Chapter 15
Chapter 15: The Devil’s Eye Explained
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After Mo Yanshao and the others got on the elevator, Li Yunzhou turned around and sized up Xia Ping’an. His face suddenly turned serious, and he cleared his throat twice, acting all authoritative.
“Kid, what’s with that look? Let me tell you this: don’t think that you are some hot shot just because you have clairvoyance. In the National Order Council, Awakened are the same as cleaning ladies. Get it now? The difference between the Awakened and summoners is still worlds apart. The chances of you becoming a summoner in the next two years are less than one in 50. Even if you happen to be lucky and accidentally become a summoner, you will still need to address me as senior. Got that?”
“Understood, Senior!” Xia Ping’an replied with a smile. “By the way, Senior. You haven’t answered my question yet. What is the meaning behind the Devil’s Eye?”
Upon hearing Xia Ping’an obediently calling him senior, Li Yunzhou’s chest puffed up. His ego had been thoroughly satisfied. He waved his hand and answered, “This is not the place to have that discussion. Come, let us head to the small meeting room in the information center. As a senior, I will explain it clearly to you. A rookie like you should experience how dangerous this world can be.”
…
A few minutes later, in the said small meeting room in the information center, Li Yunzhou stood before a gigantic display. He pointed at the bizarre and terrifying pictures of the Devil’s Eye formed from piled-up human flesh on the display and began to explain things to Xia Ping’an.
“This is the Devil’s Eye. The one we saw today was considered small, with just three sacrifices. This picture on the screen was taken in 1993 by the National Order Council in the outskirts of a city in Rwanda, Africa. This Devil’s Eye had more than 6,800 sacrifices.”
The picture of the Devil’s Eye that Li Yunzhou was pointing at was an aerial shot. The dismembered corpses of humans were piled up into small mounds in an open space that was dozens of acres large. The corpses formed an eye, and the severed heads were piled up to form the pupil. The picture was extremely gory.
The piles of corpses were also decaying and were festered with maggots. Such a scene was already beyond description.
Xia Ping’an, who was seeing the picture for the first time, felt his stomach churn. He merely squinted at the picture. His eyebrows were slightly raised, and he covered his mouth tightly.
Aside from the picture from Rwanda, there were many more pictures of various Devil’s Eyes. Each and every one of them was formed from dismembered human corpses. These pictures were a challenge to an individual’s tolerance levels.
“The number of sacrifices of the other Devil’s Eyes range from a few to dozens and even hundreds of sacrifices. All of the human sacrifices had their heads, hands, legs, and torsos dismembered into six parts. Due to the fact the Devil’s Eyes are too evil and terrifying and would cause widespread terror among civilians, such pictures are not published by the media in various countries. Ordinary people are strictly prohibited from knowing about this. Of course, now, you are qualified to know about this.”
“Is the picture of the Devil’s Eye related to the 1994 Level A dimensional invasion that occurred in Rwanda, Africa?” Xia Ping’an asked.
“Kid, you are quite sharp!” Li Yunzhou praised as he nodded. “The Devil’s Eye is an evil sacrificial rite. This ritual can completely squeeze out the negative energies and emotions from humans. For dimensional invasions, the Devil’s Eye is like a lighthouse on the vast ocean for the invading creatures. It makes it easier for the creatures of other worlds to open up dimensional pathways to this world. The larger the sacrificial ritual and the more people die, the higher the level will be for the dimensional invasion that follows. In 1994, there were more than a million deaths during the Level A dimensional invasion in Rwanda.”
“Who set up the ritual? Who set up the Devil’s Eye?”
Li Yunzhou expounded, “The ones who set up the Devil’s Eye are an anti-human cult called the Devil’s Eye. The catastrophe in Rwanda was but one of the cult’s works. This cult has existed since ancient times. It is so old that it is hard to trace back its origins.
1
“The cult exists for the sole purpose of allowing other worlds to descend upon ours through dimensional invasions to completely consume and destroy it. For the cultists, they considered such a day the Divine Advent.
“Among the 178 cults and mysterious groups across the globe identified by the National Order Council, the Devil’s Eye is ranked first in how dangerous they are. They are the common enemy of various governments of the world. The members of the Devil’s Eye can be immediately killed regardless of where they are spotted.”
Xia Ping’an inquired further, “What kind of people join the Devil’s Eye? Are they all fallen summoners and Awakened?”
“Those only form a small group among the members of the Devil’s Eye,” Li Yunzhou replied as his face turned serious. He was silent for a moment. “In reality, among summoners, the speculation about the one who established the Devil’s Eye cult was most likely a nonhuman who came to our world through a dimensional invasion. However, this nonhuman can take our appearance and live among us.
After Project Eden last century in 1945 Europe, the makeup of the members of the Devil’s Eye became more complicated. People who were possessed by demonic spirits, people who were consumed and merged with demonic spirits, summoners as well as Awakened-all joined the Devil’s Eye. For those who merged with demonic spirits or who were possessed by them, we are not sure whether they can still be considered human. Their genetic makeup has been completely altered. They possess special abilities and may even become terrifying monsters.”
“Is the Devil’s Eye the enemy that the Special Forces Unit has to deal with aside from the dimensional invasions?”
