After recent trials, Huang Jin was well prepared for the mission.
He had even prepared a will for property distribution, waiting to be sent at a scheduled time. Huang Jin knew better than to underestimate any mission, even if it seemed harmless on the surface. There was always a catch behind it.
The search mission was no exception.
Huang Jin’s coat was adorned with Tranquility Talismans, and he had explosive talismans hidden in the cuffs, ready to escape at the slightest sign of trouble. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, and this time he didn’t have time to escape.
Upon discovering abnormal evil qi, the group traveled through the sewer and arrived beneath the newly built pedestrian street. As expected, Ge Tingting was the first to notice the rolling pieces of human flesh in the sewage.
Wang Zhou immediately reported the situation to Shian, but before he could provide further details, the communication suddenly cut off. Fortunately, everyone present wasn’t inexperienced or foolish. They all obediently waited in their positions for backup.
Around the four of them was a ladder that could be used to climb out of the sewer. The ladder was still sticky with the foul-smelling meat, and the dark sewer cover rested at the end of the ladder, black as an eye socket.
At this moment, Ge Tingting wasn’t needed. Even Huang Jin, the spirit smith, could smell the faint stench of corpses in the air. It was the afternoon, and the pedestrian street was crowded with people. Yellow Millet was a tangible evil, not something that could be thrown out immediately. Huang Jin sighed in his heart, with Yellow Millet hidden in his pocket.
Wang Zhou was the first to become restless.
“Continuing like this is not an option,” Wang Zhou said. “I brought a portable drone that can capture some footage. If things are still manageable outside, we can evacuate early.”
“Be careful of cognitive pollution,” Huang Jin grumbled.
“It’s fine. The footage has been processed and won’t be directly transmitted.” Wang Zhou smiled back at Huang Jin. “Besides, I’m a science post, so I have a strong resistance.”
Carrying the heavy equipment case, Wang Zhou moved the sewer cover aside and then climbed onto the ladder. He released a small, unmanned drone into the opening. A crescent-shaped light appeared in the darkness, like a mocking smile.
After just a dozen seconds, Wang Zhou put down the controller and suddenly started climbing outward.
“What are you doing?!” Bao Linlin stood up abruptly. “Wang Zhou, come down!”
Wang Zhou ignored her.
Struggling, he moved the sewer cover and climbed towards the street, without even looking down once. Huang Jin squinted his eyes; it was too dark here, and he couldn’t see what was going on in Wang Zhou’s thoughts.
“I’ll go and bring him back. You two wait here,” Bao Linlin said, stomping her foot. She quickly climbed up the ladder, following Wang Zhou. Her movements were clean and precise, while Wang Zhou clumsily climbed outward. Despite Bao Linlin putting her weight on it, she still couldn’t pull him back, as he was a fully grown man burdened with heavy equipment.
Huang Jin sighed and was about to go up and help when he saw Bao Linlin being pulled towards the sewer cover by Wang Zhou. In the next second, she leaped out of the cover and disappeared.
Huang Jin: “?!”
The two figures quickly vanished near the sewer cover.
This time, there was light outside the sewer cover, and Huang Jin could barely make out something—a fast-spinning stream of thoughts around Bao Linlin, with only one sentence.
[Must see.]
For a moment, only the two members of Unit 9 were left staring at each other in the sewer.
“Cognitive pollution,” Huang Jin said firmly. “There’s something extremely dangerous up there. Let’s wait here.”
Ge Tingting pondered for a while, then took out all the Tranquility Talismans on her and stuck them onto Huang Jin. “We can’t just wait. If the situation is really bad, we need to notify the Emergency Management Department.”
“We don’t need to protect the Emergency Management Department, do we?!” Huang Jin rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Ge Tingting: “But compared to Yin Ge and Zhong Ge, the Emergency Management Department is closer to our level of power, so they need protection too.”
Huang Jin: “…” Thanks to those two individuals, this girl’s understanding of metaphysical combat power had completely collapsed. He really couldn’t save her.
