Zhang Xiaowai stood before the entrance to the secret chamber in the old city ancestral hall, clutching the newly assembled torn pages of the Ulong Tome. His fingertips trembled slightly, as if he held an invitation to hell. His heart pounded like the crackling charcoal fire at a night market barbecue stall, each beat a sharp pop. Above his head, an old ceiling fan creaked, seemingly mourning his fate.
The stone door was intricately carved with twisted Bagua symbols, gleaming with an eerie, cold light, looking like graffiti drunkenly scrawled by a laser engraver. He opened his mouth to complain, but before he could utter a word, Liu Piaopiao had already raised her magnifying glass, poised to interrogate the very identity of the stone door.
"The Ulong Tome is complete!" Her eyes shone as if she had just found a limited edition lucky bag on Taobao. "This secret chamber must hide the secret of the treasure! Detective Piaopiao's deduction is flawless!"
Tang Xiaotang followed closely, her phone already switched to live-stream mode, the front camera aimed at Zhang Xiaowai. She mumbled, "Exploring the secret chamber of Ulong City Ancestral Hall, underground city or grand hoax? Xiaowai bro takes you to find out!"
Wang Dazhuang swung his police baton, walking at the rear with a majestic air. "What's a treasure? I'll smash it open with one swing! A person of destiny doesn't use doors, they use walls!"
"No, no, no!" Zhang Xiaowai almost collapsed to his knees on the spot. "Can you please stop smashing things? I'm still paying for the repairs from the library incident!"
But clearly, no one intended to listen to him. Liu Piaopiao patted his shoulder, saying earnestly, "You have to learn to accept the halo's gift. The Ulong Halo is your destined case-solving artifact! Tonight, we absolutely must dig out the treasure, and incidentally, see if there's any luck for you to find a partner."
Old Zhou, standing by the door, leisurely puffed out a smoke ring, his mop slung over his shoulder, looking like a guardian deity who had been standing guard for decades. "You little brats, the Tome is a key, but don't forget, a key opens a door, but what's behind the door isn't necessarily a candy house. Be careful, don't let that Ulong Halo of yours get you killed."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Liu Piaopiao pressed the Tome into the corresponding groove on the door. With a few "click-click-click" sounds, the stone door slowly opened, and a cold, damp air rushed out, mixed with years of dust, incense ash, and mold. Wang Dazhuang immediately let out three sneezes.
Inside was a dim, vast underground hall. The mottled murals on the walls depicted Bagua constellations and strange totems. In the center was a huge stone platform, inlaid with a large Bagua compass that glowed faintly, its symbols exactly matching those engraved on the Tome.
Liu Piaopiao rushed forward, like a primary school student spotting a test paper hint. "This is the entrance to Ulong City's treasure! I told you, a detective's intuition is never wrong!"
Tang Xiaotang's live-stream camera zoomed in frantically. "This scene is too hardcore! Forget tomb raiding novels, forget treasure hunters, move aside! Xiaowai bro, this time you're truly legendary!"
But Zhang Xiaowai's smile had already frozen. He felt his Ulong Halo buzzing again, like a phone receiving dozens of consecutive reminders to meet a deadline, making his scalp tingle. He leaned closer to the stone platform and found a line of tiny ancient characters carved into the edge of the Bagua compass:
"Tome guides, treasure appears, price eternal."
"Oh my god…" He sucked in a cold breath. "What does 'price eternal' mean? This isn't treasure hunting, it's selling our lives, isn't it?"
But Liu Piaopiao wasn't listening. Her small hand was already on the Bagua compass. "Don't be a coward! When a detective takes action, what 'price' or 'no price' are just ploys! Maybe it's an anti-fraud slogan."
Just then, a low chuckle suddenly echoed from a corner of the hall, like old cooking oil warming up. "Zhang Xiaowai, your Ulong Halo really is a universal trouble generator."
Everyone was startled. From the darkness, a middle-aged man in a suit emerged, looking composed, with a familiar smile at the corner of his mouth—it was none other than Mr. Chen, their company's CEO!
"Mr. Chen…?!" Zhang Xiaowai almost bit his tongue. "How are you here? You, you're the Shadow?!"
Liu Piaopiao immediately pulled out her magnifying glass. "I knew it, there had to be something fishy with the company's higher-ups! He was the one who signed my 'mysterious transfer email'!"
