Free Web NovelIn Hua City, on Chang Sheng Road, in a rented room on the top floor corner of an old residential building, the cheap wooden floor was stained with blood, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.
A man who appeared to be in his early twenties lay in a pool of blood, his left hand and left foot severed and discarded in the corner of the room. His internal organs were faintly visible through a gruesome wound in his abdomen, and a sharpened pencil was stuck in an eye that had grown on his forehead. freēwēbnovel.com
Bai Kai squatted on the ground, finished examining the corpse, averted his gaze from the kitchen knife tightly clutched in the man's right hand, stood up, took off his gloves, straightened his clothes, and turned to look at the Special Operations Team members who had been waiting for a long time behind him.
"Brothers, the danger has been eliminated. The rest is up to you. Let me see the suicide note you found just now. I'll go out for a smoke while I'm at it."
With that, he took the blood-stained paper handed to him by a Special Operations Team member, turned, and left the rented room.
Stepping into the hallway, Bai Kai leaned against the window and read the suicide note left by the man in the sunlight.
【I might really be sick, but if I go to the hospital...】
Only this section of text on the suicide note was clearly legible. The text that followed was completely chaotic, scrawled and distorted, like illogical doodles, making it impossible to understand what it was trying to convey.
However, those messy lines and the bloodstains on the paper revealed the madness of the person who wrote this suicide note in the final moments of their life.
After reading the man's suicide note, he took out a cigarette case from the pocket of his upper garment, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.
He had been dealing with various urban legend incidents for a long time and had seen corpses in various horrific states.
Although the black night disease patients who had appeared in the past two days were not the most gruesome deaths, they were among the most distressing deaths he had ever witnessed.
When Bai Kai first arrived at the scene, he had asked the Special Operations Team members to investigate the man's information: twenty-one years old, from a poor family, recently graduated, found a low-paying job, rented a cheap one-bedroom apartment, and had just settled down in Hua City.
Just like many people who are not well-off and are afraid to spend money, daring not to go to the hospital for minor illnesses, after experiencing a slight abnormality in his body, the man seemed to have chosen to endure it.
However, the result was that he couldn't bear the pain brought by the black night disease, eventually went insane, personally cut off his hands and feet, cut open his abdomen, killed himself, and died alone in the rented room.
Today, twenty-one black night disease patients were treated in various hospitals in Hua City.
But those were only the known patients. Perhaps there were more patients, like the man who died in the rented room, who had no money to go to the hospital, dared not go to the hospital, endured the pain themselves, and waited for death to come.
"Damn it! That crazy woman... I shouldn't have taken this job from the start. I should have swapped with Li Xuan and chased that damned Eclipse Society member with Xiao Yan."
When Bai Kai thought that all of this was likely caused by Lu Yibei searching for Qinan Bamboo, he couldn't help but Spell fiercely, then crumpled the suicide note in his hand in frustration.
Just as he was about to throw the paper ball away, a familiar and annoying voice sounded behind him.
"Agent Bai Kai, aren't you destroying evidence?"
Bai Kai turned around and saw Qi Dong's half-smile. His face darkened, and he grabbed Qi Dong's collar, saying in a low voice, "You said you had a way to find Xiao Bei, but it's been two or three days now, and there's still no news?"
Qi Dong rolled his eyes at Bai Kai, pushed his hand away, and said, "I do know a way, but I'm afraid neither of us can go to that place. If you want to go there and bring Lu Yibei back, I'll need your help."
"My help?" Bai Kai was stunned for a moment.
"That's right." Qi Dong nodded, "I know someone who came from that place."
"Who?"
"Gu Xiliu."
Bai Kai, "???"
What does this have to do with that pigeon?
Is it really okay to entrust her with such an important task?
——————
Late at night, Hua City, Taigu Community, inside a residential building.
On the balcony, two middle-aged [N O V E L I G H T] men stood with their arms crossed.
Their eyes looked through the floor-to-ceiling glass window at the round-faced girl with chestnut-colored long hair wearing white dove pajamas in the room, their eyes slightly narrowed, and a malicious smile hanging on their lips.
"Didn't you say you knew her well and had carefully read her file before coming? Then why didn't you know that she locks all the doors and windows when she sleeps at night?" Bai Kai said faintly.
