Investigation Report of the Gods

Chapter 9: I Saw a Giant

The voice was heavy and powerful, shouted with a modulation of intonation, accompanied by heavy stomping, giving a simple yet ancient feeling.

It was like the fishermen’s sea shanties at those ports.

That incantation seemed to use the same language as himself, only far more ancient, with strange pronunciation that made it sound mysterious and odd.

Han Suo listened, and then gradually opened his mouth to recite.

What he chanted was “the gods descend a decree,” but because he was too earnest, with intense thoughts inside, it seemed to subtly stir his spirit or tense nerves, making his tongue slightly knot.

That simple sentence, the instant it left his mouth, suddenly transformed into a mysterious and vague phrase, unlike his habitual speech, vaguely resembling the syllables and flavor from the recording device.

It flowed perfectly, naturally complete—nothing like the obscurity and difficulty the Black Rose spoke of.

As soon as his mind moved slightly, the incantation streamed fully from his tongue.

In a daze, he seemed to feel a momentary weightlessness in his body as he spoke the incantation, as if an invisible force suddenly wrapped him, pulling him into another world.

He saw layer after layer of space, behind which countless tall, blurry silhouettes surrounded him, and as the incantation sounded, they slowly opened their eyes.

Han Suo felt their gaze, lifted his head like an ant looking up to the sky, meeting a mysterious and unknowable scrutiny.

Eye to eye.

Suddenly, his mind became unimaginably calm.

As if everything was drifting away, then immediately, his mind was flooded like an ocean.

It’s hard to describe that moment—strange and mysterious.

Han Suo felt his thoughts and spirit suddenly become almost tangible.

Like the clearest ocean, so clear that you barely perceive the “water,” able to peer straight to the bottom.

But the incantation he recited stirred waves, making the invisible water ripple, becoming visible to the naked eye.

He instinctively knew what it was.

It was the spirit—his spiritual power was always present, always with him, but usually hard to perceive clearly, until the “spirit” moved.

Once it moved, it needed an outlet.

Han Suo didn’t know if his spiritual power was stronger than others or what, only that his mind raged fiercely—the wild ocean inside his head crashed back and forth, churning terrifying waves.

But just as it was about to burst out of his skull, it was pushed back by his “self,” or rather, his body.

Vaguely, Han Suo almost understood the reason:

Spirits don’t belong in reality, so they can influence reality but aren’t allowed to directly manifest there.

This was a rule.

But this rule’s limitation on the spirit was challenged when that spiritual force reached his right eye—suddenly, a searing pain surged from that long-dormant eye.

For an instant, Han Suo thought his right eye had exploded.

The intense collision hurt more than a full-force punch to the head—but this punch came from within outward.

Countless illusions appeared—like after being punched, golden specks flashed before his eyes, and countless distorted images appeared in front of Han Suo.

He seemed to see a giant.

A giant resembling the one in the old castle, only much larger—too vast for the naked eye to grasp its full form.

When it stood, it nearly matched the size of mountains, beyond what reality could contain; when seated, it blocked even the black, flare-riddled sun behind it—the shadow it cast could seemingly cover an entire nation.

Countless ragged people knelt before it.

Countless bizarre altars had been erected for it; scores of poems and offerings were made in its honor.

A mysterious and insane feeling surged from those flickering images, instantly engulfing Han Suo.

But the hallucination vanished after flickering only a few times, as if the power was cut.

That spiritual force striking his right eye was once again forced back by the rule forbidding the spirit’s direct manifestation in reality.

For a moment, Han Suo’s head felt like it was being shredded; his entire spirit, memory, and thoughts lost control, rising and falling like a raging ocean.

He froze, unable to move, letting that ocean quietly subside.

“I…”

He didn’t know how long passed before the intense dizziness faded. He stared blankly, slowly lowered his hand from his right eye, and tried to open it.

“Still can’t see?”

“But this incantation, this incantation…”

Han Suo sat quietly, thoughts surging like tides, struggling to contain himself.

The incantation worked.

But why was there nothing visible in my eye?

According to Song Chushi’s logic, if it could truly activate some mysterious power, wouldn’t that confirm the monster’s existence for others?

But now, things seemed different. Outwardly, no change, yet internally, by self-perception, his brain—that is, his mind—was being ravaged by madness.

The ocean-like spiritual power in his mind was blocked by rules from entering reality; his right eye seemed like a breach, but it hadn’t opened…

Maybe if it opened, it would work?

Should I try again?

That thought was so strong, but remembering the brutal pain and dizziness from the first attempt, he held back.

That pain was like being struck from the inside by an eighty-pound sledgehammer.

Again, from inside to outside.

Or rather, as though some rough force was violently tearing open the ten-year-healed scar on his right eye.

“I still… fear pain a bit…”

Han Suo admitted he wasn’t tough: “So, at least I’ll bite a towel in my mouth before trying again.”

He stood, fetched a towel from the bathroom, and glanced unwittingly at the mirror—saw his right eye, still sealed by scar, but faintly bleeding.

He looked and suddenly grinned; his mood surged with joy.

“Eye bleeding—that’s good.”

“And an eye that’s been blind for ten years wouldn’t bleed for no reason, right?”

“This—and only this—proves the incantation works. Because I recited it, it triggered change in this eye.”

“…”

Biting the towel, sitting on a stool, Han Suo touched his eye, nearly impatient—like a masochist, ready to attempt the second time.

“Hmm?”

At that moment, a cold, eerie wind blew in through the window behind him.

Han Suo paused, looked at the window, feeling surprised.

“I thought I closed that window just now?”

Yet now, it stood wide open; cold wind streamed through, lifting the curtain gently before it dropped softly.

Han Suo stared at the window for a long while; suddenly goosebumps rose.

He couldn’t describe the feeling—it was clearly a dark night sky, only distant lights and weird neon visible...

But he felt watched, sending chills down his spine; he immediately stood up.

That feeling was eerily like when the monsters in the castle stared at him.

He knew this sensation.

But this… is reality, now, in the present…

“No… I was too happy too early…”

He paused, then suddenly remembered Black Rose’s warning.

If the incantation were fake, that wouldn’t be scary.

What’s scary is if it’s true—then whether it activates something is uncertain, but the first person to recite it must face some change.

Or a crisis born from life being forcibly twisted.

Or some unknown entity’s attention.

Sigh...

The night deepened, the surroundings quieted. Han Suo sat still, staring out the window.

That unsettling sensation grew, as if some monster lay outside the window, ready to crawl in at any moment.

In the castle, those monsters were visible—he could at least rationally think to escape or hide. But this time, it’s in reality, right now, facing such a thing.

Han Suo couldn’t see them, but he felt something approaching, something was playing its part—he knew, but couldn’t see. That tension made his body stiff.

Ding-ling-ling!

In that tense vigil, his phone suddenly rang; in the deathly silence, it startled Han Suo.

The eerie sensation instantly receded; he half-floated, almost thinking it was his imagination.

Looking down, it was Xu Ji calling.

“Old Han, Old Han?”

He answered, and immediately heard a shout: “Help me…”

Hearing Xu Ji’s cry, Han Suo snapped awake and stood, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Xu Ji’s voice followed: “There are too many beautiful girls here, I can’t handle them all, save me by taking two off my hands…”

“?”

Han Suo stared for a few seconds, then realized what was happening and almost threw his phone.

Through gritted teeth: “You idiot!!”

“…”

At that moment Xu Ji laughed from the phone: “Haha, just kidding—I’m downstairs at your place, come down…”

“Okay!”

Han Suo looked at the window, coolly warning: “Stay there, don’t move. I’ll grab a knife first!”