Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 1045: Chapter 725: Evenly Matched

The moment he burst through the door, a familiar feeling of weightlessness attacked him. Yang Xiao’s foot missed the step, and he uncontrollably plunged downward.

A bizarre dizziness filled his mind, and at that moment, time and space lost their meaning. Shortly after, Yang Xiao lost consciousness.

He had no idea how much time passed before a faint glimmer of light appeared before his eyes. Yang Xiao groggily awoke and, after several attempts, managed to open his eyes. The surrounding environment gave him a strong sense of familiarity, and after a short moment, his thoughts returned, realizing this was his own office.

"Awake?"

A person sat in the dark corner, and Captain Zhou raised his head, looking directly at him, a cigarette held between his fingers.

Yang Xiao supported his body and sat up from the bed, with fragmented images reassembling in his mind, and memories flooding back to his heart.

Captain Zhou, Qu Hong, Xi Huijun, Yu Kai... Faces, either clear or blurred, came alive in his memory.

"Well done, Director Yang." Captain Zhou sincerely praised. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"You’re too kind. Luckily, there was your cooperation, Captain Zhou. This wasn’t a game for one person or even a single team." Yang Xiao did not modestly decline. The hardest part of this mission was trust and cooperation; Yu Kai was also a clever person, but even he didn’t survive.

This time, he and Captain Zhou were in separate teams, and both held authority within their respective squads, which was very important.

Moreover, the fact they could meet in reality beforehand was thanks to the advantage of their Patrol Defense Office identities.

Seeing Yang Xiao was about to get up, Captain Zhou extinguished his cigarette butt, pressing his palm down gently. His voice dropped significantly, "Director Yang, don’t hurry to go out yet. Check around, see if there’s anything extra?"

Yang Xiao understood that Captain Zhou was referring to the Resentful Eye of this mission. According to what he knew, the Resentful Eye should belong to either him or Captain Zhou.

But after waking up, Yang Xiao secretly checked around himself and found no Resentful Eye. However, when he lifted the pillow, there was unexpectedly a bell lying underneath.

"I have it here." Yang Xiao did not touch it directly but first brought his backpack, taking out special gloves and a metal box, carefully securing the bell inside.

Captain Zhou did not show the slightest envy for this bell. After Yang Xiao put it away safely, Captain Zhou handed him a bottle of mineral water, returning to the topic.

The content of their conversation was also related to the mission. Captain Zhou was very curious why Yang Xiao risked his life to save a teammate he’d only known for a few days.

"Her name is Qu Hong, she’s someone who considers the bigger picture. She led those people away for my sake; otherwise... we all would have died." Yang Xiao explained the ins and outs of the situation, including some guesses about the identities of those causing trouble.

Upon hearing they actually found a Geisha Face from the Ghost Sect, Captain Zhou was even more astonished, having to admire Yang Xiao’s judgment and execution.

This was a rare talent. If it were him, he would also be curious about the so-called Geisha Face in the video, but whether he would risk his life to investigate further, he couldn’t say.

Another aspect was Yang Xiao’s leadership. He could unite unfamiliar team members around him and make them follow his command in a very short time. Such ability was disproportionate to his age and required some deft manipulation.

In his eyes, Yang Xiao was a very promising young general. No wonder he assumed the position of Deputy Director at a young age; it seems the experiences described in the files were not exaggerated.

Captain Zhou then inquired about Qu Hong’s strange appearance when found. She had gouged out her own eyes, her left hand covered in blood, and two severed hands were tied to her shoulders with strips of cloth on both sides, leaving a deep impression on him.

"She was guarding against that Geisha Ghost. We had encounters with that Ghost before, very frightening. It interferes with people’s vision and kills by touching the shoulder from behind."

"I think Qu Hong, having no other choice, decided to release that Ghost. Those chasing her were all killed by the Geisha Ghost, and the two severed hands tied to her shoulders were cut from the corpses."

Although Yang Xiao did not personally experience it, he could deduce most of it from the scene. The two severed hands were one large and one small, clearly belonging to two different people. One even had nail polish applied, indicating there was a woman among the killers.

He admired people like Qu Hong, decisive and focused on the overall picture, smart, no nonsense, ruthless to others, and even more so to herself. In his view, she was a great teammate.

This time, out of two teams totaling 12 people, 5 survived in the end, which wasn’t too bad. Captain Zhou also admitted that Mu Xiuzhu and Xu Yiqiu, who survived from their team, contributed significantly, especially the latter.

This young girl completed the task alone after all contact and support were cut off, obtained the key, and delivered it to the hospital building on time. This gave Yang Xiao the chance to fight desperately afterward.

"Do you know why only two people are assigned to patrol the third level of the hospital building each night?" Captain Zhou leaned against the wall, letting out a bitter smile, "Why leave one level completely unguarded?"

Yang Xiao frowned slightly. He had never thought of this, assuming it was just a rule set by Vice Director Huang.

"Last night, just after you left, I got a call from Mu Xiuzhu. This guy got one of the dormitory building’s head nurses drunk and got her to talk; the vacant level is reserved for Vice Director Huang. His nightly runs are to check that level."