Qi Dong rolled his eyes at Bai Kai and said indifferently, "I only secretly observed her before. I didn't plan to sneak into her house. Isn't it normal not to know this kind of thing?"
Bai Kai pouted, then silently took the suona from his waist and began to prepare to provide Gu Xiliu with a passionate late-night wake-up call service.
"What the f**k!?" Qi Dong's mouth twitched as he caught sight of the suona in Bai Kai's hand, "You seem very skilled at this? How many times have you done it?"
"Only seven or eight times at the Amber House..."
Bai Kai said nonchalantly, adjusted the reed, raised the suona to his mouth, and was about to blow it when Qi Dong suddenly raised his hand, interrupting the "casting."
"Wait a minute."
"Why? If you're not going to blow this thing, are you going to smash the window to get in?" Bai Kai asked in confusion.
"No." Qi Dong looked at the girl in the room and said seriously, "Didn't you not believe me when I told you that Agent Gu came from that place before?"
"Now, she's fast asleep, just watch! The show is about to begin."
A show? What kind of show? Bai Kai frowned. At this moment, a strange and hidden Spiritual Energy fluctuation suddenly spread from Gu Xiliu's bedroom.
Bai Kai had interacted with Gu Xiliu before, and he knew very well that it was definitely not Gu Xiliu's Spiritual Energy fluctuation.
In surprise, he turned his head sharply and saw an astonishing scene.
In the bedroom, accompanied by the rise and fall of even breathing, the light and shadow twisted for a while, the four walls suddenly elongated irregularly, then shortened.
Pillows, tables, chairs, and ornaments that shouldn't have existed suddenly appeared out of thin air and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The little bear doll in the corner was twisted into a vortex shape as if being pulled by some force, and semi-real and semi-illusory figures appeared from time to time, walking quickly, and disappearing into the darkness after only a few steps.
For a moment, the entire bedroom seemed to be undergoing some kind of indescribable and illogical spatial distortion centered around Gu Xiliu.
"She's always like this when she sleeps?" Bai Kai said in surprise, "That shouldn't be right? If she was always like this, she would have been caught and devoured by those guys who covet Qinan Bamboo's power long ago, even if..."
He had personally seen Gu Xiliu fall asleep on the conference table after listening to Li Xuan speak for only three sentences during an internal meeting of the Hua City Night Watch, which made the scene very awkward.
But, at that time, nothing unusual happened.
Friendly reminder: The Website is about to be revamped, which may cause the loss of reading progress. Please save your 【book shelf】 and 【reading record】 in time (screenshots are recommended for saving). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
"You mean, even if she wasn't captured by evil forces, she should have been taken by those madmen from the headquarters research institute for observation, right?" Qi Dong looked at Bai Kai sideways and said.
Bai Kai didn't speak, but his expression silently gave an affirmative answer.
"You're actually not wrong to think that way." Qi Dong shrugged and said, "If she was really always like this, she wouldn't even have had the chance to become a Night Watch agent."
Psychic with Spirit Marks or unstable Spirit Marks cannot become Night Watch agents and must be controlled and observed.
"However, her condition wasn't this serious before. It was only occasionally when she slept for a long time that it would cause very slight, hard-to-detect distortions."
"It's like, a pen suddenly disappears, unfinished potato chips are inexplicably gone, a phone or keys disappear... This level, even if someone notices, they would only think someone took them or that they themselves forgot where they put them."
"......"
Damn it! I said that the signature pens, toothpicks, and lighters in my office always inexplicably disappeared after a while, just like a urban legend incident. So it was her doing?
Grumbling inwardly, Bai Kai looked at Qi Dong and said, "I understand what you mean. You mean that her condition has gradually worsened with the strange things happening in Hua City recently?"
"That's right." Qi Dong nodded, "And precisely because of this, my speculation about her coming from that place has turned into certainty."
"Understood." Bai Kai nodded, then raised the suona to his mouth.
Thus, a harsh sound like scraping a pot, sawing wood, or a donkey braying echoed throughout Taigu Community...
——————
Night, Hua City Taigu Community.
On the soft pink mattress, the girl wearing white dove pajamas had her eyes tightly closed, sound asleep. Her body curves were captivating, and her face was as dewy as a ripe peach, making people feel an urge to touch her.
