An old man with a hunched posture emerged from a room on the first floor, expressionless as he sized up Sun Hang and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
There was a similar aura on this old man as on the girl, belonging to the "Tai Sui."
"I met a girl on the way, and she asked me to bring these buns and fried dough sticks here," Sun Hang lifted the bag in his hand to gesture to the man.
"Where's the girl?"
"I don't know, she seemed to have something urgent and left right after giving me the stuff." Sun Hang shook his head, "I don't know where she went after that."
"Alright, I see," the old man nodded, speaking in a cold, hard tone, "Just put the stuff on the table by the door and you can go."
"There's one more thing," Sun Hang said.
"..." The old man squinted his eyes and after two seconds asked, "What is it?"
"I heard there's a 'Sage' here who can cure all kinds of difficult diseases... even incurable ones?"
"Who told you that?"
"The girl told me."
"What illness do you have?"
"Malignant brain tumor, the doctors at Tianfu City Central Hospital told me I have at most another month and a half... so I thought I'd try my luck," Sun Hang replied.
The old man scrutinized Sun Hang once more, then turned around: "Follow me."
Sun Hang followed the old man up six flights of stairs, stopping in front of a door labeled "Room 602."
"Wait here," the old man said to Sun Hang, then pushed the door open and went inside.
After about ten minutes, the old man came out and said to Sun Hang, "Go on in, the Sage is waiting for you inside."
Sun Hang was slightly surprised in his heart; he hadn't held much hope for this probe, even if the other party didn't suspect him, he thought at most he'd only contact some small fry... He never would have guessed that this old man, who seemed just like a janitor, could let him directly meet the "Sage" himself.
Could it be that the "Sage" is not the highest-ranking being in this Cult Organization... or was it that what awaited Sun Hang inside the room was a trap set up specifically to ensnare him?
Sun Hang could feel the presence of a significant amount of the "Tai Sui" aura inside the door, but although the quantity was quite large, their quality was not very high... he felt an inexplicable confidence: with his own ability, he could completely suppress these auras.
Just like before at the abandoned amusement park, those brambles of Bloody Mary didn't dare to approach him.
This was a kind of bloodline suppression akin to a "natural enemy," for the suppressed side, the only choice apart from being hunted was none.
Sun Hang walked in.
At a glance, the interior of Room 602 had evidently undergone extensive illegal renovations, with all non-load-bearing walls and partitions removed, connecting all the rooms to form an open space of nearly one hundred square meters.
At the base of the walls, there was a row of copper incense burners, and the air was filled with the scent of incense.
More than thirty simply dressed people, with their eyes covered in white bandages, knelt on meditation mats as if in meditation. In the upper position, a middle-aged man clad in a robe, barefoot, leaned against a young woman's arms, smiling as he watched Sun Hang walk in.
Every person sitting here had the "Tai Sui" aura, and the middle-aged man was no exception.
Sun Hang just stood there and looked into the middle-aged man's eyes without speaking, this strange atmosphere persisted for about half a minute before the middle-aged man broke the silence first.
"You say you came to seek medical treatment, but clearly, you have already obtained a lifesaver."
"Didn't get that," Sun Hang replied very succinctly.
"Han Ying died at your hands, right? I can smell the 'Tai Sui' granted to her on you," the Sage said.
"You have a pretty keen nose," since the other party directly exposed the matter at hand, Sun Hang didn't plan to play along anymore, and asked, "Where is the Tai Sui... I mean, its original form."
"Are you from the Investigation Bureau... or a Hunter?" the Sage asked, "But regardless of your identity, you must have understood by now that the 'Tai Sui' is different from other peculiar creatures, right?"
After saying this, the Sage directly stood up, spreading his arms towards Sun Hang, and in a deep voice said: "Not just you, everyone present here can feel that it is the 'Tai Sui' that granted them rebirth, and the 'Tai Sui' will also grant them the future!"
"Are you... trying to turn me against my cause?" Sun Hang asked.
"No, this is not a defection," the Sage shook his head, "You know more about peculiar creatures than the ordinary person, so you should also understand, the distinctive nature of the 'Tai Sui'... The most painful things in the world are nothing more than birth, aging, illness, and death, but the 'Tai Sui' can completely erase them, and all you need to do is offer your devotion to the 'Tai Sui'."
"Doesn't require money?" Sun Hang tilted his head and scratched the back of it with his hand, "I don't have much money."
"No... I think you must have some misunderstanding about us," the Sage continued, "As long as you are willing to join us and worship the 'Tai Sui' with us, you will receive the blessings of the 'Tai Sui'... We do not demand wealth. We value the devotion of followers more."
"No wonder..." Sun Hang nodded, "The previous Cult Organization that was taken down, their Sect Leader was already living in a villa and driving luxury cars, but you're still cooped up in this unfinished building... this must be what's called 'lessons from the past'... Honestly speaking, keeping a low profile is a good thing, at least it's not so easy to be caught by people from the Investigation Bureau."
"We are different from them, and the 'Tai Sui' is also different from the peculiar creatures they kept," the Sage shook his head, "That group of people fed human flesh to peculiar creatures, attempting to create a terrifying catastrophe. But we save the world with the blessings of the 'Tai Sui', giving those who have fallen into despair a glimpse of hope for life..."
"No... you're still feeding peculiar creatures with human flesh. It's just that you used to feed the dead, and now you're feeding the living," Sun Hang shook his head, "Although neither of them is a good thing, at least you are smarter than your predecessors, transitioning from 'draining the pond for fish' to sustainable development—after all, killing someone only provides a meal for peculiar creatures; while using a parasitic method, relying on the host's vitality to continuously support the peculiar creatures, one human life can last for at least several years. In terms of cost-effectiveness alone, I admit your method is more commendable."
The expression in the Sage's eyes suddenly changed. He took a step closer to Sun Hang: "So what... Many people, if not for me saving them, would have died long ago. But after receiving the blessings of the 'Tai Sui', their lives have been extended for many years, isn't that a good thing?"