Free Web NovelThe wind howled, bringing with it a faint scent of coal smoke.
Like a swift Spirit Deer, Jiang Ge, under the cover of night, silently approached the suspicious man.
She glided past the high walls of the abandoned factory, through the empty, deserted factory buildings, and climbed the metal pipes on the exterior wall of the building to the fiberglass roof.
She was like a breeze passing by, making not a sound.
As she moved forward, Jiang Hao kept her eyes fixed on a certain direction. In the depths of her eyes, there was a faint, dark golden glow, like mercury, slowly flowing.
In her line of sight, everything she saw was enveloped in a layer of pure white glow, like the quiet moonlight.
As the pure white glow rippled, the buildings in her sight rapidly faded, as if a thick fog had been dispersed by a strong wind.
After the buildings in her sight faded, a figure moving through the factory area appeared in Jiang Hao's line of sight.
From the outline of the figure, it was indeed the suspicious man from before.
Although the man had hidden his Spiritual Energy fluctuations very well with some unknown Spiritual Energy item, making it almost impossible for spiritual perception to detect them, he could not escape Jiang Li's eyes.
Once she locked onto a target with the new ability she gained after advancement, the only way for the target to escape capture was death.
The si ye book records: "The 【Mythical Qilin】 Spirit Mark grants three abilities: discerning right from wrong, apprehending the wicked, and inflicting punishment." frёewebnoѵēl.com
And what Jiang Hao was using at this moment was 【Apprehending the Wicked】.
Of course, because there was a huge risk during the Spirit Mark's advancement, and the Power was modified to a certain extent, her 【Apprehending the Wicked】 also underwent some subtle changes.
Moving forward, after passing through more than half of the factory area, a low building located in the southeast corner of the factory appeared ahead.
When she was about fifty meters from the low building, Jiang Li slowed her pace and hid herself at a corner.
Stopped moving? It seems this is his destination?
Jiang Li looked up and forward, and soon found a dirty metal sign near the main entrance of the low building. She could vaguely see the words "Raw Material Storage Warehouse" written on it.
This steel rolling mill had been idle for many years, and the raw material storage warehouse had long been emptied. The vast warehouse was empty, with only faint traces of coal and steel powder piled up.
Almost without any effort, Jiang Li found the suspicious man in the original location of the warehouse's guard room.
The doors and windows of the guard room were tightly shut, and dark curtains were drawn. Through the gaps in the curtains, a faint, unusually colored red light could be seen.
Jiang Li leaned against the wall by the window, restrained her Spiritual Energy fluctuations, and cautiously peered through the curtain's gap, seeing the scene inside the guard room.
The guard room was not large, about ten square meters, with simple, almost bare interior decoration. A pendant lamp with a round lampshade hung from the moldy ceiling. The old light bulb was stained with some fresh blood, making the dim, hazy light tinged with a hint of blood.
Below the pendant lamp, there was a murky square table, stained with who knew how many defiled things to become this appearance, as if every wood grain was permeated with foul, turbid matter.
On the table, three corpses, whose age and gender could no longer be distinguished, were laid side by side. The abdomen of each corpse had been cut open, their internal organs neatly exposed. On their naked bodies, dense incantations had been carved with a sharp object.
A figure stood by the table, muttering something under their breath, their voice sometimes hoarse, sometimes sharp. As they whispered, they raised their hands and rhythmically sprinkled some light blue powder into the opened bodies of the three corpses.
The next moment, an uncomfortable, sickly flame rose from the corpses. Under the illumination of the dark yellow flame, the man's excited face looked like a wax mask.
In the cramped room, a sinister sound echoed. It wasn't the sound of wind blowing, but rather like a sound produced by vocal cord vibrations.
Someone seemed to be wailing, sending chills down one's spine...
Is he extracting source spirits using Sasm Alchemy?
If that's the case, there's no need to watch anymore.
Having identified the type of Alchemy the suspicious man was performing, Jiang Li gently shook her head, activated her Spirit Mark, and, targeting the suspicious man, cast 【Inflict Punishment】.
Based on the Spirit Mark's Power, apprehending the man at this moment was the correct thing to do.