Gu Xiliu had always slept more than her peers since she was a child.
At least half of the twenty-four hours in a day, she was in deep sleep.
Every time she fell asleep, she would vaguely see the outline of a city in her dreams, and that city was constantly sending out a silent call to her.
That calling sound was like weeping and pleading, with a hint of unconcealable tenderness, like a mother calling her child, making people unable to resist wanting to rush into its embrace.
And every time Gu Xiliu couldn't help but respond to that tender call, she would immediately fall into a deep sleep.
Later, after joining the Night Watch and drawing the 【Heroic Spirit Seed · Zhuang Zhou's Butterfly Dream】 Spirit Mark, this situation became even more severe, and she slept for fifteen or sixteen hours a day.
As a result, she would always suddenly collapse on the street, at home, in the conference room, in any place humans could imagine... falling asleep uncontrollably.
Recently, for some unknown reason, the frequency of that city calling her has been increasing, and the scenes she sees in her dreams have become clearer and clearer.
She dreamed that she had entered that city, lingered on unfamiliar streets, looking for someone, and hadn't been able to eat for several days.
The strong sourness in her abdomen caused by hunger was exceptionally real, and it lingered even after waking up, followed by binge eating.
In just one week, she gained five pounds!
The most recent time, she even dreamed that she was kidnapped by a terrifying woman, tortured, and a humidifier was forcefully shoved into her mouth...
...
Tonight, Gu Xiliu ate a large amount of food in advance, drank some hot milk, took a hot bath, went to bed early, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
She slept so beautifully, so sweetly, like a sleeping beauty in a fairy tale.
However, the witch who cast the Spell on the sleeping beauty tonight did not appear. Instead, two strange Uncles who had no idea how to cherish beauty came.
"Woo—!"
That sound, carrying faint Spiritual Energy fluctuations, like a call from the underworld, seemed to kill people's hearing.
Gu Xiliu woke up with a start. The spatial distortion in the room instantly disappeared, and everything returned to normal.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and looked out the window. Seeing the two "strange Uncles" with malicious smiles on their faces on the balcony, she tilted her head, then silently took out her phone from under the pillow and dialed the police.
"Hello, Uncle Police? My house has a burglar!"
Gu Xiliu's consciousness hadn't fully awakened from her sleep. Vaguely seeing Bai Kai and Qi Dong, her first reaction was to call the police.
"Mhm mhm! I'll protect myself!" freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Bai Kai, Qi Dong, "???"
————
Hua City, New District Police Station, in the detention room, two men were locked up.
One was a host who exuded a "you're always there during anti-prostitution raids!" vibe.
The other was a burly man who looked like he could punch someone's head off with just a single "What are you looking at?"
Bai Kai squinted at Qi Dong for a long time, finally unable to break the silence, "This is your plan? You didn't expect Gu Xiliu to call the police, did you?"
As he spoke, he raised his hand and quietly cast a simple Spell, isolating the sound of their conversation.
After Gu Xiliu called the police, she turned and ran to the next room, locked the door, and continued to sleep with her head covered. She hadn't clearly seen Bai Kai and Qi Dong's faces. Coupled with the terrifying sound of the suona earlier, Gu Xiliu's neighbors were exceptionally "enthusiastic," so the two of them were happily sent away after the police arrived.
Although the Night Watch had a long-standing cooperative relationship with the police station, they wouldn't really be detained as criminals, but as law-abiding citizens, the basic procedures still had to be followed.
"If I had known this, I should have followed my suggestion and gone through the proper procedures, notifying Gu Xiliu to assist us in handling the incident."
Qi Dong turned his head and glared fiercely at Bai Kai, his eyes looking as if he wanted to carve a piece of flesh from him.
"Bullshit!"
"Don't you remember how the various forces stirred up chaos in Hua City to fight for what Nan Zhu left behind when she just passed away? Do you want to see the tragedy repeat itself?"
Hearing Qi Dong bring up the past again, Bai Kai immediately shut his mouth. In silence, he stared at the corner of the detention room, his gaze deepening, his thoughts gradually drifting to the past of Hua City shrouded in shadow, intertwined with blood and fire...
