Free Web NovelAt 2:14 AM, the night was slightly cool, with a vast expanse of thin fog.
About two kilometers away from the West City Lime Factory, a taxi was parked by the roadside, and faint sounds of solemn and dignified music could be heard coming from inside the car.
Uncle Zhang Shan had been waiting for Lu Yibei for over three hours; the music in the car had changed from soothing light music to rock, then to "Great Compassion Mantra DJ", and finally to "Diamond Sutra remix".
His entire psychological journey, in simple terms, was from using light music to relax his tense emotions, to using rock music to boost his spirits, then to using the "Great Compassion Mantra" to reason and talk feelings with potential urban legend, and finally to "To hell with reason and feelings, I'll just send you off right here!"
As a mature and reliable taxi driver, Uncle Zhang Shan had often driven at night, but he had never been as afraid of the darkness as he was today, likely due to the unusually realistic ghost stories he had just heard.
It was autumn, and the mountains began to fog up late at night.
Looking out through the car window, the headlights could only illuminate a distance of three or four meters ahead; beyond that, the visibility began to blur, and further away, there was only a vast expanse of white, gradually captured by the darkness.
From the abandoned factory in the distance, one or two eerie screams could be heard occasionally. Uncle Zhang Shan had driven a taxi for most of his life and had seen a lot, but he couldn't tell what kind of creature was making those sounds.
This place is too damn spooky! Uncle Zhang Shan cursed fiercely in his heart. Just then, he...
"Sizzle... sizzle..."
An electrical buzzing sound, like from a bad signal, came from the car's audio system.
Immediately after, the music also seemed to be disturbed, sometimes sharp, sometimes hoarse, sometimes dragging the end notes long, and sometimes mechanically repeating a certain phrase, extremely eerie.
Not good! Things are starting to go wrong!
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Uncle Zhang Shan felt the car inexplicably turn cold, yet large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Gulp—!"
He swallowed, trembling, and pulled down the Coat blocking his eyes slightly, exposing his eyes to look outside the car. The next moment, he was so scared that his face turned pale and his heart stopped.
The pale light from the headlights extended forward, finally disappearing at the edge of his vision, swallowed by the darkness.
Right at the boundary between light and dark, a long-gowned, dark-red figure could be seen in mid-air from a distance, appearing at the end of the road leading to the West City Lime Factory, standing there in a strange posture. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Her long hair was loose, covering her face, and her shoulders were slightly shrugged, as if an invisible pair of hands were holding her body up. Her hands hung limply, swaying back and forth as if they had no bones.
Uncle Zhang Shan cast his gaze in that direction. Time seemed to freeze for a second or two, and then the figure suddenly moved, floating quickly towards him.
That's right, floating. Uncle Zhang Shan was certain he had seen it clearly the moment before the figure started moving!
The figure's feet were not on the ground; it was as if she was on her tiptoes, only the tips of her feet touching the ground. Her legs made no movement, yet her entire body quickly shifted forward horizontally.
Seeing this, Uncle Zhang Shan's body suddenly trembled, and he slumped onto the seat, his hands and feet numb. Before he could recover or react, the eerie figure disappeared from his sight.
A whistling wind suddenly arose, and a faint fishy smell entered his nostrils. The withered grass, stones, and crooked-necked trees outside the window all became eerie and sinister. In an instant, the slightest sound made him jump, and every bush looked like a soldier.
Uncle Zhang Shan didn't know where the eerie figure had gone, but he could feel that thing approaching. The air was getting colder and colder, with a biting chill like deep winter.
Trembling, he grabbed the Coat and silently covered his eyes, fully embodying the ostrich spirit of "If I can't see it, it doesn't exist!"
However, not seeing with one's eyes doesn't mean it truly doesn't exist, nor does it mean one cannot hear with one's ears.
"Dong... dong... dong..."
The car window beside him was knocked by something, making a sneaky and faint sound. Each tap came after an interval of one or two seconds, weak and listless, carrying a heavy aura of death.
