Free Web NovelChapter 318: Chapter 274: Behind
"Bang bang bang..."
A volley of bullets immediately flew past, with Yang Xiao and Sun Qiya reacting extremely quickly, firing their weapons. However, most bullets missed due to the hasty shooting, and the few that did hit merely shook the figure of the person in the red dress without stopping them. The red-dressed figure then quickly ran towards the other side of the corridor.
Yang Xiao and the others immediately gave chase but were stopped by several cultists who emerged from the children’s park, wielding sharp arrows. A loud gunshot rang out as a shotgun scattered a wide spray of shot like a rain of bullets, forcing them to take cover and preventing them from peeking out.
However, these cultists were mere brainwashed common folk, hardly a match for the skilled team leaders. After a brief scuffle, with the enhancement of Sun Qiya, the human radar, the remaining few cultists were successively killed, without even needing to use their Resentful Eye powers.
"Don’t chase them just yet, be wary of a trap," said Wu Zhengwu as he left a few people on guard. He, Sun Qiya, and Wu Zhe entered the interior of the children’s park to search. Soon, they discovered more than twenty kids who had been drugged and knocked out in a hidden room.
Anxious to rescue the children, Sun Qiya wanted to untie them right away, but Wu Zhe, meticulous as always, stopped him. After a thorough check, they found a bomb under one of the children’s chairs. Though crudely made, it was enormous and could have catastrophic consequences if detonated.
Sun Qiya broke into a cold sweat; had they woken up the children first, the scene might have descended into chaos, easily triggering the bomb.
Fortunately, Wu Zhe was an expert in these matters and managed to successfully defuse the detonator, eliminating the hidden threat.
After a detailed inspection of the entire room, which revealed no additional explosives, and with Sun Qiya’s abilities as a human radar, they weren’t worried about other lurking cultists nearby. The interior of the children’s park wasn’t large and was entirely within Sun Qiya’s detection range.
Still, out of an abundance of caution, the trio conducted a thorough search of the area. Sun Qiya suggested they first escort the children out. However, Yang Xiao and Wu Zhe disagreed, as the Great Heretic Cultivator had already shown up. Dividing their forces could easily lead to them being picked off one by one.
The red-dressed Great Heretic Cultivator had run toward a corridor on the side of the mall. According to the mall’s floor plan they had obtained, the corridor might have its complexities, but it was a dead end. They just needed to search room by room along the corridor to make sure the cultist couldn’t escape.
After some discussion, Sun Qiya stayed behind to take care of the children and contact Director Nalan to report, while the rest continued the pursuit along the corridor.
They hadn’t gone far when, around a corner, they once again spotted the red-dressed cultist. The mask on her face was extremely bizarre; just a glance could make one feel dizzy.
Like before, as soon as Yang Xiao fired, the red-dressed cultist ran off again, heading deeper into the corridor, seeming to deliberately lure them in pursuit.
"Something’s not right," Beibei said, leaning against the corner, frowning. If the cultist kept running like this, in at most ten minutes, they would have her cornered.
Yang Xiao also sensed something amiss and suddenly said, "Beibei, message Sun Qiya, and ask about her situation over there."
Quickly, Beibei received a reply—it was quiet on her end, and with her abilities, it was almost impossible for someone to ambush her.
The next second, Beibei suddenly turned to Wu Zhe, then looked back, exclaiming, "Wu Zhe, where are the two people you brought with you?"
The question sent shockwaves through the group. Wu Zhe seemed to realize what had happened, spinning around to look behind him, but the dim corridor was empty; no one was there.
"When did they disappear?" Wu Zhengwu gripped his knife tightly, becoming somewhat panicked. They had lost two living people without noticing anything amiss.
Wu Zhe quickly regained his composure and began to recall the events. The two men had been there at the children’s park and had followed them to chase after the red-dressed cultist. "It was just now, after seeing the cultist— we immediately chased after, and then... then they were gone!"
"Keep calm, let’s go back and find them," decided Yang Xiao. It was a dead end; unless the person had an ability like his copper mirror, they definitely couldn’t have escaped.
"With all these shadows around, if that person has the ability to hide in the dark, can you find them?" asked Yang Xiao, remembering his Shadow Engraving Stone.
"Yes," Wu Zhe responded nodding firmly, seemingly experienced in this area.
At this point, Yang Xiao had no other choice but to trust his teammate. They remained on alert as they made their way back. The red-dressed cultist didn’t appear again, and when they passed a door left ajar, they saw a horrifying sight through the crack. Two figures, dressed in Patrol Defense Bureau uniforms like mannequins, stood against the wall, one on each side, much like door gods.
Upon entering the room and seeing the torn sleeves, Wu Zhe immediately recognized them as the two brothers who had accompanied him. Unlike the previous mannequins, these figures had an odd flexibility rather than an absolute plastic feel.
Wu Zhengwu apologized before acting, chopping down with his knife to sever the arm of one of the figures. This time the wound bled slightly, showing bones and flesh that had not yet fully plasticized, creating a chilling scene.
"Heehee..."
A light giggle exploded in their ears. Yang Xiao and the others quickly turned around, only to see a masked face peering out from behind the door, the mask painted with strange and unusual patterns.
"Bang! Bang bang!!"
Yang Xiao’s shots were eerily accurate; two struck the mask, but they only staggered the cultist who then withdrew and disappeared into the corridor.
Before Yang Xiao and the others could give chase, they heard a scream behind them. Turning back, they saw Wu Zhengwu staring at his own arm, which was being grasped by the mannequin figure that remained intact.
