Top-notch Urban Evil Cultivator

A dimly lit, secret room.

An oil lamp flickered in the corner, casting a shadow on the wall.

The shadow is distorted.

On the futon, a man in black robes slowly opened his eyes.

"Um?"

He frowned, and his chapped lips moved slightly.

"They actually... broke my plan?"

His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

The man in black robes extended a withered finger and lightly tapped the ground in front of him. There was a complex blood-red array there, with a wisp of dark red mist originally suspended in the center.

It has now vanished.

"interesting..."

He muttered to himself.

After a long while, the man in black robes took out an old-fashioned cell phone from his sleeve and dialed a number: "Bring that little girl here."

A respectful voice came from the other end of the phone.

The man in the black robe listened for a while, then hung up the phone.

Then, he closed his eyes again.

.

An's Group, President's Office.

An Lan sat at the computer, her fingers hovering over the mouse, but she hesitated.

The surveillance video sent by Zhou Yu was on the screen, but the chat logs made her unsure of what to do.

"Mr. An... please take a look at this video, it's a bit... scary."

Scary?

Lin Xuan stood behind her and could clearly feel that An Lan's body was somewhat stiff.

This usually decisive and efficient female CEO seemed somewhat hesitant at this moment.

"How about... I do it?"

Lin Xuan asked tentatively.

"No need." An Lan took a deep breath and clicked play.

Several monitoring screens popped up on the screen.

Elevator entrance, corridor, and meeting room.

This includes all the public areas on this floor, except for the offices, all of which are completely covered without any blind spots.

The time is 5:13 PM.

In the video, An Lan walks out of the office carrying a bag and heads quickly toward the elevator. She is still wearing a business suit and has a cold expression.

A dozen minutes later, Zhou Yu in the video tidied up the secretary's desk, checked every corner, and finally turned off the lights and left.

Then the entire top floor fell silent.

"fast forward."

Lin Xuan suddenly spoke.

An Lan's body trembled, but she still reached out her hand and started fast-forwarding.

The surveillance footage began to speed up.

The corridor was deserted, and the lights automatically dimmed, except for the emergency exit lights, which were a pale green.

It lasted for quite a while, until exactly 8 p.m.

suddenly!

All the surveillance cameras flickered simultaneously.

Just like an old-fashioned television with a bad signal, the screen was filled with snow and distorted lines.

An Lan swallowed and subconsciously leaned back.

But realizing that Lin Xuan was right behind her, she immediately sat up straight and pretended to be nonchalant.

Lin Xuan almost burst out laughing.

So, the president of Anhui University is actually afraid of these things?

A few seconds later, the monitoring returned to normal.

"That's not right," Lin Xuan suddenly said, leaning closer to the screen to examine it carefully.

An Lan was startled and shrank back, her voice trembling, "W-what's wrong?"

"Here." Lin Xuan pressed pause and zoomed in on the corridor surveillance footage.

Those are two green plants placed on either side of the office door.

In the video, a small, dark brown creature appears in the shadows of the green plants, hidden in the soil and difficult to spot.

Zooming in, Lin Xuan took a closer look and realized it was indeed that wooden carving!

"How...how did it get here?" An Lan asked nervously.

Lin Xuan didn't reply, but instead flipped through the surveillance footage and found that the ornament wasn't among the green plants in front of him!

In other words, the ornament appeared during the period when the surveillance system malfunctioned!

He frowned, momentarily at a loss for words.

How could this happen so suddenly...?

Lin Xuan thought for a moment and then pressed play again.

Then, the two of them witnessed a scene that sent chills down their spines!

That wood carving...

Moved!

It was not picked up by someone, nor was it blown by the wind.

Instead, like some kind of living creature, it slowly "stood up" in an extremely strange posture!

Its twisted body began to move slowly.

Like a deformed spider, it slowly crawled forward, clinging to the edges of several carved wooden corners.

The movements were very stiff and somewhat strange.

It quickly emerged from the greenery, fell to the ground unharmed, and continued crawling towards the office.

Before long, it arrived in front of the office. The wood carving did not stop, but instead pointed its sharp corners at the door and began to squeeze inside.

The hard wood carvings rub against the door frame, producing a faint creaking sound.

But strangely enough, it actually managed to squeeze into the door crack little by little, and its body even became somewhat deformed.

The whole process lasted nearly three minutes.

Finally, wood carvings made their way into the office.

They disappeared from the surveillance footage.

The office was quiet.

Lin Xuan suddenly felt a tightness in his arm.

He looked down and saw An Lan gripping his forearm tightly with both hands, her fair little hands clenching her fists.

She huddled up beside him, her eyes tightly closed, her eyelashes still trembling.

His usually cold face was now somewhat pale.

"President An..."

Lin Xuan spoke softly.

An Lan didn't open her eyes, but gripped them even tighter.

"Did you see a ghost?"

"Has the surveillance footage been modified?"

"Should we find a master?"

"How could a wooden carving...move on its own?"

She kept muttering to herself.

After a while.

She seemed to have just mentally prepared herself, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.

But he no longer glances at the computer screen.

Lin Xuan didn't know what to say for a moment.

The president of Anhui University is actually afraid of this?

He gently patted An Lan's hand: "President An, it's just surveillance footage, it's nothing."

She seemed to realize what was happening, suddenly opened her eyes, and released her hand as if she had been electrocuted.

Then I quickly sat up straight and tidied myself up.

"Um...wood carving...that..." She cleared her throat, trying to regain her usual composure, but her voice still trembled slightly.

Lin Xuan found her rather cute for some reason.

Is this what they call "gap moe" (cuteness born from unexpected contrast)?

"Mr. An, what should we do with this?" Lin Xuan pointed to the remains of the wooden carving on the ground and said with a smile.

"what!"

An Lan looked in that direction and suddenly realized that the thing was still in her office.

She was so startled that she jumped up from her chair.

"Throw it away! Throw it away now!" she cried urgently, covering her eyes.

"it is good."

Lin Xuan grinned mischievously, walked over, and began cleaning up the pile of things, throwing them into the outside trash can.

During this time, he used his true essence to confirm it once more.

These things are indeed just wood now, and there's nothing unusual about them.

When he returned, he found An Lan sitting restlessly in her chair.

She breathed a sigh of relief the moment she saw Lin Xuan.

"Why...why is it so slow?"

"It moved again!"

"what?"

"Just kidding."

"Lin Xuan!"