Uncle Zhang Shan huddled up, burying his head in his clothes. Time seemed to turn into a thick, viscous substance, flowing slowly. The "person" outside the window seemed to become agitated, and the frequency and force of the knocking on the window gradually increased, just like Uncle Zhang Shan's wildly beating heart.
"Dong dong! Dong dong! Dong dong!"
Suddenly, the sound of knocking on the window stopped. All Uncle Zhang Shan could hear was the "sizzle" sound that could be heard in the dead of night.
Is it... gone? Uncle Zhang Shan thought nervously.
After a long while, he finally mustered the courage, lowered the clothes covering his face, and glanced out the window from the corner of his eye.
Through the window covered in condensation, he saw a blurry human figure.
The figure slowly raised a hand, and a slender fingertip gently touched the car window. Using the condensation on the window, she slowly wrote a line of small words—Let me in.
Condensed water droplets slid down the edges of the small words, exceptionally twisted and grotesque. Through the gaps between the strokes, one could vaguely see the woman's deathly pale skin outside the window.
In an instant, a chill rushed from Uncle Zhang Shan's back to the top of his head. His throat felt as if it was being squeezed by a pair of strong hands, and an intense feeling of suffocation constantly assailed his nerves.
And then...
Under the effect of intense fear and surging adrenaline, Uncle Zhang Shan finally remembered that he was an experienced driver. He let out a scream that was a mix of terror and anger.
"Ah! Ahhh—!"
He gripped the steering wheel with one hand, turned the car key with the other, and then slammed the accelerator. The next moment, the taxi's engine roared.
The moment the car sped off, Uncle Zhang Shan vaguely felt that even if he escaped this time, it would surely become a shadow that would follow him for the rest of his life...
----
The taxi suddenly moved.
After a clean and sharp U-turn, the wheels kicked up dust, and it sped away.
Lu Yibei's hand was suspended in mid-air, still in the posture of preparing to knock on the car window. She watched expressionlessly as Uncle Zhang Shan gradually disappeared into the rolling dust, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to speak but stopped.
"..."
After a long while.
"Coat, did I... do something wrong just now?" Lu Yibei asked weakly.
As if comforting her, the Coat gently wiggled twice.
I don't know either!
┓(´-`)┏
"..." Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds, then sighed silently. "Never mind, Coat, just fly me back. Should be fine, right?"
"Oh, right!"
She suddenly remembered something and asked further, "That diary we found in Gu Xinian's room before we left, you kept it safe, right?"
The Coat wiggled twice, as if indicating affirmation.
"Alright, let's go back then!"
Although peeking at a diary isn't quite right, I'm really curious about what's written in Gu Xinian's diary! Lu Yibei thought.
----
In the early morning, inside Office V of the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Administration.
Jiang Li was slightly curled up, lying on her side on the office sofa. The thin blanket draped over her outlined her graceful curves, and in her slender, jade-like hand hanging over the edge of the sofa, she still held an unfinished document.
Outside the window, the sunlight gradually brightened, casting a thin layer of pale gold on her fair face. Accompanied by the chirping of a few birds, her thick, brush-like eyelashes fluttered twice, and she opened her eyes.
Just then, the office door creaked open, and A Hua walked in carrying breakfast.
She placed the breakfast on the coffee table in front of Jiang Li, looking at her with a pained expression, and complained, "Miss, did you stay up all night again? Really, if you keep this up, you'll wear yourself out sooner or later!"
"I strongly agree with that." A gentle voice came from outside the door.
An Qing strolled in, stopped in front of Jiang Li, and said with her arms crossed, "You've been working non-stop for several days. You should go and get some good rest."
Jiang Li sat up, slightly adjusted the hair at her temples, and then, as if she hadn't heard An Qing's suggestion, asked calmly, "Has Silver Horn woken up?"
An Qing pursed her lips and shook her head.
"What about the newly appeared cases?"
Although the black night disease epidemic in Hua City was well under control with the help of the Alchemy potion developed by Silver Horn at the risk of his life, not long after Jin Jiao's second failed attempt to apprehend Berses, several new cases appeared in Hua City.