In an instant, Spiritual Energy fluctuations surged, and almost transparent ripples spread through the air behind the suspicious man. A ferocious-looking phantom slowly emerged.
It had a massive unicorn head, and a translucent, deer-like green body crouched on the ground. Its huge body almost filled the entire guard room. On its back, it carried a shrine-like wooden box, whose lid was slightly ajar, vaguely revealing various torture instruments.
The suspicious man seemed to sense something. He snapped out of his trance-like immersion in Alchemy, abruptly raised his head, and the next moment, his gaze met a pair of solemn, vertical pupils.
"Roar—!"
After a low roar, muffled thuds of flesh and bone echoed within the guard room.
【Inflict Punishment, First: Scourge】
And so, the suspicious man fell to the ground, clutching his head as if he had been brutally beaten, his body writhing and struggling, screaming incessantly.
In his panic, he activated his Spirit Mark, wanting to protect his body. However, as soon as the Spiritual Energy circulated within him, it was as if it was restricted by some strange force, making it almost impossible to operate normally.
【Inflict Punishment, Second: Shackles】
After casting 【Inflict Punishment】 twice in a row on the suspicious man and seeing that he had completely lost the ability to move, Jiang Li took out her Harbinger Raven Badge from her embrace, lightly stroked it with her fingertip, and sent a message to Lin Kele, who was waiting outside the steel rolling mill.
"Lin Kele, I've handled things here. Have the reinforcing colleagues arrived?"
Half an hour later.
Mountain City, near Chaotianmen, Xi Yang Yang Hotpot Restaurant.
Although this hotpot restaurant is located in the city center, it is hidden in a secluded corner. Unless someone guides them, people rarely find their way here.
The hotpot restaurant's decor was unremarkable, and its hygiene was surprisingly poor. The floor felt as if it were coated with a layer of butter, slippery and sticky.
Not only that, the taste of the hotpot in this restaurant was also hard to describe. It had a pitiful half-star rating on Dianping, but with only ninety-one reviews, meaning almost all customers tacitly gave it a bad review.
It was such a hotpot restaurant, yet it had been open for over twenty years. Local residents all felt that its continued existence was a miracle.
However, despite the doubts, people didn't really care about the reasons behind it.
After all, every city always has a few shops that don't seem to do well but remain standing. Their existence is like a Warm Reminder: The Website is about to undergo a revision, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your "book shelf" and "reading record" (screenshot recommended) in time. We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
It's like some kind of urban legend legend.
And today, this mysterious hotpot restaurant, for the first time ever, welcomed a guest—
A very beautiful silver-haired girl.
She just sat there quietly, staring at the bubbling red hotpot, as if she had many worries, or perhaps she was just spacing out.
A moment later, footsteps sounded.
A girl with a golden ponytail, plump in the front and round in the back, walked out from the kitchen and sat opposite the silver-haired girl.
Jiang Li looked at Lin Kele, then at the direction of the kitchen, and asked in confusion, "Why did it take so long? Was the matter very tricky?"
From what that man did, it was merely attacking potential Spiritual Energy users and extracting source spirits. Although his methods were cruel and the harm was considerable, for someone with the identity of an Eclipse Society member, he could only be considered average.
However, Eclipse Society members like Miss Rabbit and Suo E, who always want to make big news, are actually a minority, while the average ones like this suspicious man are the majority.
"Sister, are you doubting the unparalleled ability of Lin Kele?" Lin Kele retorted.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Hao was momentarily stunned, then quickly came back to her senses, remembering the rumors about Lin Kele.
According to rumors, any urban legend incident or Spiritual Energy attack incident discovered by Lin Kele, no matter how small, would eventually lead to a major case.
"So this time..."
"That's right!" Lin Kele nodded, and said seriously, "Don't look at that guy, he's just extracting source spirits, and in the process of extraction, he added some addictive substances through special Alchemy, but he is very likely related to a series of Spiritual Energy attack incidents that have recently occurred in our Mountain City."
"That guy is probably a subordinate of a subordinate of a subordinate, a small fry, but in short, he's related in some way."
"Sister, when you came, you must have heard from Superintendent Adult, right? Our Mountain City is not very peaceful..."
"En." Jiang Ge nodded, "I know."