“Huang Jin, I’m not joking. If Xiang Jiang is planning a citywide attack, Ding Lizi may not be safe.”
“…Fine, I get it!”
Huang Jin pinched Yellow Millet, and the latter reluctantly expanded a little, becoming the size of an exercise ball. Huang Jin covered his body with Tranquility Talismans and cautiously floated towards the sewer entrance. His eyes couldn’t see the true appearance of humans and evil beings, naturally resisting visual cognitive pollution.
At the sewer entrance, Huang Jin poked out half of his head, looking around with a dirty face.
Everything on the street seemed normal. People were walking in groups of two or three, occasionally stopping to take photos or videos. Several influencers were live streaming with excitement. Bao Linlin and Wang Zhou, who had climbed out, had also found a corner and were adjusting something.
People’s thoughts were constantly washing over the street, but Huang Jin could only see one sentence as he carefully observed.
[Must see.]
[Must see.]
[Must see.]
……
“Puff! Puff, puff!”
Yellow Millet seemed to have sniffed something and wobbled its body, turning Huang Jin in a certain direction.
Huang Jin then noticed a stone tower not too far away.
This stone tower was a replica of a certain historical site in Haigu and was exquisitely crafted. Beautiful trees used for prayers and wishes were planted nearby, making it the most picturesque spot on the street.
Squelch.
The sound of flesh being torn apart echoed, and fresh blood flowed down the pale white surface of the tower. Countless vengeful spirits climbed and tore at something on the tower with all their might.
Squelch, squelch.
The wet entrails emitted hot steam as they hung from the beautiful eaves of the tower. The process was horrifyingly slow, almost like torture, and Huang Jin almost vomited.
Squelch, squelch, squelch.
Arms, legs, torso… and a head. A human figure mixed with cloth fragments was hanging in the most conspicuous position, drenched in blood. The person seemed like prey used for sacrifice in a tribe, torn apart into several pieces by the vengeful spirits, forming a gruesome totem on the stone tower.
…That person was dying, with only a faint layer of thoughts remaining. On his handsome and gloomy face, there was a slightly inappropriate smile of relief.
[Look at me.]
The thoughts slowly revolved and became sluggish.
[Look at me.] It repeated.
“Xiang… Xiang Jiang…” Seeing the mutilated head, Huang Jin couldn’t even articulate properly.
Has Xiang Jiang gone insane?
Does he just want to die in a more tragic manner, like an ordinary person who would make it to the news and be seen by everyone?
…Wait, be seen by everyone…
Huang Jin’s pupils suddenly contracted.
The various popular influencers around him were still happily explaining things. The young men and women who came to take pictures and go shopping were joyfully filming vlogs. The middle-aged and elderly people posed for selfies and quickly sent them to their family groups. However, all the phones, cameras, and camcorders were pointed in one direction.
Look at me.
That almost lifeless person emitted an extremely powerful corruption of evil qi.
Look at me.
In the dense atmosphere of evil qi, the scene of a tragic and painful death, the almost insane obsession… and most importantly, widespread cognition. The bloody and macabre scene couldn’t be suppressed or deleted fast enough. This blurry and gory footage was spreading through the internet to various parts of the world.
Huang Jin knew he should retreat.
He also knew that at the moment Xiang Jiang breathed his last breath, something incredibly sinister would definitely be born. He must escape, but…
“Ge Tingting, don’t come out! Yellow Millet, shake the atmosphere of evil qi!”
Huang Jin shouted loudly.
“Aren’t you a fucking A-A level evil? Right now, destroy all electronic devices!”
“Puff—!” Yellow Millet, sensing Huang Jin’s emotions, instantly exploded with a large amount of evil qi. Suddenly, a bone-chilling storm swept through the pedestrian street, and all the surrounding electronic devices went out as if hit by an electromagnetic pulse at the same time.
People continued their actions as if nothing had happened, still gazing at the corpse and enthusiastically capturing their poses.
