.

"It's the bottle on the left!"

Song Yushi was extremely tired at this moment, but she still tried her best to listen to Han Su's description. Then she whispered a reminder, as if worried that Han Su would not believe her, and tried her best to explain: "Because... because she once used the reagent bottle on the right to bathe me, I started to be able to understand what she was saying."

"She...she said this reagent could wash away the smell on me, and make me...make me as pure as a blank sheet of paper."

So, one way is to make a person lose all their odor, and the other way is to make a person have the odor that others imagine?
"Thank you!"

Han Su thanked Song Yushi, then carefully put away a portion of the reagent in a clean test tube.

His gaze fell on the tired little girl, unsure of what to say to comfort her.

Of all the children in the castle, she was the only one. He had the opportunity to take her away, but she refused.

The reason is that she seems to know another version of herself, and she stays here to help that version of herself...

When she returned this time, time had been reset, and she had forgotten that conversation she had with herself.

Even though she saw that he had sneaked in, she would still try her best to help.

"I know your brother!"

Before leaving, Han Su whispered, "He's been looking for you outside, so don't be afraid, someone will rescue you."

Song Yushi appeared extremely exhausted. She forced a smile, seemingly too weak to ask Han Su why he had secretly come here to steal the potion, nor to inquire about his brother. With her last strength, she said:

"Get out of here quickly. I'll knock over those potions for you. She's a very observant monster; she'll notice any changes in the number of potions..."

As she spoke, she struggled to stand up, each tiny movement requiring a long pause for breath.

She went to the medicine shelf, turned to look at Han Su, and waited for him to leave.

"Thank you!"

Han Su thanked her again, and then, urged by Duke Black Cat, he went into the secret passage in the wall. When he climbed to the fourth floor, he heard a loud thud behind him as a reagent was pulled to the ground, accompanied by the sound of Song Yushi falling.

On the fourth floor, in a room filled with dolls, Li Manman quietly curled up in a gap next to the fairytale-like bed.

Inside the glass cabinets placed against the wall, lifelike wooden dolls stare with envious eyes.

Unlike three days ago, the children who had just been captured and taken to the castle had become somewhat accustomed to the atmosphere of the castle after experiencing two full days of fear.

Li Manman has gone from being so frightened by these wooden dolls that she dared not move to now daring to raise her head and look at them.

Her eyes met the eyes of dozens of wooden dolls in the cabinet, staring blankly at them.

He seemed a little dazed, but that was much better than being scared.

Han Su recited the zero-sequence cipher spell number 01, concealed himself, and quietly walked out of the secret passage. With a casual pull, he pulled down a dark curtain, which blocked all the glass cabinets, obscuring his figure.

Li Manman trembled instantly. As he pulled the curtain, he saw Han Su, whose presence had been completely removed from his sight.

"Li Manman, my name is Han Su."

Han Su stood in the shadows behind the curtain and whispered to Li Manman, "I need your help."

Li Manman looked at Han Su with a puzzled expression, only blinking once.

As the dark curtain was pulled and Li Manman's eyes changed, the wooden dolls in the glass cabinet seemed to guess what was going on. They all stretched their heads to see what was on the other side of the curtain.

However, the glass cabinet limited their view, and Han Su also used a little trick involving mental activation so that only Li Manman could hear him speaking at that moment:

"I'm looking for a puppet!"

"It was a special boy's puppet; it's said there's only one on this floor."

"This puppet is in the monster's room, and he's keeping a close watch on it, so I need your help to get it..."

"..."

Li Manman tried to open her eyes wide to look at him; for her, this was the first time she had ever seen Han Su.

Making such a request directly would undoubtedly be somewhat abrupt.

Han Su had a few options. Perhaps he should tell Li Manman that he would guarantee to save her afterwards, or tell her how dangerous it was for him, or even say that he knew her father. But since he had already interacted with this girl many times, in the midst of this moment of silence, he only added one sentence: "Only you can help me."

Li Manman slowly nodded, hesitated for a moment before getting up, picked up the toy in her hand, and pulled out a small mirror.

She walked to the glass case, pointed the mirror at the wooden dolls, and let them look in it.

A series of screams immediately erupted from inside the glass case.

Han Su immediately retreated back into the secret passage, where he could already hear heavy and anxious footsteps coming from the corridor.

He moved two rooms away through the secret passage, then peeked out and saw the huge, pale monster struggling to move to the room where Li Manman was being held.

Because there was nothing out of control in the room, only a group of terrified and collapsing puppet dolls, and Li Manman stubbornly standing in front of the glass cabinet, pointing the lens in her hand at the dolls, he was just angry.

Unlike before, he didn't rush into the room to kill any disobedient creatures.

"They...they bullied me!"

From the other room, Li Manman's childish but courageous voice rang out as she complained.

The pale monster seemed to find this amusing; his anger vanished, and he let out a hoarse, cheerful cackle.

Taking advantage of the sound, Han Su slipped into the monster's room. It was crowded and cluttered, with something the monster was preparing on the table—an exquisite and gorgeous puppet costume.

Having experienced the Night of Pleasure before, Han Su knew that this puppet costume was prepared for Li Manman. Three hours later, Li Manman would wear this costume to the banquet of the Night of Pleasure.

Without time to examine these items closely, Han Su quickly rummaged through the cabinet and pulled out a black box from the corner next to the pale giant chair. Upon opening it, he saw a boy puppet dressed in a small suit, without any painted face.

Unlike those wooden dolls, he seemed not to be activated; he was truly just a toy.

