Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 252: Chapter 213: Overcast with Rain

The victims of another horrific incident were a single mother and her child, both of whom had been hacked to death with a sharp weapon, their bodies chopped into several pieces.

In the corresponding photo, Yang Xiao saw the corpses of the mother and child, their deaths too gruesome to bear witness to. The child, roughly six or seven years old, was chopped horizontally, receiving three slashes across the neck, abdomen, and just above the knees of the lower legs.

What was terrifying was that the bodies had been meticulously reassembled, laid out on the bed to form complete human figures, and the child’s face, stained red with blood, was eerily calm, as if he were simply asleep.

The other was the boy’s mother, who had sustained only one slash, but this one slash had brutally bisected the poor woman lengthwise, splitting her entire body, from head to toe, with a ghastly crack.

Like the boy, the two halves of the woman’s body were also put back together and laid on the bed.

The amount of strength required to vertically cleave an adult with a single stroke was beyond Yang Xiao’s imagination, and he couldn’t even fathom what kind of ominous instrument could leave such a ghastly wound.

In Yang Xiao’s mind, it must have been a weapon that was perhaps not very sharp but certainly had significant heft to it, not swung to chop, but wielded with both hands in a swinging motion.

It had to be something akin to a fireman’s axe, but at least three times larger than the largest fireman’s axe Yang Xiao had ever seen.

The perpetrator who could swing such a massive weapon to kill must not have been human, and Yang Xiao was suddenly reminded of the ghost he had encountered not long ago, that pitch-black figure lurking in the shadows—the exaggerated weapon seemed almost custom-made for it.

The subsequent cases were each more chilling than the last, with victims having their skulls crushed by an unknown heavy object, and others half-ground into pulp.

The bodies of these people were all finally laid back on their beds, and in one of the crime scene photos, Yang Xiao couldn’t even recognize that it was a person—it looked more like a pile of mush shaped like a human body.

"This apartment is located on the outskirts of Qingfeng City in Su Bei Province, not very far from here, but it’s mostly mountainous roads, which are difficult to navigate. The most convenient way is to drive there directly," Zhuge Zhijie suggested as he pulled up a map on the computer.

"How long would it take?"

"If we leave now, we should arrive around noon tomorrow."

There was no time to delay. Yang Xiao, ready with the materials in hand, intended to rush over immediately but was stopped by Da Xiong and the others, "Captain, please wait a moment, Director Nalan and the others will arrive shortly."

"Director Nalan is coming too?" Yang Xiao couldn’t help but feel the leadership of the Patrol Defense Bureau was giving him considerable attention and felt a warm current in his heart.

But soon, Yang Xiao realized he was wrong. Director Nalan, accompanied by Xi Menxiu, briskly walked in and announced to everyone that the Bureau had received a tip-off—recently, an Evil Cultivator had infiltrated Rongcheng and might be up to something big, requiring all investigation team members to be on high alert.

"Yang Xiao, you go and do your thing. Beibei, you stay put and temporarily take over Yang Xiao’s work. Da Xiong, Yu Shu, Zhuge Zhijie, all you key members must remain at your posts. Xi Menxiu, you’re an exception; you will accompany Yang Xiao," Director Nalan ordered.

Upon hearing this, Xi Menxiu was not pleased, "Director, what are you implying? Do you have a bias against my professional ability?"

Looking at Yang Xiao, Director Nalan seemed to realize this arrangement might seem inconsiderate and relented, "Zhuge Zhijie, you go as well. Take the equipment with you and immediately communicate with the Bureau if something happens."

"Director, about that shooting incident..."

Before he could finish, Nalan Shuo interrupted with an impatient wave of his hand, "Enough with the trivialities. Yang Xiao, the essence of war lies in speed. Set out now. I’ve already sent a message to the Patrol Defense Bureau stationed in the area; they will provide you with all the necessary assistance."

"Thank you, Director!"

"Protect yourself and be cautious in all things."

Once Zhuge Zhijie had gathered the equipment, the three headed down to the underground parking garage, where a prepared grey SUV was already waiting outside the elevator.

"Zhijie, maybe you should stay. Xi Menxiu can drive me there; staying back will be more useful to Beibei and the others," Yang Xiao suggested.

Zhuge Zhijie stubbornly shook his head, "Let’s go together. Evil Cultivators can be caught at any time, but we only have one captain."

After all three of them got on the vehicle, Xi Menxiu, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, put on her sun-blocking sunglasses, grasped the steering wheel, and said, "Brothers, hold tight!"

