Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 491: Chapter 425: Malicious Clown (Happy Qixi!)

"Do you have any suspicions?" Yang Xiao, whose knowledge was far inferior to that of Tong Han from the Yu Yuan Sect, asked.

After a moment of silence, Tong Han shook her head in agony, "I don’t know. I have never encountered such a high-grade Resentful Eye, so I am not sure of its capabilities and limits. But my instincts tell me that Mo Daidai is in great danger right now, which is why I chose to leave him."

Seeing that Tong Han’s expression was not good, Yang Xiao did not persist on this topic and instead asked, "What are your plans moving forward?"

"I want to go out and wander."

She did not reveal her destination for this journey, and Yang Xiao tacitly did not pursue further, merely silently wishing her well.

He considered Tong Han a friend. Over the years, Tong Han had always been working under the Yu Yuan Sect, and she must have certainly felt confined. Now that she finally regained her freedom and had settled her old accounts with those from the Yu Yuan Sect in the presence of Mo Daidai, it was the best outcome for her.

Perhaps noticing Yang Xiao’s slight feeling of loss, a faint smile formed on Tong Han’s haggard face, "I need to stay here to recuperate for a while. Feel free to visit me anytime if you have the time."

The two continued chatting for a while. Yang Xiao updated her about Yang Cha and mentioned Sui Chengguo. Tong Han sighed, realizing that the difficulty of their last mission was horrendous. Without a group of reliable teammates, just the two of them would have never made it out.

"People say Sui killed his brother to seize the Resentful Eye, but I don’t believe it. He’s not that type of person," Tong Han’s judgment was the same as Yang Xiao and Yang Cha’s, "It’s a despicable setup!"

"We think so too, but now that we can’t find Sui, we can’t clarify things. But don’t worry, Yang Cha is still trying. He also asked about your recent situation and said that without your final wish, everyone would have died," Yang Xiao tried to comfort her.

Time passed quickly, and it was soon 9 pm. He had a meeting with Lu Youdao at 10 pm, so he stood up, bid farewell, and left.

Before leaving, Tong Han reminded him to be wary of the people from the Yu Yuan Sect. With the Soul-Capturing Mirror they could never forget on him, they would definitely not rest.

He took a car back to the Patrol Defense Office. At this time, besides the essential on-duty staff, everyone else had left. Yang Xiao exchanged a greeting with the guard at the door, entered, found the elevator, and went down to the basement level to the training ground.

At this time, the training center had already ceased operations, and the staff had left. The vast space was only lit by a few emergency lights.

There was a stark contrast between the training center during the day and at night. At the moment, most of the space was shrouded in darkness, looking exceptionally eerie. In the open shooting range, many human-shaped targets that had not yet been taken down were hanging.

The targets, hidden in dim light and abundant in number, loomed vaguely. At this moment, they all faced in Yang Xiao’s direction. After looking for too long, he couldn’t shake off a misperception as if something else had mingled among these targets.

Immediately stopping this train of thought, Yang Xiao collected his mind and headed towards the direction of the collection room, where a white incandescent light burned brightly at the door.

"Creak—"

The heavy iron door swung open, a dim yellow light seeping out, and at the same time, a hunched figure appeared behind the door.

Bald-headed, with a face half-eroded by strong acid, missing a nose, and with no eyebrows. Had he not been mentally prepared, just the sight of that face would have made Yang Xiao reflexively reach for his Ghost Duster.

"Mr. Lu," Yang Xiao forced a smile and greeted politely.

Lu Youdao still wore his deathly expression, gazing at Yang Xiao for a few seconds before slowly stepping aside, "Come in."

After walking through the iron gate, the sight of a deep corridor greeted him. Distributed along both sides of the corridor were more than a dozen doors, each leading to a separate room. The doors varied in size, shape, and even material, adding an air of mystery.

"Bang."

The dull sound from behind interrupted Yang Xiao’s observation. He instinctively turned his head to find Lu Youdao had already closed the iron door behind them. He now turned around, limping toward the nearest door on the left.

Yang Xiao recognized this door; he had been here before. Inside was a room with walls draped in dark red velvet curtains.

Unlocking the door, Lu Youdao pushed it open. As the door swung open, Yang Xiao sharply felt a chill breeze hit him.

The room’s setup was just as Yang Xiao remembered. It wasn’t very large. High dark red velvet curtains hung from the walls all around. In the center of the room sat a Ghost Camera, also covered with a piece of dark red velvet.

Lu Youdao walked up to the Ghost Camera, pulled off the velvet, lifted his somewhat lame left leg, and stomped down on a spot beneath the tripod. The next second, accompanied by the sound of mechanical gears meshing, the velvet curtain on the wall facing the camera split open, slowly drawing to the sides, revealing the view behind it.

It was an exaggeratedly designed high-backed chair in a Western classical style. The wooden chair legs were thin and long, almost reaching Yang Xiao’s shoulder level. In the dim light, one could just make out the bizarre patterns carved on the chair back.