"This must be the second key item he had me find..."

Han Su picked up the doll and quickly left.

The footsteps were already very light, but the sound of them hitting the floor still seemed to attract the attention of the pale giant over there, who wanted to come back and check.

However, Li Manman glanced anxiously in the direction of Han Su. For some reason, she suddenly took two quick steps, stood at the door, bit her lip, and opened her two small hands to block the pale giant from coming out.

The pale giant, surprisingly, was quite patient, simply extending his rough, large hand to stroke Li Manman's head.

It sounded like he was trying to coax her.

However, for him, this action was too oppressive, and Li Manman was so frightened that she cried.

Success! Keep going!

Han Su walked through the deathly silent fifth floor. This floor was made of bronze, and in Han Su's perception, the building had become deathly quiet, even the bronze coffin had become completely silent.

Only the living bronze puppets on both sides of the corridor had their eyes flashing a faint red light, but they remained silent, simply watching him quietly, like soldiers awaiting orders.

After pondering for a while, Han Su slowly chanted the incantation, pressed his palm down, and commanded them to fall into a deep sleep.

These living bronze puppets were extinguished as ordered, without a sound.

After passing the fifth floor, Han Su arrived at the most dangerous sixth floor. Similar to every time before, once he entered the sixth floor, Han Su felt an all-pervasive sense of crisis. There was an extremely dangerous aura searching for him. When he was hiding in the secret passage, it was fine, but once he came out of the secret passage, this dangerous aura seemed to have locked onto his location instantly.

Even the Black Cat Duke bristled, crouching low and meowing at a dark shadow deep in the corridor.

Han Su also let out a low breath and stared at the dark figure deep in the corridor.

He saw a tall figure appear; it was a tall butcher wearing an apron and with a pig's head, holding a butcher's knife as if he were about to cut him in two at any moment.

He knew he had trespassed into the man's territory, so the man might kill him without hesitation. However, Han Su stood there with a sense of certainty, looking at the tall butcher in front of him.

There was also a small figure there.

Tuxedo!
This guy stood calmly in front of the butcher, his figure so small as to be almost imperceptible, yet he held the dominant position.

And that is indeed the case.

Within half a day of entering the castle, he had already established an extraordinary relationship with the butcher.

It's been three days now, and this pig-headed butcher seems to have become his puppet.

There was a strange feeling; at this moment, it was as if he were the master of the sixth floor of the castle, and the pig-headed butcher was just his guard.

Of course, considering what he would do at the party on the night of pleasure if he didn't intervene, Han Su believed his judgment was correct. This guy in the tuxedo was the most terrifying of all the kidnapped children.

none of them.

"I know what you're planning to do tonight, but don't do it yet."

Han Su's gaze fell on the face in the tuxedo, and he said in a low voice, "I need your help."

The entire face of the man in the tuxedo was shrouded in the darkness of the sixth-floor corridor of the castle.

He didn't even feel anything strange about seeing Han Su here. He just stared at Han Su and calmly asked, "Why are you here? Are you with the people who kidnapped us?"

"No."

Han Su immediately shook his head, not wanting him to misunderstand.

He tried his best to convey a clear image in the simplest words: "We were kidnapped by a group of adults who worship mystery, and perhaps your parents are among them."

“They want to use us to bring back some kind of monster. This kidnapping is just part of a mysterious ritual. I know this, so I will do something in their ritual, but I am still somewhat lacking in ability.”

"I still have some preparations to complete, and I don't have time to explain everything to you right now."

"But tonight, there will be a banquet in the castle, and then you will understand what I am planning to do."

"..."

The man in the tuxedo stared intently at Han Su. After a moment, he gently stepped aside, and in the process, he took the pig-headed butcher's hand. The enormous monster also moved aside to the side of the corridor, and the oppressive aura of danger vanished instantly.

As Han Su walked past the man in the tuxedo, he suddenly spoke up: "What do you need me to do?"

Han Su stopped in his tracks, looked into his eyes, and said, "Protect me!"

Noticing the nod from the man in the tuxedo, Han Su finally felt relieved and continued walking upstairs.

Seventh floor, eighth floor, tenth floor...

With Duke Black Cat leading the way, his knowledge of the castle from his previous escapes, and, more importantly, the convenience brought by the surveillance cameras, Han Su's preparations for the rest went relatively smoothly.

Now, apart from the top floor of the castle, which he still knows nothing about and has never set foot on, he knows every nook and cranny of the castle as well as he does his own home.

When he finally returned to the bottom floor of the castle with all his belongings, a hoarse bell suddenly rang out.

The sound, accompanied by a deep, resonant vibration, spread throughout the entire castle.

As if to dispel the sense of decay of the ancient castle, it gave this desolate space a little bit of life.

The night of revelry has begun!

The old butler had already prepared the banquet hall and was waiting for all the monsters to attend the banquet with their carefully dressed children. This also marked the official start of the most crucial core stage of the mysterious ritual that Han Su had previously been unable to understand.

At this moment, Han Su took out a portrait that he had stolen from Princess Mononoke.

The person on the other end of the phone said that everything he asked me to prepare was reasonable, and that once I arrived at the portrait and saw its contents, I would know what he wanted me to prepare.

Slowly pulling off the black cloth covering the portrait, Han Su saw what was depicted in the portrait, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

After a long while, he finally let out a wry laugh: "This is the ritual you wanted me to perform?"

"That really is a pipe dream..."

(End of this chapter)