The black night disease symptoms in those cases were similar to before, showing significantly lower infectivity than before, but the fatality rate and destructiveness had clearly increased.
It was as if the "virus" had mutated.
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An Qing sighed silently and said, "We've used Alchemy potions on them, and their condition is temporarily under control, but there's no sign of improvement."
"They are asleep and haven't had any strange dreams. The rate of limb mutation development has also slowed down, but..."
"But their physical condition is still deteriorating, right?" Jiang Li asked.
After all, those patients had already contracted the black night disease, and the Invasion Beast had not been hunted.
With someone deliberately controlling the will of the Invasion Beast and continuously supplying it with Spiritual Energy, Silver Horn's Alchemy potion could only prevent the disease, but it was difficult to cure it at the root.
Patients who had already contracted the disease would not recover because of this, and it was very likely that they would never recover, or even continue to slowly deteriorate until death.
It was like an old faucet; even if it was turned off, water would still slowly seep out, and the seeping water would continue to corrode the faucet.
An Qing nodded and said helplessly, "No one expected that guy Berses would be so willing to spend heavily. He actually prepared a plan to detonate the stronghold early on. Judging from the wreckage found by the Special Operations Team afterwards, the value of those devices is equivalent to two years of expenses for the Hua City Si Ye Hui."
Money power!
This might be the only and biggest advantage the Eclipse Society had when competing with the Night Watch, besides not having to follow laws and morals.
Jiang Li lowered her eyes, pondered for a few seconds, then as if remembering something, she asked, "What about Bai Kai? What has he been doing in the past day or two?"
"What else could he be doing?" An Qing spread her hands and said with a face full of disdain, "Eating, sleeping, and going to nightclubs!"
"I've asked people. These past two days, he's almost always gone into nightclubs before dark and only comes out when it's light. He's definitely working hard day and night."
While speaking, An Qing deliberately read the word "Hold" (cāo) with the fourth tone.
"Perhaps his life with a certain female Superintendent isn't very harmonious?"
Although the saying goes there are no fields that can be plowed to ruin, only oxen that are worked to death, whether a cowboy can plow a field to ruin is hard to say, after all, cowboys use modern tools... An Qing thought to herself.
Is it really that simple? Jiang Li slightly furrowed her brow.
In her opinion, although Bai Kai was unrestrained and his lifestyle was questionable.
But as a Gan Yuan responsible for archive management in the Hua City Si Ye Hui, she had read almost all of Bai Kai's mission reports. In the past, when dealing with various urban legend incidents, the time Bai Kai needed to complete a mission was usually only half that of other Gan Yuans.
This was partly due to the extremely high speed brought by Bai Kai's Spirit Mark talent, and partly due to his dedicated performance.
However, this time, Bai Kai not only slacked off from the beginning, but also occasionally disappeared with Qi Dong, the leader of the Special Operations Team, and Gan Yuan Gu Xiliu.
A few days ago, when she couldn't contact Lu Yibei and Jiang Li went to ask him, he was evasive and quite perfunctory.
Jiang Li could tell at a glance that he was hiding something, but at that time, the work of preventing and controlling the black night disease in Hua City was urgent, so she didn't have time to investigate further.
But now...
"Sister Qing."
"Hmm?" An Qing tilted her head.
"Then I'll hand over the work I have on hand to you later and go rest?" Jiang Li said.
An Qing smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Go ahead, go ahead, just leave it to me."
"Okay..." Jiang Li nodded, deep in thought.
Speaking of which, I've never been to a place like a nightclub in my life...
Perhaps, I should go to the Fu Xing Chess Room later to visit those old friends. Jiang Li thought.
----
Two hours later, the secret door of the Fu Xing Chess Room was pushed open.
The gamblers inside the chess room saw the girl who was once like a Nightmare to them walk in, and immediately there was a commotion.
"What's going on? Why is she here again? Didn't they say she got married, retired from the martial world, and went home to be a good wife and mother?"
"Damn it, which bastard spread that rumor?"
