Chapter 19

Diamond Language 4, The Extreme of Darkness

The stairs leading to the top of the church were old and decrepit, creaking underfoot. Angler made no attempt to be stealthy as he ascended, gripping the handrail and moving quickly. Mo Fei followed behind, somewhat worried. After a moment of thought, he quietly took out his phone and sent a text to Os, writing just four words: "Church Top Floor."

As Angler stepped onto the last stair at the top of the church, he looked ahead... The first thing that caught his eye was a huge black iron bell.

Next to the bell stood a man in a black trench coat, his long black hair tied back, tall and slender. He stood with his back to Angler and Mo Fei, one hand leaning on the bell, the other holding a black rose.

Mo Fei slightly furrowed his brow, wondering where he had found such a variety of rose, especially a black one that seemed even more exotic and stunning than red roses.

When Angler stepped onto the wooden floor of the top level, the man slowly turned his head, showing his profile to Angler and Mo Fei with a faint smile.

Angler scrutinized the man, touching his chin thoughtfully, while Mo Fei looked puzzled—the man was not Chinese.

His strikingly distinct features made it difficult to discern his nationality, particularly his long black hair, reminiscent of an Italian, but his facial contours were more angular and gaunt, with green eyes suggesting Nordic origins.

"Hmm," Angler nodded, "A rare mix of Hungarian and Russian ancestry."

The man's smile widened slightly as he slowly turned to face Mo Fei and Angler, revealing his full appearance.

Mo Fei

Mo Fei instinctively felt that this man was quite dangerous.

The man slowly surveyed Angler and Mo Fei, as if admiring them, or perhaps pondering…

"Angler..." the man exhaled softly, slowly uttering Angler's name.

Angler nodded, asking, "Black JK?"

Black JK elegantly closed his eyes with a smile, touched his chest and nodded, asking, "Do you like the gift?"

Angler thought for a moment and replied, "The gift is too precious, though the packaging is quite unique."

"Hehe... Do you know whose ashes are in that urn?" Black JK lightly adjusted his coat's lapel, looking up at Angler.

"Are they Kexue's?" Angler inquired.

"Ah..." Black JK nodded in satisfaction, "But inside the box, there’s precious sand."

"Precious sand?" Angler was slightly puzzled.

"Yes," Black JK affirmed, turning his gaze to the distance, contemplatively, "I am quite pleased with you."

Angler asked, "Have we met before?"

"Hmm~" Black JK extended his slender finger, swaying it lightly, saying, "I once saw you from a distance a long time ago, indeed tempted by your beauty, but my current infatuation... is because you caused me to lose a pet I had cherished for a long time."

"A pet?" Anger pondered, "Oh... did you buy that lizard?"

"Yes," Black JK nodded with a tinge of regret, "By the time I got it, it was already dead... I had to use it to feed my other pets."

Mo Fei was surprised, wondering what kind of formidable pets he kept that could consume a Komodo dragon.

"However, it seems to have had indigestion after eating the giant lizard," Black JK said helplessly, shaking his head. "I just wanted to take it for a walk, but coincidentally, there was a murder case, so I thought... why not take this chance to meet."

Mo Fei and Anger understood at the same time—the so-called pet was probably that enormous python.

"I could have fed it a few policemen to satisfy its hunger, but you ruined that," Black JK said with a smile. "I showed it your picture, and it really liked you."

"What do you want from me?" Anger asked, reminding, "Even though he was a murderer, you're still guilty for killing him!"

"Tsk tsk..." Black JK shook his head and said, "Anger... don't hide your true nature. You're not one of those tasteless policemen; you're a superior being above them."

Anger glanced at Mo Fei, who shrugged—this person seemed a bit off.

Black JK turned to look at Mo Fei, sneered, "Knight... watch your gaze."

Mo Fei was startled and looked at Black JK, hearing faint footsteps from downstairs; it seemed like Oster and his team were coming.

"Seems like we've been interrupted," Black JK said, somewhat disappointed, glancing at Mo Fei.

Seeing Anger frown slightly, Mo Fei asked Black JK, "What's your purpose?"

"No particular purpose," Black JK stretched leisurely and said, "I'm just expressing my affection, nothing more... Anger, we'll meet again. I look forward to your performance."

Suddenly, he threw the black roses in his hand, leaning back and falling out of the church's bell tower... Perched atop the spire, at least ten meters above the ground, a fall from here would certainly be fatal.

At the same moment, Oster and his team rushed up, crossing paths with Black JK as he fell.

"It's you!" Oster shouted, reaching for his gun to shoot, but Black JK just laughed, covering his ears.

Everyone was stunned by his action, only Anger covered his ears and said, "The bell!"

