Chapter 37: Inheritance Reward: Death Curse of the Tongue Root

I do not know if it was an illusion.

Ma Bin felt as though the phone in his hand had transformed into a hideous, gaping maw, swallowing half his head and neck in a single, ravenous gulp. The voice emanating from the receiver did not sound human; it sounded like a demon chewing on his flesh.

"…That is all. The Green Wolf Gang is wealthy and powerful; you shouldn't miss this small contribution, should you?"

The voice on the phone seemed oblivious to Ma Bin’s heavy, labored breathing, inquiring with a cheerful tone.

After ten seconds of silence, Ma Bin took a deep breath, suppressing the surging murderous intent in his heart, and said, "What you’re asking for is too much. I need to prepare; it will take about a week."

Feng Mu squinted. Combining this with the intelligence Ma Wei had provided over the last two days, he had a clear picture in his mind: "A week from now will be the time of Zheng Si’s death."

Why would it take a week to prepare? It was obvious that Ma Bin intended to use this week to meticulously orchestrate Zheng Si’s demise and then usurp his position. If he were foolish enough to show up to collect his "payment" at that time, one could easily guess how the rest of the play would unfold.

Feng Mu did not expose him. Instead, fully embodying the persona of a "vengeful" mastermind, he said with cold hatred, "Fine. When you make your move, call this phone to notify me. I want to kill Zheng Si with my own hands."

"Agreed!" Ma Bin replied over the phone, though he sneered inwardly.

Feng Mu suddenly appeared more vigilant, warning, "Don't even think about investigating my identity after you hang up. I’m a timid person, and I tend to have quite a violent stress response."

Ma Bin had originally intended to do just that, but upon hearing this, he abandoned the notion. "We are people with a common goal. Keeping secrets for each other is the foundation of our cooperation."

Feng Mu understood the implication and laughed heartily. "Rest assured, as long as you don’t try anything underhanded, I won't be calling Zheng Si."

With the conversation at this point, it was time to hang up. However, Feng Mu was not in a hurry. He glanced at the Red-Haired thug, whose face was a mask of panic, terror mixed with a sliver of desperate hope. It was unclear whether the thug was praying for Feng Mu to keep his word and spare him, or hoping that "Brother Bin" might save his life through the phone.

Smiling, Feng Mu spoke his final words into the receiver: "Your red-haired lackey can’t crawl anymore. Do you want to send someone to pick him up?"

As he asked, Feng Mu switched the phone to speaker mode.

Through the static of the speaker, the voice sounded even more cruel and cold: "Kill him. Once a secret shared by two is known by a third, it is no longer a secret."

*Beep... beep... beep...*

Before the final syllable had even faded, the call was disconnected. It was ruthlessly efficient, without a second of hesitation.

The Red-Haired thug’s face turned deathly pale. His mouth hung open in a hollow shape, his trembling tongue unable to form words. Only the tears and mucus of his despair flowed into his mouth, screaming silently for him.

"You see, it’s not that I don’t want to let you go; your Brother Bin is dead set on silencing you."

***

"Don't cry. That expression is too ugly; it doesn't suit your red hair."

Feng Mu’s fingertips gently brushed the Red-Haired thug’s neck, his voice filled with a compassionate, merciful tone, like a kind soul. "Every debt has a debtor, every wrong has a perpetrator. Don't blame me. When you get to the afterlife, remember to tell the King of Hell that it was Ma Bin who took your life."

The Red-Haired thug’s throat had been slit. He tried to speak, but only blood poured from his mouth. He looked at Feng Mu earnestly, and the hatred in his eyes noticeably faded.

As everyone knows, hatred does not simply vanish into thin air; it merely shifts its target.

Even as the life left his body, the Red-Haired thug’s eyes remained fixed and wide open, unable to close.

Feng Mu considerately waited until the man had breathed his last before using his hands to dig a pit, as if turning over soft tofu. He buried him in the same grave as the Yellow-Haired thug. A man of his word—he had promised to bury him here, so he would never leave him to rot in the wilderness.

He was truly... so kind it made one want to cry.

[You have cruelly murdered two people.]
[One was broken by your torture, his will to live shattered.]
[The other, desperate for survival, was killed by you, yet he shifted his hatred away from you in his final moments.]
[You didn't just kill them; you toyed with their emotions. You did an excellent job!]
[You seem to have grasped a hint of the essence of a villain. Inheritance progress has increased slightly!]

As he shoveled the dirt to bury the corpses, these notification boxes popped up on his retina, causing Feng Mu’s "good mood index" to drop by a notch.

Feng Mu: "..."

He was just trying to alleviate his own sense of guilt for killing—wasn't that perfectly human? How did it become "toying with the emotions of the dead" in the system's eyes? Was this system poisonous? Was it addicted to slander?

[It is not just the killing; you understand the art of the lie.]
[You disguise the truth as lies, using a mouthful of facts to strip away suspicion.]
[You disguise lies as truth, using a mouthful of falsehoods to conceal your identity.]
[You traded a fake secret for a real one. In your mouth, the boundary between truth and falsehood is inverted.]
[Speaking nonsense, turning black into white—the truth has become a piece of clay, molded by you into whatever shape you wish to present to the world!]
[When it comes to lying, you have surpassed 99% of the villains in the world. I am truly proud of you. Inheritance progress has increased slightly.]

Feng Mu: "???"

***

Feng Mu’s expression was strange. The system seemed to be praising him with genuine sincerity, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to be happy about it.

*The system is addicted to slander, and I’m a master of lies. Are we a match made in heaven?*

Feng Mu sighed and said softly to the system in his mind, "As a villain system, please don't be so honest in the future, okay?"

The system provided no response, merely popping up a few lines of settlement:
[[Game inheritance increased. Current inheritance rate: 3%]
[Current rewards have been issued and delivered!]
[Wishing the player a pleasant game...]

Fine then.
As long as you keep giving rewards, I won't hold your slander against you. I can swallow a little grievance for the sake of progress.

Feng Mu patted down the final mound of dirt. Seeing the settlement notification, his spirits lifted: "It says the reward has been delivered, which means it’s something I can use immediately."

A black exclamation mark appeared above the three-dimensional character portrait in his mind.

He tapped it, and the exclamation mark dissolved into countless symbols, swarming like ants into the head of the portrait. A non-human whisper echoed in his ears.

[You have inherited a Heretic’s Secret Technique—The Tongue-Root Death Curse!]
[Tongue-Root Death Curse: An extremely vicious blood curse. Those upon whom you place this curse cannot reveal your information; otherwise, they will die by bleeding from every orifice.]

Feng Mu digested the wicked knowledge now in his mind. "It’s a bit like something from an anime in my past life, only the activation effect is a billion times more sinister and terrifying."

Although this reward didn't directly increase his combat power, its utility was immense. Feng Mu was very satisfied.

Licking his lips, he couldn't help but grumble, "The rewards for 2% and 3% inheritance have arrived, but the reward for 1% is still on the way. That’s truly bizarre."

It must be mentioned that Feng Mu’s mindset had shifted significantly; he no longer really wanted to claim the reward for [1% inheritance].

Whether it was lost, or simply lost, it was better that it stayed lost. Feng Mu wasn't afraid of it being gone; he was terrified that it might suddenly appear before him one day, catching him off guard with a "huge surprise"!!!