Chase Game

The four groups, each with their own agendas, are all converging on the same destination.

And this destination was just an abandoned house.

Looking at the dilapidated stone house in front of me, who would have thought that this place was once glorious?

More than a hundred years ago, a large family lived here. The house was very large and the houses were lined up in rows.

Unfortunately, the old house was destroyed by war, and later the ruins were demolished, the land was leveled, and a new house was built.

As time went by and life gradually improved, high-rise buildings with reinforced concrete structures appeared, and this stone house fell into disrepair.

Even now, this place has become a gathering place for members of the underground gang "Fengyan".

The room wasn't exactly spotless, but it wasn't cluttered either.

A painting with a missing corner hangs on the wall. It depicts the phoenix, a mythical bird, appearing in the world. The upper part is a mythical bird, and the lower part is an aerial view of a courtyard house.

Below the painting is a table with an oil lamp on it.

It was clearly a carefully planned arrangement.

The flickering oil lamp light clearly illuminated the fearful expressions of the eight people with pockmarked faces.

They knelt on the ground, a complete reversal of their posture at the barbecue restaurant.

Tap, tap, tap...

The sound of the cane hitting the ground was like a countdown to impending terror.

The pockmarked man heard the cane pass by him, but dared not look up.

Fortunately, it didn't last long before a sharp, elderly woman's voice pierced the silence of the night.

"Hey! You bunch of useless people, you can't even handle the smallest things."

You must understand, you are acting on behalf of the gods, walking among mortals.

Upon hearing this, the pockmarked man looked up and hurriedly explained:

"My lord, divine messenger! We were indeed acting according to your orders, but the security guards arrived too quickly this time, we..."

The old woman chuckled coldly. "Heh, so you really did as I instructed, quickly taking the money and leaving, or were you just indulging in your gluttony?"

Knowing things were about to go wrong, the pockmarked man quickly recounted the events that had happened, embellishing and adding details as needed.

While exonerating himself, he pinned the blame on Li Qingping and others.

Finally, with a mix of encouragement and assurances, he said:

"My lord, if we possess the divine power bestowed upon us by Lord Feng Yan, we will be invincible from now on!"

The pockmarked man's gaze fell on the oil lamp, the flame flickering in his eyes, and his breathing became slightly rapid.

However, the old woman stood in the middle, slightly raised her cane, and then suddenly slammed it down.

"ah!!"

The cane slammed hard into the back of the pockmarked man's hand, and he let out a scream of pain.

The old woman coldly swept her gaze over the other seven people and said:

"And put away your petty thoughts. If Lord Fengyan chooses someone as his divine messenger, he will naturally bestow power upon them. But if he doesn't, you must not covet it!"

The crowd fell silent, some even crawling lower into the ground.

The old woman chased them all out without leaving a single one, and only after things had quieted down did she turn to face the oil lamp.

His hunched body was as thin as dry firewood, and his shadow swayed with the firelight.

Her gaze fell on the missing corner of the painting, and then she slowly pulled out a blackened brazier and a large sack from under the table.

The sack was filled entirely with money, and the denominations were all quite high.

The money was just casually and haphazardly stuffed into the sack. An ordinary person would swallow hard at the sight of it, but the old woman didn't even glance at it.

She grabbed a handful and held them up to the flame of the oil lamp; the banknotes instantly ignited.

After throwing it into the fire pit, she grabbed handfuls of money and threw them in as well.

Not to mention that deliberately damaging RMB is an illegal and criminal act.

Just seeing such a large sum of money burned to ashes in the flames is enough to break one's heart.

But the old woman felt no heartache whatsoever; she didn't even glance at the brazier.

Her attention was drawn to the missing corner of the painting.

If you look closely, you'll see that this corner "fills up" as the banknote burns.

Even after a whole sack of banknotes had been burned, there was still a tiny chip, about the size of a fingernail.

The old woman watched the flames burn out and murmured:

"So close... just a tiny bit less popularity..."

It turns out that the old woman was using "popularity" to repair the painting.

Popularity refers to the "qi" or "vitality" of a person.

It can be understood as a kind of "willpower" that circulates among people, a special energy that integrates cause and effect, belief and fortune.

As currency becomes integrated into people's daily lives and circulates between people, it naturally acquires a certain human touch.

By burning a special flame, the vital energy is extracted and then guided to the missing corner of the painting for repair.

She didn't tell anyone about this, not even the pockmarked man.

This old woman had quite a strange encounter.

Her original name was Ding Guifang. She had no children and was somewhat mentally unstable.

They can maintain their basic livelihood by collecting recyclables on the streets.

They slept in this abandoned house at night.

Just a month or two ago, she had a dream in which she became a young lady from a wealthy family.

There were endless pastries to eat and clothes to wear; how carefree!

Until a sudden fire destroyed everything.

Ding Guifang, still a little girl, stood in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by people coming and going to put out the fire. The scene was chaotic, and no one paid any attention to the crying little girl.

Then the dream shifted, and the flames were now right in front of Ding Guifang. The heat wave hit her face and dried up her tears.

In the firelight, she saw a strange, large bird soar into the sky, flames clinging to its body as it rose into the heavens.

Ding Guifang was mesmerized by what she saw, filled with longing.

Then, a painting full of holes and missing corners fell into her arms. Ding Guifang woke up with a start and found an oil lamp beside her.

After seeing the content of the painting, she exclaimed in surprise, feeling as if it were a divine manifestation.

After that, naturally, an offering table and incense burner are set up to repay the gods for their blessings.

She did indeed receive a "gift" and became a "free agent".

The task assigned to Wang Yun's team was to investigate this place.

Initially, the painting was incomplete and lacked any real wonder. It wasn't until she repaired it to the point where only a small corner remained that it was detected by the [Awakening Bell].

At first, Ding Guifang simply used her savings accumulated over the years to boost her popularity.

However, the efficiency was too low, so she revered "Feng Yan" as a god and created a gang in his name to help her amass wealth and gain popularity.

Therefore, the eight pockmarked men who were kicked out were not given a rest, but were instead arranged to continue going out to collect money.

Ding Guifang wanted to finish the painting tonight.

A pockmarked man stood outside the door, his eyes fierce and malevolent, his hand still throbbing slightly.

Upon hearing Ding Guifang's instructions again, he couldn't help but feel more resistant.

The pockmarked man was also an ambitious fellow. The moment he witnessed supernatural power, he had an idea in his mind.

At this moment, all the groveling and forbearance were for one sentence—

I absolutely must gain power!

P.S.: Please remember that intentionally damaging RMB is a criminal offense. The damage is only shown in the story; please do not attempt to do so.