Even though their screens were completely dark.
Huang Jin nervously surveyed the surroundings. No, there was still a faint light in the corner. Wang Zhou was facing the unmanned aerial vehicle, smiling and saying something. Devices from Shian were always resistant to the atmosphere of evil qi.
“Fuck!” Huang Jin threw an explosive talisman backwards, directly destroying the unmanned aerial vehicle. Throughout the entire process, he kept his peripheral vision on that deadly corpse.
There was nothing left in the thoughts of that corpse, and amidst the lively and joyous atmosphere, Xiang Jiang breathed his last breath.
Meanwhile, the totem-like pieces of the corpse slowly melted down the stone tower. The surrounding vengeful spirits didn’t have time to disperse and were devoured by the flesh and blood sponge. The fluctuations of the evil qi around grew more intense, and the dark clouds above the stone tower gradually spun, forming a vortex-like shape.
Huang Jin’s back hair stood on end. “Yellow Millet!”
“Puff, puff, puff!” Yellow Millet shook its eyeballs frantically, even trembling slightly in the face of the increasingly deformed corpse.
…Yellow Millet was, after all, a completely natural evil. It was impossible for it to risk its life for humans. It seemed that thing would transform into an A-A level evil. Huang Jin swallowed his saliva nervously.
In less than half a minute, the flesh and blood finally merged together. Countless viscous threads sprayed from its surface, gradually forming a huge cocoon. It was covered with black and red patterns resembling human faces, beautiful yet terrifying.
Xiang Hai spread his horrifying wings and lovingly extended his arms, embracing the cocoon that was about the height of a person. The cocoon seemed to possess consciousness, as its surface transformed into a swamp-like texture, gradually engulfing Xiang Hai.
Huang Jin clenched his teeth and pulled out all the explosive talismans, throwing them all near the cocoon. Numerous explosions occurred, shattering the exquisite stone tower into pieces. However, the cocoon inexplicably clung to the remaining stone wall, floating in the air. The surrounding evil qi grew denser, the dark clouds in the sky spun faster, and dozens of semi-transparent “umbilical cords” hung down from the vortex, swaying above the cocoon.
Faced with such a phenomenon, Huang Jin dared not even breathe.
Escape. He had tried his best. For heaven’s sake, he was just a spirit smith. How would he know how to terminate an evil like this?
Damn it, why couldn’t his body move?!
Just like a fledgling bird breaking through the eggshell, there was a slight cracking sound.
A pale and slender hand broke through the cocoon and reached out. Then came the shoulder, head, and body.
Intact bodies of Xiang Jiang and Xiang Hai floated side by side in mid-air.
Both of them had human-like appearances, handsome enough to be called so, but their skin tone was much paler than a living person’s. They wore identical old-fashioned robes, one in red and the other in white. The facial wings on Xiang Hai’s back were gone, but their clothes now had numerous hidden facial patterns, each face twisted with pain and despair.
The chilly wind became chaotic, and dried leaves were swirling and flying everywhere. One leaf landed on Xiang Hai’s hair, and Xiang Jiang slightly tilted his body to catch it in his hand.
With a gentle squeeze, the beautiful yellow leaf turned into a black-gray frost and scattered from Xiang Jiang’s hand.
Huang Jin wished he could faint.
The good news was that he didn’t go crazy on the spot upon seeing these two, which meant they were not yet at the level of an Evil Spirit. The bad news was that they were undoubtedly, unprecedentedly powerful and formidable ghosts.
They even possessed true physical forms.
Yellow Millet was more panicked than him. It almost tore itself apart, desperately twisting in the opposite direction of the twin spirits. If not for the consideration of its master’s colleagues, Huang Jin suspected that Yellow Millet would have flicked him away like a flea.
It’s over.
When Huang Jin noticed the malevolent gaze of Xiang Jiang shifting towards him, he wanted to give himself a few slaps—Didn’t I tell you to escape immediately? Didn’t I tell you not to go up and make trouble? Now he would become someone’s punching bag. Whose fault was it?
