The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 68: A0505! The Old Guy Is a True Genius

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: A0505! The Old Guy Is a True Genius

Late at night, in the guardhouse of an old residential complex, a sliver of light peeked through a gap in the curtains.

Yang An walked up to the surveillance monitor, quickly found the live monitoring software, and opened it.

The process was smooth. One by one, surveillance feeds popped up. The security cameras were all powered and functioning normally, with no issues.

Soon, more than a dozen split-screen feeds filled Yang An’s view on the monitor, and he realized this was only the first page.

The software’s sidebar categorized the feeds by the complex’s entrances and exits, the parking lot, the streets, and the building hallways.

Yang An thought for a moment, then opened the hallway surveillance category. If Pan Yu was anywhere, it would most likely be inside one of the complex’s apartments.

’How to find Pan Yu’s room among so many residential buildings... that is the most critical step!’

Yang An began his search through the surveillance feeds. A good while later, after reviewing all the hallway footage, he still hadn’t found anything noteworthy.

This residential complex, situated within the Illusion Realm, seemed completely devoid of people.

There was no sign of life, nothing related to human habitation, and certainly no trace of recent activity.

The hallways in the footage, captured in the black-and-white of infrared night vision, were clean. There was no clutter, not a single stain. They were unnervingly clean.

It wasn’t just one hallway; all of them were like this.

’Looks like this complex is deserted! It’s empty!’

This was the only conclusion Yang An could draw. But if that was the case, why had Pan Shi heard the sound of a food delivery earlier?

Everything in an Illusion Realm reeked of abnormality; perhaps that in itself was the most normal thing about it.

Yang An didn’t give up. After checking the live feeds, he opened the playback for the hallway footage and began reviewing the last few days of recordings for each camera.

Time ticked by. Even though Yang An was playing the footage at four times the normal speed, it was still an incredibly time-consuming task.

By the time he finally finished speeding through all the hallway playbacks, he had come up with nothing. He hadn’t found a single thing.

He rubbed his temples, a headache brewing. ’There can’t be absolutely no trace. There must be something I missed.’

’But where?’

Yang An scrolled the mouse wheel, switching the surveillance back to the live feed and resuming his search.

Another good while passed. As he continued to watch with no results, Yang An grew more and more agitated.

But just then, his hand on the mouse froze. He seemed to have noticed something amiss and quickly scrolled the wheel back up.

’Here!’

Yang An’s eyes widened as he stared at the monitor. As his cursor finally stopped on the ID of a specific security camera, he at last discovered the discrepancy!

A0503... A0504... A0506...

’There’s no A0505!!’

’If A represents a zone in the complex, then 05 should be a building in that zone, and the last two digits must refer to the floor!’

With 03, 04, and 06 all present, only 05 was missing...

In other words, every other floor had a security camera, except for this missing one.

’This unmonitored floor... there’s definitely something wrong with it!’

’Maybe Pan Yu is in a room on this very floor!’

Yang An had finally found the anomaly. Time was of the essence, and even if there was only the slightest chance, he had to check it out.

Outside the Illusion Realm, the Can Meng Daoist was standing guard. If any trouble arose, the Daoist could instantly pull him out. This guaranteed his absolute safety, so he could afford to be bold.

"A0505... Zone A, Building 5, Floor 5!"

CLICK!

Yang An once again switched off the power to the surveillance monitor at the breaker box before preparing to leave the guardhouse.

He first peered through the crack in the door to check the situation outside, then stepped out.

In the silent night, a cool, crisp breeze stirred. Under the cover of the dim night sky, Yang An began his search within the complex.

Soon, he spotted a sign for "Zone A, Building 3" on the side of a building. He then located Building 5 and immediately ran toward it.

Once inside the building’s entrance, he was met with a dark, empty hallway. Unable to use Mana here, he couldn’t even activate his night vision.

’If I just rush into the darkness like this, it could be dangerous.’

’There are only two options now.’

The security cameras inside the building were working, which meant the entire building’s power supply was normal. He could find the light switch in the hallway and turn on the lights, naturally dispelling the darkness.

But that was clearly not a wise move. Yang An couldn’t quite put his finger on the feeling, but he was certain that flipping on the lights—that intense glare—would attract the attention of some unknown entity and completely expose his position.

’That leaves only one other option.’ Yang An looked down at his hand.

’Being unable to use Mana here is one of the Illusion Realm’s Rules.’

’I can’t use the Bone Relic Buddha Radiance or the Meat Burial Talisman because they’re external items, not a part of me.’

’But there are two things that might just work.’

’One of them is... the Lighting Technique!’

’The Lighting Technique doesn’t require Mana, only blood!’

’If the Lighting Technique works, I’ll have much more confidence. After all, its power is to expel and even kill Evil Demons and other filth.’

’And aside from the Lighting Technique, there’s one other thing!’

Yang An reached for his lower back. Through his shirt, he felt it: the feather, no more than two inches long.

’The Spinal True Feather!’

This item wasn’t external. It had grown from his own body due to atavistic bloodline regression. In other words, it was a part of him, and had naturally come with him into the Illusion Realm.

He was about to enter the building and would likely face danger, so Yang An didn’t hesitate.

’I have to try anything and everything that might work.’

The next moment, Yang An gripped the Spinal True Feather at his lower back and yanked it free.

Along with a bizarrely satisfying ache, as if his spine itself were being extracted, the feather in his hand rapidly expanded until it was over a meter long.

Even though using this thing caused him no real harm, the sight of the sinew still connected to the quill made his skin crawl.

Gripping the Spinal True Feather in his right hand, Yang An swiped his left hand across the white vane, instantly slicing open his palm.

As crimson blood oozed from the wound, Yang An immediately activated the Lighting Technique.

VWOOM!

A burst of flame instantly erupted from his palm, banishing much of the surrounding gloom and illuminating the slight upturn of Yang An’s lips.

’It really works!’

’I have to admit, that old bastard who created the Lighting Technique was a goddamn genius. To think this Daoist Technique actually works inside the Illusion Realm!’

Although he wasn’t currently using the Lighting Technique in the form of a Dao of Destiny Technique, and its power was weaker, the crimson flame still gave him an immense sense of security.

He carefully controlled the flame on his palm, shrinking it to the size of his thumb—just enough to illuminate his immediate surroundings without consuming his blood too quickly.

With the light in his left hand and the Spinal True Feather held tight in his right, Yang An took a step forward and entered the building alone!