Dark Moon Era

The cold wind kept blowing as the thin clouds in the sky came and went, blocking and revealing the moon from time to time.

 As Tang Ling and the warrior left the entrance of the alleyway, the moon came out from behind the clouds again, casting its soft moonbeam over the alleyway, but no one noticed that from the window on the third floor of the building behind the stable, the curtain moved slightly and closed the tiny seam on the window.

 …

 The stone house was only 5 square meters large. It was dark, humid, cold and dirty. It even reeked badly because the only ventilation available was a tiny window with iron bars located 3 meters from the ground.

 There was also a stack of hay on the ground which seemed to be a makeshift bed for one to rest on. In the other corner was a dirty wooden bucket which was probably the place to answer nature’s call. Other than all that, the only decoration in the tiny space was the thick iron door.

 Tang Ling sneered at the place that he was currently in—a cell used to detain serious criminals.

 Why was he locked up? It was not because he had committed a serious crime. No one would believe that a scrawny poor kid could be a serial killer who had the strength to rip a horse open!

 Moreover, Tang Ling did not even have blood on him.

 The reason he was locked up in the cell was because he withheld information from the authorities.

 It was an intentional move. When he saw the body, he had exaggeratedly claimed that he did not see or hear anything.

 Tonnies took the bait and everything became easier.

 Tang Ling kept quiet and refused to cooperate, but he acted like he had seen something, hence agitating Tonnie. As a result, Tang Ling was thrown into detention.

 Did Tang Ling know anything about the murder? He actually did not! He only had a general theory about the case and decided to get himself locked up.

 As for why? It would be the countless benefits coming his way and this situation allowed him to be active rather than passive.

 Besides that, Tang Ling was able to locate a relatively safe place for him to catch a breath and think of a way to recover his body.

 Lastly, and also most importantly, he could ‘fish’.

 Therefore, he was calm even after he was thrown into the cell. He did not resent the poor environment of the cell either. After all, he had lived in the settlement for many, many years, which was basically a sewer of the old civilization, hence it granted him immunity to any kind of environment.

 The guard who had thrown him into the cell left shortly after.

 The first thing Tang Ling did in the cell was to check the room itself. The walls were sturdy. There were no visible seams or holes while the ground might be humid and wet but was sturdy enough.

 The iron door was thick. However, the tiny opening was relatively fragile and was only the size of half a man’s head. The opening was a window for the delivery of meals and it was always locked other than mealtimes.

 Hmm, a tight cell with no place to escape or break out from. It seems like Tonnies isn’t a careless man.

 Tang Ling curled his lips into a smile before he sat down with his legs crossed. He tried cultivating because he wanted to find a way to recover his strength.

 Having his strength taken away felt weird to him. The Dream Domain claimed that it would always push the Dream Seeds to the edge of death, but with his strength taken away, would it not spell certain death?

 It was obviously impossible, and there were only two explanations for this kind of situation.

 First, the strength of a normal person in this world was sufficient to clear the missions, and by normal people, it meant the normal people of the old civilization.

 Second, it was possible to recover his strength and doing so would be a test of sorts.

 Tang Ling naturally discarded point one. The moment he entered this world, he met a murder scene. Based on all the clues at the scene of the murder, this murder was definitely something beyond the common criminal.

 As for the second point?

 If he treated it as a test, it must have some kind of difficulty.

 Tang Ling treated the prison as a challenge. He wanted to try and see if he could get the chance to recover his strength there. However, the cultivation did not work.

 The Purple Moon did not exist in this world, so it was impossible to cultivate with the Thousand Satin Skill.

 Tang Ling quickly stopped his experiment. He then tested it out in this tiny cell, but it was also futile.

 Cultivating using the systematic way did not recover his strength at all. Instead, it consumed his already deficient stamina.

 Tang Ling thought that the way he was being trapped in this situation seemed odd, hence it did not fit the criteria of a test and did not trigger the chance for him to recover his strength.

 Otherwise, starting from this mission, recovering his strength would be a special test that would have been fixed from earlier on.

 Tang Ling did not work on the futile tests anymore since his stamina was scarce. He sat on his knees and searched his clothes.

 His backpack that he had brought from the real world was transformed into a small pouch in this world.

 The items he stored in his pouch were mainly food and they were transformed into low-quality rations and black bread from this period. His messy clothes were transformed into the outfits from this era as well, but they were tattered.