“Yellow Millet, escape through the sewer!” he shouted in panic.
However, before he could utter the last word, flames suddenly lit up around him.
Bright orange flames tightly encircled the entire pedestrian street. The dense, dark clouds were almost illuminated by the fire, giving off a hint of warmth.
At some point, a figure flashed beside Huang Jin.
Huang Jin stiffly turned his head—
The person was surrounded by a fire dragon, and his tied-up black hair swayed in the cold wind. The eye-catching red attire and exaggerated fringe earring—The head of the Emergency Management Department, Minister Fu Xingchuan.
A fire dragon coiled around Huang Jin and Yellow Millet, assuming a protective stance.
“You manipulated the situation? Well done,” Fu Xingchuan said concisely. “Step back and be on standby.”
Before Huang Jin could respond, Yellow Millet deflated with a “puff”. It transformed into a soft cushion, carrying Huang Jin as they drifted downward. Along the way, Huang Jin took a glance. The Emergency Management Department personnel were busy on the street, evacuating tourists.
And just like that, Yellow Millet floated back into the sewer, narrowly avoiding crashing into Ge Tingting.
Huang Jin took several breaths before regaining his composure. “Ge Tingting, come up too. We might need to evacuate at any time.”
“Is the situation bad?”
“Hard to say,” Huang Jin said. “But with Fu Xingchuan there, we definitely have a chance to escape. What’s that?”
The well opening above their heads suddenly darkened.
Accompanied by a startled cry of “Ah”, a tourist fell down. Huang Jin immediately moved aside, allowing the person to fall onto the soft Yellow Millet.
Yellow Millet made a loud “puff” upon being hit.
“Oops…” The person scrambled to get up, adjusting their disheveled long hair. “Huang Jin, Little Miss Ge?”
This person’s thought pattern seemed familiar. Huang Jin’s mind slowly turned, and Ge Tingting reacted first. “Dr. Sun, what are you doing here?”
Huang Jin finally realized.
Right, it was Zhong Chengshuo’s friend who had been involved in Mr. Le’s campus case before. They had even had a meal together.
He remembered her name was Sun Qi’an.
……
The Other Side.
“I disagree,” Meng Huai said. “You don’t need to waste time contacting Shian.”
“Shen Mo’s presence here does indicate a major disturbance in the mortal world. But given the current situation, as long as Xiao Fu and Xiao Li haven’t been kicked in the head by a donkey, they know that a great calamity is approaching. Will you stay over there if you inform Shian of the situation?”
Zhong Chengshuo: “…” But the two Zhong elders were still in the mortal world, and he felt uneasy about his helplessness.
However, he also understood that to deal with “Love”, he and Yin Ren must not be separated.
“I know you’re worried about your parents. Your parents are also Chengfeng’s parents, and I care too.” Meng Huai shook her head. “But I trust Shian… and I ask you to trust them too. Your Charon abilities aren’t proficient, so it’s better not to complicate matters.”
Zhong Chengshuo: “I understand.”
“In that case, we only have one path left.” Yin Ren took over the conversation, and this time he didn’t smile.
“Yes,” Meng Huai curled her lips.
Yin Ren took a deep breath. “According to the plan. Minister Jiao will be responsible for the rear command. Meng Jie, Chengfeng Jie, and Fu Tianyi will form a team. You will deal with Shen Mo and lead the ‘Lonelies’ to rescue the missing people.”
“Zhong Chengshuo will take a detour with me and engage with ‘Love’ directly. Qi Xin is an unstable factor; if necessary, we will let her join the battle.”
After speaking, he paused.
“…Action will take place in three hours as planned. Kill ‘Love’.”
The author has something to say:
When people fight, gods fight too.
That’s why there are two mascots! (Not really)
Kinky Thoughts:
Lonelies MPV! I want a Lonely cat…
