novelden Chapter 1: Trouble is brewing
Chapter 1: Trouble is brewing
At two in the morning, Su Qin huddled in bed listening to an audiobook, waiting to fall asleep.
This is a recently popular online novel. It's quite creepy and perfect for listening to under the covers. However, this novel has one drawback: it makes you more and more alert the more you listen to it.
I can't sleep, I just can't sleep.
The more he listened, the more a chill ran down his spine, but he couldn't help but continue listening. This was the second time he had listened to this novel.
"Huh?"
Why is it silent? I just topped up my account, it couldn't have disappeared!
Su Qin opened his phone and went to a certain point to check the details. He was completely stunned as soon as he clicked in.
"Damn, what the hell? Where's the novel? It's been censored again? Did this author offend someone? The novel was just released and it's already been blocked?"
Yes, the novel called Mysterious Resurrection has been blocked again. All related content has been blocked, or more accurately, completely deleted.
Su Qin quickly searched for related content on other websites and apps. This was a very popular novel, and generally speaking, even if the official version was blocked, pirated versions would still circulate.
As a result, Su Qin searched for a long time but found nothing; all he got were 404 errors.
"Damn, this is too much! They've censored everything and banned it across the entire internet."
"Hey? There's new information!"
Su Qin searched for an hour but found nothing; instead, he stumbled upon an even more explosive piece of news on Douyin (TikTok).
This information was released in the middle of the night.
"According to the latest news from this station, a well-known author has been arrested by the police for allegedly disseminating superstitious, horror, and terrifying content over a long period of time, and all of his related books have been banned. Two announcers from a certain station have also been arrested for disseminating books containing inappropriate content."
"grass!"
Su Qin felt completely numb! What kind of divine law had he broken? Just for a novel, he was sent to the dark room along with the author? The author was one thing, but even two of the news anchors from a certain platform were ruined?
Su Qin felt as if the sky had fallen, and he was completely drained of energy and spirit, because he had lost his spiritual sustenance.
He drifted off to sleep, not knowing how long he slept. He felt as if he had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by the alarm clock.
"Ugh~"
Damn, back to work again. Time flies!
With dark circles under her eyes, Su Qin quickly washed up and rushed off to work.
Ping An Building is a key project in Dajing City. It looks like an ordinary construction site, except that it has a few more security guards patrolling it than other construction sites.
Su Qin was a construction worker on site and knew some unknown things. Just yesterday afternoon, a collapse occurred in the basement of the unfinished Ping An Building, and an ancient tomb was discovered, the age of which is unknown.
The basement has been sealed off since yesterday afternoon, and no one is allowed to enter.
"You son of a bitch, are you some kind of pig? Don't you know there's important work today? You're all sleepy and drowsy. Just looking at you makes me furious!"
As soon as Su Qin entered the construction site, the hot-tempered foreman gave him a good scolding.
"Mr. Wang! Please calm down! This is the first time I've encountered something like this, and I can't sleep tonight. Besides, I was just assisting today; I didn't do anything special, so it won't have any impact. Please don't worry!"
Su Qin smiled ingratiatingly, while simultaneously pulling out a pack of cigarettes he himself was reluctant to smoke and lighting it for the foreman.
The foreman's expression immediately softened considerably.
"Stop talking nonsense. Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? You stay up late reading those damn novels. I usually don't bother to say anything to you, but what's the occasion today?"
With so many leaders coming, and you're acting all sleepy and dozing off, what if you cause problems? Haven't I cleaned up your messes enough times already?
If things go wrong this time, even the Bodhisattva can't protect you.
The foreman was extremely anxious, fearing something might go wrong. He originally didn't want to get involved, but the benefits promised by the contractor were too great, and he had no reason to refuse. Moreover, Su Qin was one of his men, and as the first witness, he had to either join or disappear.
"Mr. Wang, I've always been reliable. You can rest assured, nothing will go wrong."
Su Qin dropped his playful expression and made a serious promise.
From the moment he received the phone call this morning, he knew what was going to happen next, but he couldn't escape it. Even calling the police wouldn't help. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents, so he chose to keep quiet and do whatever his boss told him to do. He was sure he would get some hush money afterward.
"Watch your head," the foreman had to remind him repeatedly. This wasn't out of concern, but because he was worried that something might go wrong and he'd get involved, potentially ending up in jail.
After dealing with the situation, Su Qin successfully entered the construction site and, after his identity was confirmed by the security guards, went to the basement.