Most of the journey was on mountain roads, which were in poor condition, and coupled with unfamiliarity with the route, Xi Menxiu didn’t dare to drive fast. By the time they reached Qing Feng City, it was already 1 o’clock in the afternoon.

To be honest, they had hardly delayed along the way, other than stopping for a brief rest and meal at a service station, they had been on the road continuously.

The woman responsible for liaising with Yang Xiao at the Qingfeng City Patrol Defense Bureau was named Secretary Meng, who was around 30 years old. With her short hair and uniform, she looked quite professional.

"Captain Yang, we’ve received the message you sent. This Dongzhou Apartment is known here as the ’Ghost Building’, and it has been abandoned for many years."

"You understand, some information is not convenient to write in the reports, and actually... the apartment is even more sinister than you imagine. Ten years ago, our director organized an investigation team to clear the paranormal activities inside the apartment. An accident happened, and it resulted in the disappearance of three investigators, including a deputy chief of the team. Since then, we have completely sealed off the apartment."

Not planning on taking any rash risks, Yang Xiao intended to understand the situation first, "Secretary Meng, is there someone who knows Dongzhou Apartment well, ideally someone who has lived there and experienced it?" freёweɓnovel.com

The apartment was large, and Yang Xiao didn’t believe all the people who had lived there had been killed by evil spirits, that was unrealistic.

The woman had obviously done her homework on this aspect and nodded, "There is someone, his name is Nong Fayo. Thirty years ago, he delivered newspapers to the residents of Dongzhou Apartment for a while. He was the first to discover a horrific case. He’s still alive now, residing in the countryside not far from here, about a half-hour drive."

"Thank you. Please give us the address." No information could be as direct and precise as the account of a firsthand witness.

The woman wrote down the address and also reminded Yang Xiao, "Captain Yang, this Nong Fayo is a bit eccentric, probably because the tragedy that occurred in the apartment has cast a shadow over him. Be careful when asking questions, and try not to upset him." freewebnøvel.com

Following the woman’s directions and using electronic navigation, the three men finally located Nong Fayo’s residence, which consisted of several connected brick and tile houses, the kind with a surrounding wall.

This place was home to not just Nong Fayo’s family but four or five families in total. To the west and north of the houses was a large expanse of barren land after the harvest. It was clear that the people here relied on farming to make a living.

After getting out of the car, Yang Xiao looked up at the sky, which was overcast and seemed to foretell a rainstorm coming soon.

With Xi Menxiu and Zhuge Zhijie at his side, Yang Xiao stepped onto the dirt road, walking towards the westernmost house, which was also nearest to them.

That was where Nong Fayo lived.

Before they could get close, the small iron gate in the yard was pushed open with a "creak," and a middle-aged woman with dark skin, holding a wooden basin, came out, wearing a pair of severely discolored plastic slippers.

Upon seeing Yang Xiao and the others, the middle-aged woman sized them up and then asked with a thick country accent, "Are you the leaders sent from the county?"

"Sister, we’re not leaders, just here to ask Brother Nong Fayo about some matters. Is he home?" Yang Xiao’s tone was friendly and easygoing.

"He’s home. You can just go in." Without looking back, the woman took a few more steps forward and then poured the dirty water from her basin into a shallow ditch by the roadside.

"Doesn’t do anything well, the more polite the speech, the more likely they’re hiding something nasty." The woman muttered under her breath, evidently holding little regard for the county officials, and her words were inadvertently overheard by Yang Xiao and his companions.

Pushing open the rusty iron gate, they saw a small courtyard, much like any ordinary farmhouse, with a wooden doghouse near the gate, empty, suggesting the dog had run off to play somewhere.

On the other side of the courtyard, several large pieces of thick plastic cloth were laid on the ground, covered with a thick layer of picked corn kernels, shining golden. Besides that, there were things like dried radishes lying out to dry, resembling strips, and these items occupied half of the yard.

Observing these things briefly caused Yang Xiao to frown, but in the next second, a bout of coughing came from the corner of the courtyard, near the brick and tile houses. Following the sound, they spotted an old man with gray hair sitting there.

The clothesline strung up in the courtyard with hanging clothes had obstructed their view, which was why they hadn’t seen the old man in the corner at first.

The old man was resting on a recliner, appearing to be in poor health, with a dirty, furry blanket covering everything below his waist.

Next to his right hand, against the wall, stood a wooden cane.