Indeed, the dummy reached out its hand and grabbed Wu Zhengwu’s arm from behind, and what was more terrifying was that Wu Zhengwu’s captured right hand was turning into plastic at a rate visible to the naked eye.
With a "snap", blood splattered, and Wu Zhengwu made a decisive decision, chopping off three fingers of his right hand at their base with one stroke to prevent his entire body from turning into a plastic dummy.
Then the knife emitted a strange fluctuation. Yang Xiao saw Wu Zhengwu take a deep breath and pressed the knife tip against the wound. Soon, the smell of burning filled the air, and the bleeding wound miraculously began to clot.
Yang Xiao and Wu Zhe stayed on guard, while Beibei quickly tended to Wu Zhengwu’s wound, also learning about the Evil Cultivator’s ability through Wu Zhengwu.
At the time, Wu Zhengwu heard someone calling his name from behind, in a familiar voice, and he instinctively turned his head, only to be grabbed by the dummy.
Thinking back, the voice only sounded familiar but was utterly indistinguishable as anyone in particular. Unprepared, it was easy to be caught off guard.
Now that they knew of the adversary’s capabilities, it became much easier to handle. The four immediately informed Sun Qiya of this news and continued the chase. freēwēbnovel.com
They agreed not to call each other’s names anymore, especially not from behind.
Having learned from experience, the group searched extremely thoroughly, but they didn’t encounter the red-dressed Evil Cultivator again until they had examined the last room.
"She’s gone..." The thing Yang Xiao feared most still happened. It seemed this Evil Cultivator was no small fry, as she had managed to slip away right under their noses.
"Let’s go back and meet up with Sun Qiya first," Yang Xiao decided without hesitation that it was best to be cautious.
"Yang Xiao."
A soft call suddenly came from behind. Almost instinctively, Yang Xiao was about to turn around, but in the next second, all the hairs on his body stood on end, and he didn’t dare move, just standing in place.
His unusual behavior was quickly noticed by the others, and although they didn’t know what had happened, they immediately dispersed to stand on guard. After a moment, Beibei quietly asked, "Captain, what’s wrong?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Someone is calling my name from behind," Yang Xiao said without daring to look back, only able to have the rest check behind him.
"Captain, there’s nobody else behind you, only us," Beibei said, slightly panicky. Anyone would be fearful after witnessing such a creepy death.
But Yang Xiao knew he couldn’t have heard wrong—someone had called him, and the voice was very familiar. Yet thinking carefully, he couldn’t pinpoint it to any specific person, exactly like Wu Zhengwu’s encounter.
Yang Xiao slowly turned around, twisting his neck and body together, intentionally bowing his head, not looking at anyone or anything until his back was against the wall. Only then did he slowly raise his head and looked towards where his back was seconds before. The next second Yang Xiao took a deep breath, his face darkened, and indeed, trouble had arrived; there were now four of his teammates before him.
At this moment, all four teammates stared at Yang Xiao with strange eyes, their faces and bodies gradually blurring, making it impossible to discern who the extra one was.
No wonder they couldn’t find this Evil Cultivator after a thorough search—she had actually blended in among themselves. This ability to evade detection was more than twice as good as Qilong’s.
Realizing something was amiss, the rest of the team quickly scattered, watching their surroundings with caution, the five of them forming a circle with their positions.
"Don’t spread out too far, be careful about being picked off one by one!" someone shouted. Yang Xiao couldn’t distinguish whose voice it was, only that it sounded familiar.
The situation was at a stalemate when someone spoke up, "Don’t panic. I know how to find this person. Her mask is probably her Magic Artifact. Each of us should make a cut on our face, right across the middle, and it must draw blood. She can’t take off the mask, so it would be hard for her to do that."
Yang Xiao was shocked. The person’s method was merciless—it had to be someone of captain rank, someone with sharp wits.
The next second, someone suddenly laughed, "Good idea, let’s use this method. I heard someone’s heartbeat go erratic; this method will work on the Evil Cultivator!"
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Xiao slowly spoke up, "We don’t need to, I have a way to make her reveal herself."
After speaking, Yang Xiao turned his head to look at the other side of the passage and shouted with a swift and powerful voice, "What are you waiting for, attack now!"
While the others were distracted looking over, Yang Xiao quickly grabbed at his Drama Robe, producing a lantern emanating a pale green light, which immediately dispersed the foggy mist covering their faces and bodies. And there stood the figure in a red dress wearing a mask, at the position in front of Yang Xiao to the left.
Realizing she had been tricked, as there was nobody on the other side of the passage, Yang Xiao aimed his gun at the person and pulled the trigger. However, the bullets didn’t have their full effect on the target, leaving only a few blood marks and being deflected by an invisible force when hitting the mask. The Enraged Evil Cultivator lunged at Yang Xiao with two plasticky, withered arms that seemed to be drained of blood, like those of a zombie, reaching for Yang Xiao’s neck.
With his back against the wall, Yang Xiao couldn’t dodge in time, but someone was faster than the Evil Cultivator. Beibei flew into action with a slanted kick to the Evil Cultivator’s waist, disrupting its attack and buying Yang Xiao a precious bit of time.
A moment later, a swift glint of a blade flashed—Wu Zhengwu took action, delivering a smooth Iaido Slash that cleaved the Evil Cultivator from behind, spattering blood all over Yang Xiao. Without so much as a groan, the masked Evil Cultivator collapsed to the ground and after a few twitches, was dead.
"Let’s see your true face," Wu Zhengwu said as he reached to remove the Evil Cultivator’s mask, but to his surprise, the mask seemed fused with the face, and a forceful tear pulled off half of the face’s skin.