As soon as he spoke, the giant black iron bell began to sway, followed by a loud "Dong~~ Dong~~" sound of the bell. The immense sound vibrated the eardrums of those too slow to cover their ears, and Mo Fei wrapped his arms around Anger, running downstairs.

"Wait a moment..." Anger tried to speak, but the bell's sound was too loud, drowning out all other noises.

Finally, having reached the ground floor at top speed with Anger, Mo Fei looked around, but there was no sign of Black JK.

"Mo Fei," Anger reached out and tugged at him.

Mo Fei turned, his ears still ringing, somewhat unable to hear clearly, and asked loudly, "What?"

Startled by his loud voice, Anger, with aching ears, said while covering them, "Go up there later!"

"Huh?" Mo Fei was confused, "Why?"

Anger shouted loudly towards his ears, "Bring down those black roses for me, I like them!"

"Oh." Mo Fei nodded, about to retrieve them, when he saw Oster, holding the black roses and coming down with the police officers, all of whom were incessantly clearing their ears, some suffering temporary deafness.

Anger moved to take the roses, but Oster refused, saying, "No, these are evidence."

Anger, dissatisfied, and Oster, not wanting to offend him, relented a bit, handing over one and saying, "Alright, you can have the others, but I need to take this one for testing."

Only then did Anger nod contentedly at Mo Fei, who took the roses, examining them closely — truly pure black petals, not wilted, but fresh with droplets of water, indeed a rare sight.

Seeing Oster's resentful expression, Anger asked, "Do you know that Black JK?"

Oster, his hearing somewhat restored, nodded and asked, "How did you get involved with him?"

Anger turned to look at Mo Fei.

Mo Fei sighed, knowing Anger didn't want to explain, so he recounted last night's incident with the urn and this morning's letter to Oster.

After listening, Oster frowned deeply, "This guy seems fixated on you, Anger. He's dangerous."

"Who exactly is he?" Mo Fei asked.

"His background is very complicated," Oster replied, holstering his gun. "He's also part of an organization called the Night Carnival, a dark and sinister underground group involved in numerous murder cases and religious incidents... In short, a highly dangerous anti-social extremist, a real troublemaker. You'd better steer clear of him and avoid any further involvement."

After hearing this, Anger nodded, "Mm, then get me a detailed file on him."

"Hah..." Oster, frustrated, took a deep breath and frowned, "I told you to stay out of it, and you still want in? I came across his case by chance, and the higher-ups told me to back off. You should avoid this mess too."

Anger raised an eyebrow, smiling at Oster.

Oster, resigned, nodded, "Alright, you win. I'll have someone send the information to your house tomorrow, but I don’t have much on him."

Anger nodded, then said to Mo Fei, "Let's go back."

They said goodbye to a frazzled Oster, cleaning up the mess, and Anger and Mo Fei drove home as the sky gradually darkened.

"Anger, are you really going to investigate the Night Carnival?" asked Mo Fei.

"Mm," Anger nodded, looking at a black rose in his hand, "I'm a bit curious."

"Should we search online?" Mo Fei suggested, "There might be some clues."

Anger glanced at him and said, "I dislike machines."

"Hah..." Mo Fei shook his head, asking, "So, do you want one? If yes, I'll buy a computer. It'll make things like setting up an email for easier communication."

Anger looked out the window, "Whatever you think."

Mo Fei then realized that Anger was actually quite competitive; he tended to withdraw and avoid situations where he felt clueless.

"The next day, Mo Fei really did bring back a laptop capable of connecting to the internet and set up broadband to start researching online."

"'How's it going?' An Ge'er asked, glancing up from his newspaper."

"'Hmm...' Mo Fei frowned and shook his head, 'Nothing... Perhaps this 'Black JK' is like you, disliking machines.'"

"'Hmm.' An Ge'er suddenly put down the newspaper, stood up, and said to Mo Fei, 'Stop fiddling with that clumsy box and help me with something.'"

"'What?' Mo Fei stood up and saw An Ge'er pointing towards a large cabinet in the upper left corner of the hall, connecting to the ceiling, and said, 'Over there.'"

"'What should I get?' Mo Fei placed a stool under the cabinet and stepped up."

"'Newspapers,' An Ge'er replied, sitting back on the sofa, 'Many years’ worth, they've piled up…'"

"Before he finished speaking, Mo Fei opened the cabinet door and a flood of newspapers came sliding out. Caught off guard, Mo Fei was hit by the newspapers, stumbled off the stool, and was then buried under a heap of them."

"An Ge'er blinked and after a long pause said, 'It’s been a long time... so be careful when you take them out.'"