Li Yunzhou concluded, “They are the most dangerous enemies. All creatures that possess supernatural abilities and threaten the national security and public order of the Great Flame Republic, regardless of what they are, are our enemies.”
…
Li Yunzhou’s patience and attention towards Xia Ping’an had only lasted for 10 minutes.
About 10 minutes later, in the small meeting room, Li Yunzhou approached Xia Ping’an after answering a few of his questions, and sat on the table in front of Xia Ping’an. Li Yunzhou raised his eyebrows and swiftly changed the topic of conversation. He said, “I heard you went to the Lyra Shopping Complex with An Qing today?”
This fellow was just talking about cults and mysterious groups that were classified as dangerous organizations by the National Order Council a second ago. Why did he change the topic of conversation all of a sudden? Xia Ping’an still couldn’t get used to Li Yunzhou’s nonlinear thinking.
“That’s right. Senior, is there anything wrong?” Xia Ping’an replied.
“Did An Qing mention me when the two of you were in the car?” Li Yunzhou licked his lips. His voice sounded somewhat lewd.
“Nope!” Xia Ping’an shook his head expressionlessly.
Li Yunzhou suddenly smirked as he said, “I knew it. She is still so shy. Things are on the right track since she didn’t mention anything about me. It means that she actually has been thinking about me.”
1
Speechless, Xia Ping’an stared at him.
Xia Ping’an’s gaze caused Li Yunzhou to snort discontentedly. “Kid, what do you know? Today, Head introduced you to everyone during lunch. I didn’t come down to the cafeteria, one person was missing from the welcoming session. By right, when you and An Qing were heading to the Lyra Shopping Complex, she would mention me, informing you that a colleague was missing from lunch. However, she said nothing about it. It means that I have a special place in her heart. I’m on her mind!”
Li Yunzhou’s logic was ridiculous!
Staring at Li Yunzhou, who was happily immersed in his imagination, Xia Ping’an couldn’t help but say, “Senior, are you overthinking things?”
Li Yunzhou glanced at Xia Ping’an with a condescending look, then he flipped his long hair suavely. Melancholic, he stared at the sky outside the window with a 45-degree upward gaze and said, “An ordinary person like you will never understand the troubles and worries a handsome guy like me has to go through throughout my life. If being handsome is a sin, a guy like me would have been severely punished a million times over. As the most handsome guy in the National Order Council Xianghe City branch, it is normal for female colleagues to have a crush on me.”
6
“Is that so?”
“Of course. Actually, other than An Qing, Fang Lingshan has a crush on me too. Moreover, she has had a crush on me for many years already. Just now, after we got off the helicopter and before we entered the elevator, she snorted and glanced at me. Did you see it?”
With a serious expression, Xia Ping’an said, “Senior, I think that was a glance of disdain.”
“Disdain? That means you, Kid, are still naïve. Shanshan was just trying to get my attention. Women have many tricks up their sleeves. Didn’t you notice that Fang Lingshan and An Qing seldom talk to each other? That’s all because of me.”
Li Yunzhou put on a look of self-accusation as he continued, “If it wasn’t because of me, they wouldn’t have grudges against each other. It is just that one of them is as cold as ice, while the other is as bright as the sun. I’m a soft-hearted person, and I have always tried to avoid making either one of them sad. Hence, it’s hard for me to decide who I should be with between the two of them. Nevermind, it’s useless to tell you all this since you won’t understand. Oh, yeah, keep these secrets to yourself. Don’t go around telling others. I don’t want to make Big Tu and the rest envious. I also don’t want An Qing and Shanshan to feel embarrassed when they meet each other. As a man, I’ll quietly carry this burden of love.”
2
When Li Yunzhou finished saying this, he saw that Xia Ping’an was completely dumbfounded. He yawned and lost interest in continuing this conversation with Xia Ping’an. He said, “I still have to go on a mission tonight. Right now, I’ll go and catch some sleep. I extracted some documents from the National Order Council for you. You can slowly go through them on the computer. If you have any questions…erm…you’ll eventually find the answers to them.”
After leaving behind such an irresponsible statement, Li Yunzhou left directly while shaking his head and mumbling things like “igniting the light again” and “have to exhaust divine power again.” He left Xia Ping’an alone in the room.
Xia Ping’an smiled, not minding as he searched for the information on the computer in his room.
After 10 minutes, Xia Ping’an found a folder on his computer containing a historical introduction to the National Order Council. He clicked on an old black-and-white photograph that was taken more than a hundred years ago.
The title of the old photograph was ‘1856 Great Flame Republic, Jinshan City. Imperial Demon-slaying Guardian Lighter Defeats Vampiric Bat Demon’.
In the picture, a man in armor stood before the camera with a dignified appearance. The man had two double-barreled blunderbusses on his waist. In one hand, he held up an old-style lantern, and, in the other, he held a huge knife.
Behind the man was a giant bat demon with a wingspan of more than 8 meters that had its wing outstretched by ropes. The bat demon had the wings of a bat, but the body of a human. It had the face of a human, and its fangs were exposed. It was covered in blood, and there was a large gaping hole in its chest where its heart should be. The hole was the size of a bowl and pierced straight through his body to the other side.
Mo Yanshao, Tu Polu, and the others would be igniting the light tonight.
4