"Waiter! Please help me settle my chips... My DNA is reacting, I'm not playing anymore!"
The Queen of Sparrows returned to the martial world, causing the gamblers to scatter like birds and beasts.
As usual, Jiang Li ignored the gamblers and walked directly to the table in the corner that seemed to always have only three people. With a "bang!", she slapped her cane and chips onto the table.
"Shuffle the cards, shall we? Let's play a couple of rounds."
...
Seeing Jiang Li arrive, the three urban legend disguised as humans immediately looked as uncomfortable as if they had eaten two pounds of large intestine sashimi.
As Jiang Li's "informants", they had actually long been accustomed to this way of meeting. However, as urban legend under the command of Disaster, the King of Weird Tales, they had also long received a warning from Disaster - gambling using Spiritual Energy was prohibited.
Therefore, when they came here every day now, they were just reminiscing about the past, and occasionally participating in a few rounds without using Spiritual Energy, just for entertainment.
But now that they saw Jiang Li again, they were immediately caught in a dilemma.
If they played with her without using Spiritual Energy, they would probably lose even the core of their urban legend bodies.
What's more, as urban legend under the command of Disaster, wouldn't selling information to Night Watch Gan Yuans make them traitors?
If caught by Disaster, the core of their urban legend bodies would probably be gone too.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Li coldly glanced at the three urban legend and said calmly, "Haven't seen you for a while, have you three turned over a new leaf?"
"Yes, yes! That's right, we quit, we haven't played for a long time!" one of the urban legend said.
"Bang!" Jiang Li slapped the table and said sternly, "Do you think I'll believe your nonsense? If you've turned over a new leaf, what are you doing here?"
Another urban legend looked at the urban legend who had just spoken with a look of "idiot", then smiled apologetically at Jiang Li, "No, Gan Yuan Jiang, we really have already..."
"I didn't plan to win your money today," Jiang Li interrupted, "I just want to ask you a few things and catch up."
Does your "catching up" mean getting information from us, giving us bonuses, and then winning it all back, which is almost equivalent to getting it for free? The three urban legend thought in unison.
Actively ignoring the abnormality of the three urban legend, Jiang Li continued, "You should go to the Underground Human Realm often, right?"
urban legend like these, which absorb human negative emotions to nourish themselves, certainly wouldn't put all their eggs in one basket.
Although the chess room was the main battlefield for these three urban legend, they also frequented places like nightclubs.
"The, Underground Human Realm?" one urban legend asked blankly, "Isn't that within Gan Yuan Bai Kai's management scope? Wouldn't it be more convenient and comprehensive for you to ask him directly than to ask us?"
Jiang Li glanced at the urban legend who spoke and said lightly, "It's not very convenient to ask him about this."
I originally wanted to sneak in unexpectedly and see what shady business he and Qi Dong were up to, so how could I ask him? Jiang Li thought to herself.
"Then..." another urban legend pondered for a moment and asked, "What do you want to know?"
"Nothing much," Jiang Li said calmly, beckoning to the three urban legend, "I just want to borrow things like VIP cards and liquor storage cards from you."
Although she had never been to a nightclub, she still knew some basic things.
If she hadn't known that Bai Kai had been frequenting the luxury private rooms in the Underground Human Realm lately, and that without certain connections, one couldn't even reach the area where the luxury private rooms were located, she wouldn't have come here.
Hearing that Jiang Li was not here to gamble with them or to gather intelligence, the three urban legend were relieved and, like pouring beans, put all sorts of ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) cards from various nightclubs in Hua City onto the table.
"No problem, no problem! You just take whatever you want!"
Jiang Li glanced at the cards on the table and, without hesitation, reached out and put them into her pocket.
----
At exactly six o'clock in the afternoon, the sky completely plunged into darkness.
In front of the Underground Human Realm clubhouse, a black sedan drove up and parked by the roadside.
A blonde, dark-skinned girl with a hot figure got out of the car, held her head high, swayed her slender waist, and walked into the clubhouse entrance.
...
I'd like to see what shady business you guys are up to! Jiang Li thought.
