Chapter 114: No Rest Allowed

The eyes of every black man present transformed into the shape of gold coins.

Fernanda stepped forward, wearing a sycophantic grin, and asked Feng Tianlin, "Great Lord Wesford, may I ask how many men you intend to hire this time?"

Feng Tianlin’s smile remained unchanged. "I want all of you."

Upon hearing this, the men exchanged glances, each seeing the excitement reflected in the other’s eyes. A boss this generous—not to mention how much they could pilfer from his estate, the salary alone was bound to be a small fortune. They scrambled forward, clutching their tools, vying to crowd around Feng Tianlin.

Feng Tianlin waved a hand. "Don't be impatient. Get in the cars first."

"Cars?" The men hesitated. They looked around, but apart from Feng Tianlin’s stretched luxury supercar, there didn't seem to be any other vehicles.

Seeing their reaction, Feng Tianlin pointed toward the rear. "These cars."

The group was swept up in excitement once more; they never imagined that in their lifetime they would have the chance to ride in such luxurious vehicles. This only confirmed their assessment: this famous Mr. Wesford was nothing more than a fool with too much money, a fat target ready for the slaughter.

Once inside, the men were rowdy and boisterous, so much so that Long Mengting, in the passenger seat, covered her ears with a look of resentment. Just as she was on the verge of teaching them a lesson, Feng Tianlin kept one hand on the steering wheel and blocked her with the other.

"Why bother with a bunch of walking corpses?"

Seeing that Feng Tianlin did not react to their behavior, the men became even more brazen, openly rummaging through the items in the car. Feng Tianlin saw it all but paid them no mind.

On the way back, after picking up the necessary construction materials, they headed straight up the mountain. Feng Tianlin finally understood why Wesford had left the car at the base—driving it up the mountain was... difficult. Fortunately, Feng Tianlin was no ordinary man; as a Nightmare Doll, he simply split off several doll clones to push the vehicle up the slope.

Upon reaching the manor, everyone disembarked, gasping in awe at the magnificent estate. While they had visited the residences of many wealthy people, those places paled in comparison to this manor. The entire estate radiated a single message: wealth without limits. In their eyes, the rafters of the ancient castle were gold-plated, filled with precious artifacts, to say nothing of the treasures inside.

Strangely, however, there were very few servants to be seen, and those few appeared dazed and vacant.

In reality, this was merely the illusion they perceived. In truth, the ground they walked upon was likely stained with blood, and every step they took might crush various human remains. The "dazed" servants were actually hideous, their bodies covered in shocking wounds, watching the men with the hungry gaze of tigers eyeing prey, as if they were about to drool.

After exiting the vehicle, Feng Tianlin clapped his hands to grab their attention and spoke slowly. "I need to renovate the entire castle. This is a massive project, so I require you to work without rest."

He wore a smile, as if he were stating the most normal thing in the world. The workers blinked in confusion, as if they hadn't heard clearly or couldn't believe their ears.

"Buddy, what did you say? Work without rest?"

It was Fernanda, fresh out of prison, who spoke up. Feng Tianlin’s previous demeanor had led him to believe the man was soft, and with so few servants visible, it gave them the illusion of strength in numbers. Consequently, his tone was inevitably arrogant.

Feng Tianlin snapped his head toward Fernanda, his eyes locked onto the man. "That’s right. Is there a problem?"

"Impossible! Any human being needs to sleep!" Fernanda led the protest. As soon as he spoke, the rest of the men joined in.

Watching this, Feng Tianlin laughed. He clapped his hands, and a servant handed him a massive treasure chest. He opened it right in front of everyone, the various treasures inside emitting a dazzling light that made the men salivate with greed. Some instinctively wanted to rush forward and seize the loot, but the thought of being on someone else’s turf kept them in check.

Feng Tianlin nonchalantly grabbed a handful of treasures from the chest and scattered them toward the crowd. The promise of immense profit triggered a chaotic scramble. Their reaction was exactly as he had expected; he simply shook the treasure chest. The crisp, clinking sound of the contents inside reached their ears, and for a moment, they perceived it as the most beautiful sound in the world, drawn in by the noise.

"If you finish the work to my specifications, there is a chest for each of you!"

His voice echoed in their minds, pulling them into a fantasy of endless possibilities. With that kind of money, there was so much they could do. Fernanda, in particular, thought of the family that had reported him—if he had that much money, he could reduce that family to dust.

"So... do you still need to rest?"

"No, no." Everyone shook their heads hurriedly.

"That's better." Feng Tianlin was finally satisfied. He turned to the Chimei (spirit) floating nearby and said, "If anyone tries to run or slacks off, kill them immediately and put them on display."

The Chimei nodded, then hesitated. "I found a strange set of numbers in Wesford’s room."

"Oh? What numbers?" Feng Tianlin was intrigued.

"He wrote them on a slip of paper," the Chimei said, clearly puzzled.

Feng Tianlin frowned. "Let me see."

He took the note and saw a string of numbers: 728143588. Looking at the sequence, Feng Tianlin immediately realized what it was. He tore up the note and said dismissively, "That’s just a request group for a novelist, a bunch of readers pestering a poor author for updates. Don't worry about it."

He remembered seeing this number while reading horror novels with Long Mengting. He hadn't expected Wesford to be a fan of that book before he died; no wonder he had such good taste.

He turned to Long Mengting. "Follow the style we chose earlier. You’re in charge."

Long Mengting looked at the group of men with disgust. "I find being around them nauseating."

Feng Tianlin tapped her on the head. "Do you think you have to do anything? Just go back to your room and play on your phone; keep an eye on them, that’s all."

Hearing this, Long Mengting sighed and nodded. "Fine."

Her primary role was actually to manage the display of those the Chimei executed and to supervise the progress of the work.

With everything arranged, Feng Tianlin had another matter to attend to. The renovation of the castle would take a long time, and he wasn't going to waste that period. He was going to settle the score with those creepy entities from the Holy Lord Church!

"Honestly, this doll invited you to meet me, and you dared to disrespect me!"

If they didn't want to come, they could have at least sent a message! Instead, they had simply vanished without a word. His pride was his most cherished possession, and for such cowardly, insignificant creatures to slight him—he would have his revenge. (In truth, he just really wanted the Loldo Magic Box.)

To find the legendary Holy Lord, he first needed to capture one of the Holy Lord Church’s entities. There were two ways to do this: rely on luck, or capture another creature and interrogate it. Alternatively, he could seek clues from human organizations dedicated to fighting these entities, like the China Strange Creature Investigation Bureau.

Human organizations fought in the light, while the entities hid in the dark. Theoretically, seeking out the human organization would be the most convenient path.

*If I just cause a little trouble, they should come looking for me themselves, right?*

He thought naively, completely underestimating the extent of their corruption and incompetence.