Tang Xiaotang reacted quickly. "This twist is explosive! Headline secured!" He swiftly aimed the camera at Mr. Chen, his face radiating a journalist's wild delight.
Mr. Chen sneered, taking out a strangely shaped remote control. "The Ulong Tome is the key to Ulong City's underground resource network. Activating the Bagua compass will allow me to control the city's information flow, logistics, and energy flow. You few, you were merely tools for me to assemble the Tome."
With that, he pressed the remote control. The Bagua compass "buzzed" and began to slowly rotate. The walls trembled in response, accompanied by the loud scraping of stone slabs. Countless hidden artifacts, gold, and historical documents were revealed before their eyes, like a small national treasure vault.
Wang Dazhuang's eyes lit up. "Holy cow, there must be tons of gold bars?!"
But Liu Piaopiao shouted, "Be careful! There's a mechanism!"
As the Bagua compass rotated halfway, several cracks suddenly appeared in the ground, and a pungent black mist surged out. The air itself began to distort.
"This is the price!" Mr. Chen laughed. "Activating the treasure will pollute Ulong City's underground water veins, turning the entire city into a toxic swamp! Hahahahaha—"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Zhang Xiaowai's scalp tingled. "We're solving a case, and now we have to take responsibility for environmental pollution?!"
At the critical moment, the Ulong Halo kicked in. He stumbled, bumping into the stone platform, which conveniently "clicked" and jammed the Bagua compass. The black mist immediately stopped. The next second, his foot slipped, and a stone flew out, accurately hitting Mr. Chen's hand. The remote control fell to the ground and shattered.
Liu Piaopiao seized the opportunity, pouncing and wildly smashing Mr. Chen's forehead with her magnifying glass. "Detective justice strikes!"
Wang Dazhuang roared, "Fate's Strike!" and swung his police baton down, the scene comparable to a street cleaner's brawl.
Tang Xiaotang, excited, filmed and shouted, "If this video doesn't go trending, I'll live-stream myself eating a slipper! Xiaowai bro, you owe me three autographed posters!"
Mr. Chen, subdued, struggled on the ground, his face covered in dust. "You useless fools, you've ruined twenty years of my planning—"
Before he could finish, the Ulong Halo struck again. Zhang Xiaowai, while trying to steady the stone platform, mumbled, "Don't explode, don't explode, I really didn't mean to—"
"Boom!" The stone platform tilted, crashing onto the core of the Bagua compass. The Bagua compass itself shattered into several pieces, and the black mist rapidly dissipated. The hall's ceiling began to collapse, dust flying everywhere, and screams erupted from the group.
Zhang Xiaowai crouched down, clutching his head, roaring, "No way! You won't even let me have a dignified victory?!"
A familiar figure moved through the dust. Old Zhou entered, holding his mop, calmly swatting away falling rocks as if nothing had happened. "Well done, little brats. The Tome is destroyed, and the treasure's curse is lifted."
He lit a cigarette, glancing at Mr. Chen. "This fellow is just middle management. The real secret… is still at Ulong City's lowest level."
Zhang Xiaowai shivered. "Grandpa Zhou, I just want to clock in peacefully, finish work, and eat dinner. How did I get dragged into some 'City Lifeline Project' again?"
Police sirens sounded in the distance. Officers arrived and handcuffed Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen still insisted, "I just wanted to make Ulong City stronger! You're the ones who destroyed the beginning of a new era!"
Liu Piaopiao held up the shattered Tome. "Detective claims another victory! Xiaowai, the Ulong Halo is today's MVP!"
Tang Xiaotang, editing footage, excitedly said, "I've already cut three trending titles from tonight's live-stream!"
Wang Dazhuang patted Zhang Xiaowai's shoulder. "Come on, let's celebrate with a cold joke—Why is treasure afraid of the Ulong Halo? Because once it's triggered, even the ceiling collapses! Hahahaha!"
Zhang Xiaowai slumped to the ground, gazing at the scattered stones and messy footprints. His heart pounded like the rhythm of the night market drums. He knew it was only the beginning.
Outside the window, Ulong City was brightly lit, its secrets hidden behind the neon lights, like dust that could never be fully swept away. And his Ulong Halo hummed, as if whispering of an even greater impending chaos.