What was terrifying was that the jumbled lines of the patterns, seen from different angles, pieced together into a series of eerie human faces.

The high-backed chair with its bizarre design was also enveloped by a huge glass dome, which exhibited a strange bronze color, seemingly mixed with special materials.

"Nalan Shuo has told me everything about last night. Take out the Resentful Eyes from your body one by one, and I will help you identify them," Lu Youdao said in a hoarse voice. free𝑤ebnovel.com

"Right here?" Yang Xiao hesitated.

"Yes."

Seeing Lu Youdao’s assertion, Yang Xiao set down his backpack, reached inside, and the moment he touched the Drama Robe, a Ghost Lantern appeared in his hand. Following Lu Youdao’s guidance, Yang Xiao approached the glass dome with the Ghost Lantern.

"Put down the backpack and walk over by yourself," Lu Youdao spoke again, his voice as uncomfortably harsh as ever.

Yang Xiao did as told, only carrying the Ghost Lantern and a Resentful Eye, but after waiting for over ten seconds, nothing happened.

"Put it away, and try the next item," Lu Youdao adjusted the light in the room once again, making it increasingly dim with only a faint glow flowing on the glass dome.

Yang Xiao pretended to "stuff" the Ghost Lantern back into his backpack before pulling out the Soul-Capturing Mirror. As he brought this item close to the glass dome, it only took 3 to 4 seconds for a figure to appear on the previously empty chair.

The figure wore an old-fashioned black top hat and was extremely thin, dressed in a tailcoat. Below the coat was a colorfully dyed shirt, complete with persistent stand-up collars and flamboyant lace sleeve edges.

With head slightly bowed, the face of the figure, painted with exaggerated makeup, was as white as paper with exceptionally bright red lips. There were knife cuts at the corners of the mouth, the shocking scars extending to the ears, revealing ghastly and ugly gums underneath peeled skin.

What was even more terrifying was that this clown-like figure had abnormally long legs. Sitting on the chair, its feet could still firmly touch the ground.

This sight truly startled Yang Xiao. He had seen this creature in Ghost photos before, but viewing it in a photo versus seeing it up close were utterly different experiences.

Madness, irritability, ferocity, bloodthirstiness... A myriad of complex negative emotions merged together to form such a freak.

Bit by bit, Yang Xiao noticed that the clown’s pupils were focusing, eventually staring directly at the Soul-Capturing Mirror in his hands.

But that was it, the clown showed no further changes.

"What does this mean?" Unable to hold back, Yang Xiao turned to Lu Youdao, hoping he could solve the mystery.

"We call this creature the Malicious Clown. It’s a Resentful Eye rated Fierce Grade. It’s extremely sensitive to malicious moods and can clearly sense the malice emanating from people or other Resentful Eyes. We use it to roughly differentiate Resentful Eyes," Lu Youdao paused before lowering his voice, emphasizing, "Especially those taken from Evil Cultivators."

"Generally speaking, those Resentful Eyes that cannot awaken the Malicious Clown, we can tentatively consider them safe, obtainable, and controllable, like the lantern you hold in your hand." freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"The second kind, those that can awaken it but do not greatly affect it, such Resentful Eyes already possess substantial danger and unpredictability. Unless there is a particularly suitable candidate, they can only be sealed away."

"The third kind has a greater impact, even making the Malicious Clown uneasy. Such Resentful Eyes are extremely dangerous and should be permanently sealed once discovered."

"Whether they are dangerous and controllable is not entirely related to the strength of the Resentful Eyes; it’s only a reference point."

Yang Xiao understood that this device acted like a meter, classifying Resentful Eyes according to their danger level. Those with a low danger level were recycled for reuse, and those with high danger were destroyed or sealed away. This is how they collected and identified Resentful Eyes from Evil Cultivators.

The Ghost Lantern in his hand was relatively safe. Even if acquired by the Patrol Defense Office, it could be recycled for use. The Soul-Capturing Mirror, however, required a particularly suitable candidate to handle it due to its strict conditions.

"You still have two more items on you, take them out and let’s see," Lu Youdao said, fixing a steady gaze on Yang Xiao’s backpack as if expecting something. The next second, with the appearance of a horsetail whisk, Lu Youdao’s breathing hastened, "This thing... is really in your hands!"

The Ghost Duster visibly shocked Lu Youdao. Although Yang Xiao had never seen its former owner, the feedback from these people suggested that the Helmsman True Person from the Southeast Branch Sect of Black Buddha Mother’s command was undoubtedly a formidable figure, infamous and formidable.

The effect was immediate this time. Before the Ghost Duster could even approach the glass dome, the Malicious Clown inside seemed to sense something, becoming panicked and restless, tiptoeing back, and eventually even hiding behind the chair.

To further test, Yang Xiao moved behind the chair with the horsetail whisk, and the clown shifted its position to constantly maintain the maximum distance from Yang Xiao.

To be precise, from the horsetail whisk.

The clown, in a comical posture, tiptoed with its murky eyes’ pupils shrinking into slits, resembling a startled, bristled cat.