 As for his weapons, his sword became a broken and rusty chopper. His dagger changed into a slightly sharp metal piece with hemp rope tied around, matching his identity as a farm kid.

 However, all the seemingly worthless items had been confiscated.

 Tang Ling was not anxious though since he would eventually get his pouch back.

 Energy food in the Dream Domain was essential to him after all, and judging from his previous experience, it was one of the benefits of the Dream Domain.

 How could he possibly give it up?

 Now, all he had to do was wait.

 After a quick search, Tang Ling fished out a small piece of dried fish from his clothes. It was sliced thinly and was the size of his palm.

 It was not some random fish though. The items that he got from Boss Huang were never bad. In fact, this tiny piece of fish was a slice of Level 3 vicious beast meat.

 As for why he had a piece of Level 3 vicious beast meat hidden in his clothes, given Tang Ling’s habit and personality, it would be strange if he did not have it with him.

 However, he was no in a hurry to swallow the fish. He was just a normal person now, and if he simply consumed the Level 3 vicious beast meat, it might be a poison rather than a cure.

 Tang Ling carefully tore a tiny strip of the dried meat that was even smaller than the first time he had recklessly consumed it. Then, he put it into his mouth.

 ‘This should be fine,’ he thought. He had not been in good shape when he had first consumed the vicious beast meat either because back then, he had just gotten out from the dream world and had been very weak.

 “Gulp!” A familiar and strange pain enveloped him whole. The familiarity was because Tang Ling had experienced the pain countless times. The strange thing was that after he grew stronger from his cultivation, consuming vicious beast meat rarely hurt him anymore.

 Since it was something that he had experienced before, he was not nervous when the pain struck. He endured the pain and practiced the eating method as he used the energy to start cultivating.

 In short, Tang Ling’s time spent in the cell was rather decent.

 Three hours flew by peacefully.

 Then, a buff figure holding an oil lamp appeared in the corridor where Tang Ling’s cell was located.

 The figure walked through the dark corridor and reached the cell door. He seemed to be hesitating, but a moment later, he indubitably opened up the door and walked into Tang Ling’s cell.

 Tang Ling was frightened and fell off the stack of hay. He shrunk to the corner, looking terrified. When he got a clearer look at the person who came in, he groaned in a weeping tone, “Please, Sir, let me go! I really don’t know anything.”

 The person showed a tinge of guilt on his face but forced himself to remain strict.

 “I’ve sent my men to your farm and…your mother has just passed away.” The person who came into Tang Ling’s cell was none other than Tonnies.

 Tang Ling responded like a trapped beast. He jumped up from the corner and mustered his courage to push Tonnies away.

 “Are you the devil? Why didn’t you let me get the doctor to save my mother?! I’m innocent. I did nothing wrong. Why did you lock me up in here?! What can I do when people are dead? I can’t do anything. Even if the numbers are climbing, I’m not a knight or a priest. I’m just a…normal person!” Tang Ling yelled his grievance as he wept. Meanwhile, he was also observing Tonnies’ reaction and paying attention to his surroundings.

 “I want to see my mother. I want to see her for the last time!” he shoved Tonnies again.

 Tonnis was drowned by guilt, but he still held Tang Ling by the arm. Compared to Tang Ling’s pathetic strength, he was strong. With his arm clamping Tang Ling down, the kid could not move, so all he could do was sob.

 “I know you’re innocent, but people are dying and you know that! And I can tell you this much: the actual death toll is a lot higher than you thought! Starting from the 13th of last month, the day the disaster happened, more than 340 people have lost their lives.”

 Tang Ling was silenced by the number. Judging from his response, he was shocked.

 “Are you scared? The scarier thing is that it started off with three deaths a day, and as time went by, the number climbed higher and higher. Tonight, the death toll has reached eight, and I can’t tell whether the number will stay that way until morning.” Tonnies paused and looked at Tang Ling before asking, “Aren’t the dead innocent? Do you know how valuable every single clue is?”

 Tang Ling pouted and sulked as thoughts were going through his head. He then shook his head with mixed emotions and groaned, “Oh Lord, what disaster is descending upon us? This is terrifying!”

 “Of course, it’s terrifying! Those bloody ignorant bastards just have to dig that Santos Demon out! I guess this is the demon’s retaliation.” Tonnies’ eyes were red when he said that. Even a buff hunk like him had a helpless and soft side.

 However, when the term Santos Demon was mentioned, the notification voice popped into Tang Ling’s head again.

 ‘Main mission triggered. Starting…’