I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 623 - 623 622. Idol Behavior Record_1

Chapter 623: 622. Idol Behavior Record_1 Chapter 623: 622. Idol Behavior Record_1 Gaude was dead just like that.

The gash that lay open in his abdomen was like an animal had gnawed at him, his innards gone without a trace, and just a little thought on it would send shivers down the spine.

Blood and flesh were splattered everywhere—on the bedside cabinet, the table, the chairs, the walls, and the ceiling.

Lu Ban heard the knocking and calls from behind him, readying himself to open the door.

But suddenly, Lu Ban noticed fresh blood on the doorknob and even the bolt was smeared with streaks of blood.

It was as if someone had scooped out Gaude’s insides with their bare hands and then left with dirty hands after turning the doorknob.

He allowed his right hand to melt and unlocked the door.

Stone pushed the door open and entered.

Upon seeing the state of Gaude, he was taken aback.

Immediately, Stone glanced around the room, turned back into the corridor, and called for the servants.

While waiting for the old butler and others to arrive, Lu Ban and Stone began examining the room.

“The ashtray on the desk is very clean, with no traces of having been cleaned. Gaude probably smoked, but he didn’t smoke in the room. What restricted him?”

“There are footprints on the carpet; the size of the shoes is slightly smaller than Gaude’s. This means someone else was in the room. Was it a servant or someone else?”

“The door was locked from the inside, and the windows of this room were also closed tight with no way to lock from outside. The ventilation is intact; this is a locked room.”

“The cabinets and drawers are untouched, handbags and money are all in place. It seems that Gaude wasn’t killed for money or some particular item.”

“Although it seems Gaude died from his abdomen bursting open and excessive blood loss, according to the situation at the scene, his heart should have stopped beating even before he was subjected to such treatment.”

Stone did a quick examination of the room, and as he did this, Lu Ban was rummaging through Gaude’s cabinet and drawers.

In fact, Gaude had arrived here just like them, today, with no signs of personal living and few clothes for a change. Despite the room not being used much, Lu Ban still found something.

“He had this in his luggage.”

Lu Ban opened Gaude’s suitcase, which, apart from clothes and cigarettes, contained two books.

One was a novel from the Ancient Capital titled “Shadow of Terror”; the other was “Crane Cry Talks”.

“‘Crane Cry Talks’?”

Seeing the text on the cover, Stone frowned. He didn’t open it, mainly because he didn’t know the level of contamination it might contain.

Anything related to Taoist Crane Cry was generally quite dangerous; even second-hand records of his words and deeds could cause contamination, and Stone had to be very careful.

Then he saw Lu Ban flip open the thread-bound book directly.

“???”

Stone instinctively took a few steps back and reached for his revolver, fearing that Lu Ban would suddenly fall into madness and attack the people around him indiscriminately.

Lu Ban didn’t care much, he just quickly flipped through the contents.

According to his recollection, “Crane Cry Talks” was just an [Excellent] quality product in the Silent Department Store, far from exceeding the pollution level.

And indeed it was the case.

Lu Ban quickly finished reading the book, and he thought that even if he memorized it, it wouldn’t likely cause any decrease in sanity.

Oh, he had already lost his sanity, so no problem then.

The content of the book was not written by Taoist Crane Cry himself, but by his descendants who recorded his words, similar to how “Crane Cry Talks” is to Taoist Crane Cry what “The Analects” is to Confucius.

In fact, it was not certain how many of the quotes were actually spoken by Taoist Crane Cry.

For instance, Lu Ban doubted that a sentence like “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy” would be said by that crazy guy who ascended to heaven.

Moreover, this book was a manuscript.

Manuscripts were not uncommon in Abandoned Capital, just as in Lu Ban’s era, many people read pirated novels or typed out their own pirated versions; in Abandoned Capital, manuscripts were unofficial folk copies, and literate people sometimes copied a book to sell for some extra money.

Since it was a manuscript, it was unavoidable to have mistakes, such as typos, missing words, corrections – these were common. Sometimes the person copying the book might miss a few pages, or add a few spontaneous comments, or even mix in their own fiction. It was not unusual for what was originally a legendary adventure story to suddenly turn into a romance that brings tears, then drastically change into a story about leveling up and fighting monsters.

So, whether it was fortunate or not, this book had a lot of added personal touches and was missing some parts, which also reduced the degree of pollution significantly.

Even if he gave it to Qin Tiantian to read, it wasn’t likely to cause serious problems, that was how Lu Ban judged it.

With no pollution, there was naturally no knowledge or power; according to Lu Ban, this book was really just a fan’s compilation of their idol’s sayings and actions.

[Brother Crane Cry ate noodles this morning. He said they weren’t delicious and didn’t finish them, leaving more than half the bowl. I know he did this because he felt pity for the noodles and set them free. Brother Crane Cry is so gentle, I’m crying to death!]

[Brother Crane Cry spent ten minutes today looking at the flowers outside the window. He must have seen through the meaning of life from the blooming and withering of these flowers and had a great enlightenment. When will I be able to reach his level of insight?]

[Brother Crane Cry stepped out with his left foot first today. Why did he do that? What lesson was he trying to impart? I pondered over it for three days, and when I saw him step out with his right foot first today, I understood. He wants us to know that we should be flexible in life and not be too rigid in following rules!]

Such content, basically, was idol records with a heavy dose of fan filter, with Brother Crane Cry eating a cake being interpreted as gaining enlightenment or visiting someone being considered a major breakthrough; it was even more exaggerated than the fan circles on social media.

It was unclear whether it was because Taoist Crane Cry excelled in the method of captivating fans and converting audiences, or because the people of this era had limited experiences and would unwittingly show sincere admiration when they saw a Transcendent.

Anyway, in this book, Taoist Crane Cry appeared to be an omnipotent divine figure.

If Gaude tried to understand Taoist Crane Cry through this book, it would be like understanding Hitler through “Mein Kampf” – he would just become a brain-dead fan.

Whether or not this former gang member was a brain-dead fan of Taoist Crane Cry, Lu Ban didn’t know. What he did know was that Gaude wasn’t here just to pay respects to a friend; he might have understood Taoist Crane Cry much more than any of Bronning’s children.

And considering Gaude’s previous role in mediating the sale of Storm Villa to Bronning, he might even actually know Master Byron.

It’s just…

Lu Ban turned his gaze back to the empty abdomen of Gaude.

Who killed him?