"Hey kid, what took you so long? We've been waiting for you for ages."
A robust middle-aged man greeted Su Qin, with three other people standing beside him.
One of them was a security guard who patrolled yesterday. Su Qin didn't recognize the other two; they were probably people the construction company had hired from outside.
Both men were dressed in black, wearing hoods and face masks, and kept their distance from the other two. They were also carrying large backpacks, the contents of which were unknown.
"I wasn't planning on coming, but well, I can't fight city hall."
Su Qin gave a perfunctory greeting, as they weren't very familiar with each other, but seeing the situation, he had to consider his own safety.
Those two men in black were clearly not good people, so we'll have to be careful from now on. The only one we can trust is this middle-aged man, whom we're relatively familiar with. As for the security guard, we can't trust him at all.
This guy usually likes to bully others and demand bribes, everyone hates him. Look at his dejected face now, like he's lost his parents, he's unreliable if anything really happens to him.
Once everyone had arrived, the two men in black didn't greet them. Instead, they put down their bundles and pulled out two ropes to prepare for what was to come.
"You three go down first," one of the men in black, with a hoarse voice, coldly ordered.
His tone was very unpleasant. Just as the middle-aged man was about to retort, Su Qin, seeing the situation was turning sour, immediately tugged at his sleeve.
This guy has a bad temper and often argues with the foreman. He's the type who doesn't listen to authority, but he has one advantage: he's simple-minded and has a lot of strength. If Su Qin wants to ensure his safety, he has no choice but to rely on this guy.
Su Qin did not show any resistance. He pulled the middle-aged man to lead the way and slowly slid down the rope into the pit below.
"Why are you so cowardly? I've had my eye on those two arrogant guys for a long time. They're the kind of people who come here to do shady things, and they're even bossing people around."
The middle-aged man complained as he slid down the rope.
Su Qin looked up at the men in black who hadn't moved and whispered a reminder: "Keep your voice down. Those two are probably hired by the big boss. It's best not to mess with them. There are no good people who do this kind of thing. We need to be careful."
The pit was about ten meters deep, and the two of them quickly reached the bottom. It was pitch black down there, and visibility was very poor, so they had to put on headlamps and wait for the other three to come down.
The security guard followed closely behind, but he seemed to be in a bad mood, fuming and arguing with everyone he saw.
"What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"
There was a clear handprint on his face, which Su Qin and the other man noticed as soon as they arrived. Their gazes seemed to have hurt his pride.
It was obvious that the security guard, who was used to abusing his power, had gotten into a fight with the two men in black, but they didn't tolerate him and taught him a lesson with a slap.
The middle-aged man couldn't help but cover his mouth and chuckle. Just as the security guard was about to lash out, the two men in black came down, and he immediately suppressed his anger and stood silently to the side.
"I don't care what you did before or how awesome you were. Now I'm in charge here. You're not three-year-olds anymore. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run, right? This isn't child's play. If anyone drags us down, don't blame me for being ruthless."
From now on, do as I say. Don't touch what you shouldn't touch, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and do whatever I tell you to do.
The man in black with the hoarse voice immediately established rules for everyone upon his arrival, his cold gaze sweeping over the three people in front of him.
Su Qin and the other two remained silent, all understanding that these two men in black were not to be trifled with.
As he spoke, the man in black with a hoarse voice pulled an old compass from his backpack, fiddled with it, and instructed the other man in black:
"Knife, go light the incense!"
The man in black, nicknamed "Knife," took out three incense sticks from his bag, lit them in the corner, and then squatted down to observe, seemingly studying something.
The two men in black were behaving strangely and somewhat mysteriously. Su Qin and his companions couldn't understand them at all, but they seemed to be professional tomb raiders.
"Brother Pao, nothing unusual, we can do it."
After observing for a long time and confirming that there was nothing wrong, Daozi asked Pao Ge for his opinion. Pao Ge was a veteran with many years of experience, and his family's traditional skills had never gone wrong. Daozi admired him from the bottom of his heart; he was much better than Daozi, who was only half-baked.
Pao didn't reply, but instead fiddled with the compass, muttering something under his breath, and wandered around for a moment before giving instructions to the others:
"Knife, you go ahead and scout ahead. These bumpkins don't know anything and could easily get into trouble. I'm worried about them."
Hey security guard, you better behave yourself with that knife, or I won't hesitate to kill you right now.
"You two big guys, stay close behind. Keep your eyes peeled and be there to help no matter what happens. If anything goes wrong, neither of you will escape."