Before she left for Mountain City, Inspector Xing Yuan had mentioned to her that a group of Eclipse Society members had been very active in Mountain City recently, and they were in close contact with local believers of the Heaven-Riding God, plotting something unknown. If she could deal with those Eclipse Society members, she might be exceptionally allowed to end her audit early.
If she could finish early, she could go back to Hua City and see...
Lu Yibei's figure appeared in her mind, and Jiang Hao gently shook her head.
Now is not the time to think about these things. Focusing on the task at hand is the right path.
After finally coaxing Wang Yingying to sleep, Lu Yibei, dragging his tired body, slowly walked downstairs.
Coaxing Wang Yingying to sleep was a rather tormenting task. If he hadn't incidentally acquired some memories of taking care of a child while extracting Human Fireworks raw materials, he probably would have developed a fear of marriage and children.
He went downstairs to the living room and saw Ju Meng curled up on the sofa, holding a game controller and staring intently at the TV screen. Lu Yibei's eyebrows, which had just relaxed, immediately furrowed again.
Although he wasn't ready to depart yet, he definitely had to go to Mountain City soon.
However, going to Mountain City meant meeting Jiang Li, and meeting Jiang Li meant he couldn't bring Ju Meng. But he didn't know how to open his mouth to persuade Ju Meng to return to Taoyuan.
The situation seemed to be stuck in a loop.
And so, with repeated hesitations, Lu Yibei procrastinated from afternoon until late at night.
Damn it, if only I hadn't heard that recording, then I could just pack up Smelly Girl and her things and throw them out without any psychological burden, but now...
I can't possibly bring Smelly Girl to see Miao Miao Jiang, can I? Then one of the three of us would have to die, and the one who dies would most likely be me.
Perhaps I should take some time to learn time management from Shui Ge?
Lu Yibei thought, pacing to Ju Meng's side. As soon as he sat down, a pair of tender white feet stretched out and rested on his knees.
Changing her posture, Ju Meng reclined on the sofa, looking languid, and Lu Yibei's knees served as her sofa footrest.
Lu Yibei looked at the pair of tender white feet in his lap, whose toes were flexing with the actions of the game character, then looked at Ju Meng, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"A bit cold."
"If you're cold, don't you know not to set the air conditioner temperature so low?" Lu Yibei tilted his head.
"No!" Ju Meng pouted, "I'd rather freeze to death than not set it to sixteen degrees!"
Lu Yibei opened his mouth, but said nothing more. Instead, he picked up another game controller from the coffee table and shook it at Ju Meng.
"Want a round? I'll give you two-thirds of my health?"
For a fighting game, having only one-third of health left is just a matter of a simple combo.
"Bring it on!" Ju Meng said defiantly, "Also, who asked you to give me two-thirds of your health? I've been secretly practicing recently: you only need to give me half health!"
And so, the game began. In silence, Lu Yibei successfully completed a five-win streak with a character that only had half health.
After the fifth complete defeat, Ju Meng put down the game controller, crossed her arms over her chest, and squinted at Lu Yibei, muttering, "You dog, you're a bit off today!"
"What's wrong with me?" Lu Yibei said expressionlessly.
"Why haven't you mocked me today?" Ju Meng said, "Normally, the first time I get three-hit comboed, you already start being sarcastic. Today is the fifth time, and you haven't said a word. This is too abnormal."
Normally, no one could tolerate being mocked by Lu Yibei five times in a row with a three-hit combo. Generally, around the third time, they would inevitably want to engage in real combat with °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° him.
"So, you must have something on your mind!"
"Come on, tell your Sister what's bothering you, let me have some fun."
"Actually..." Lu Yibei hesitated, "Actually, I plan to go on a long trip in a couple of days."
"Where to?" Ju Meng tilted her head.
"Mountain City." Lu Yibei answered truthfully.
"Mountain City? Mountain City is great!" Ju Meng's eyes lit up slightly. "Sister has wanted to go to Mountain City for a long time. I heard the food there is especially delicious, and there are many interesting urban legend to learn about."
"When are we leaving?"
Looking at Ju Meng, who openly displayed excitement and anticipation on her face, Lu Yibei was speechless for a moment.
Should I tell her the cruel truth that I never intended to take her with me?
