Chapter 294: Battle in the Darkness

Accompanied by the hum of the taxi engine, Lu Yibei arrived alone at the fence surrounding the unfinished building. He glanced around, found a gap in the iron mesh, and crouched down to slip through.

Once inside, he paused for a moment, turned back to look, and reached out to touch the iron mesh on the fence behind him, frowning slightly. The iron mesh, erected to prevent outsiders from entering the construction site, appeared heavily rusted but was actually far sturdier than it looked. The gap in the mesh was likely man-made.

Upon closer inspection, the edges of the gap, bent inward, had rusted, indicating it had been there for quite some time.

But why would anyone come to such a desolate place? Lu Yibei mused, though he realized he often ventured into unfinished buildings himself, so he had little room to judge others. Besides, there were plenty of people like He Liang and Yang Yi who seemed to enjoy tempting fate.

Shaking off his thoughts, Lu Yibei glanced at the shadowy outline of the unfinished building ahead, expanded his psychic sense to its fullest range, and gripped the Broken Sword tightly as he moved forward.

Though he had pinpointed the Boy Haunting’s location within this unfinished building using the Thousand Night Owl, the building was large, with over twenty floors completed in its framework. Finding the exact location of the Boy Haunting required careful investigation.

Inside the abandoned building, there was no light or sound, making it a dead structure. As he walked through the corridors, the sound of his shoes scraping against the rough concrete and gravel echoed in the vast emptiness, creating the eerie feeling that something might be moving in the shadows.

Lu Yibei softened his steps, hugging the walls as he ascended the stairwell, which had yet to have railings installed, observing his surroundings and staying alert for anything that might emerge from the darkness.

On each floor, walls had yet to be built, leaving the space open except for the standing pillars. The ground was littered with bags of building materials, gently swaying in the breeze. Other than that, there was no significant psychic energy fluctuation present.

Continuing upward, he paused as he reached the fourth floor. He caught a whiff of a peculiar scent in the air-a scent characteristic of incense candles burning to ash.

Following the direction of the scent, he saw several bowls filled with white rice with chopsticks sticking out, accompanied by a few apples with incense candles, wax dripping over them. Both the apples and rice had spoiled, indicating they had been there for a long time.

Had someone performed a simple ritual here? Who were they honoring? Could it be the Boy Haunting?

Lu Yibei pondered, cautiously retreating to the stairwell and continuing upward.

As he approached the stairwell, he suddenly took a step back. A child was standing at the entrance!

But he quickly relaxed; it was merely a humanoid mannequin. The mannequin was crafted with remarkable realism, its eyes seemingly fixed on him, or perhaps something behind him, or elsewhere.

At that moment, he thought he heard a faint chuckle from above, as if mocking his momentary panic over the mannequin.

Listening closely, he heard nothing more.

“…”

Lu Yibei stood still, contemplating for a while, then touched the Death Owl Emblem on his chest, sending a message to Du Sixian.

“Du Sixian, how are things on your end?”

After a few seconds, Du Sixian responded.

“The cleanup here is done. They were very cooperative.”

Anyone would find it hard not to cooperate with the special task force’s intimidating presence… Lu Yibei mused.

“We’re on our way to you now, should be there soon.”

“Got it.”

Knowing that the special task force was on its way, Lu Yibei felt a wave of relief. He then picked up the Broken Sword, bypassed the mannequin, and continued upward.

As he moved through the dark, eerie corridors, he soon noticed something strange: the Boy Haunting’s psychic energy fluctuation was not within his psychic sense’s detection range.

The Midnight Watchers Society’s Thousand Night Owl was almost infallible in tracking, barring interference. This meant the Boy Haunting should be within this unfinished building. His psychic sense could detect psychic energy fluctuations within a range of seven or eight floors above and below.

Yet, after ascending five floors, he hadn’t sensed any psychic energy fluctuation, which was peculiar.

Could the Boy Haunting be hiding on a higher floor? Or did it have a way to conceal its psychic energy?

Lu Yibei pondered, looking up at the stairwell gap, which seemed like a tunnel leading to another world in the darkness.

With uncertainty, he continued upward. When he was within five floors of the top, a psychic energy fluctuation suddenly entered the edge of his psychic sense’s detection range.

It was the haunting from before!

Though the fluctuation was faint, having recently had close contact with the Boy Haunting, Lu Yibei instantly recognized the fluctuation as coming from it.

Looks like it has a special ability to hide its psychic energy?

Finally found you!

Lu Yibei thought, his gaze sharpening as he quickened his pace, following the direction of the psychic energy fluctuation, sprinting up the stairs.

In the darkness, Lu Yibei felt the wind rushing past him, howling in his ears. With the exquisite muscle control techniques from “The Diagram of the Gentleman Sword of Taihe,” he moved like a swift feline, silent and agile, blending into the shadows.

Within seconds, he approached the floor where the psychic energy fluctuation originated.

As he emerged from the stairwell onto the twentieth floor, the sight before him sent a chill down his spine.

The darkness was filled with numerous dolls, mostly child-sized mannequins and stuffed toys, varying in size and showing signs of deliberate damage. From a distance, they resembled a heap of corpses.

More disturbingly, these dolls, some with tilted heads, some sprawled on the ground, some leaning against walls, all faced the stairwell entrance, their hollow eyes fixed on Lu Yibei’s direction.

Who on earth would put such creepy things in a place like this?

If an ordinary person came here without psychic sense to detect danger, they’d be scared half to death! Lu Yibei cursed inwardly.

After the initial shock and confirming that the dolls had no psychic energy fluctuation, he carefully navigated around them, heading toward the source of the psychic energy fluctuation.

Originally, the unfinished building, with only its framework completed, offered limited hiding spots, mainly among the concrete support pillars.

However, with the addition of numerous dolls, the situation became complex. The limbs made of plastic, plaster, or textiles intertwined in the open space, creating narrow, winding paths. Navigating these paths, he frequently encountered broken dolls blocking his way.

This place seemed like a maze, or perhaps…

An ideal hide-and-seek venue? Lu Yibei’s mind flashed with this thought, halting his steps.

He suddenly realized that the psychic energy fluctuation from the Boy Haunting had remained stationary for a long time.

Could it be… it’s deliberately leading me here?

With this realization, Lu Yibei’s heart clenched as if squeezed, instinctively tightening his grip on the Broken Sword.

At that moment, his eyes suddenly burned intensely, and he quickly pulled out various talismans from his pocket, scattering them around him without hesitation.

Immediately, the darkness seemed to come alive, extending from the dolls’ broken limbs to envelop him, plunging his vision into pitch blackness.

Simultaneously, a premonition flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind.

[They’re behind me, quietly watching.]

Behind? They? There are other hauntings or psychics hidden in this unfinished building!

When did they appear, and why didn’t my psychic sense detect them? Lu Yibei thought in shock.

Surrounded by darkness, he couldn’t see anything, as if a massive black curtain had descended, plunging the world into eternal night.

In the pitch blackness, nothing was visible.

Momentarily deprived of sight and psychic sense, Lu Yibei crouched down, clutching the Broken Sword in one hand and resting the other on his guitar case, listening intently.

But the chaotic wind, blowing through the gaps between the dolls, produced a “woo-woo-woo” sound like a siren, disrupting his hearing.

The two figures watching him from the shadows, he could feel their malevolent gazes roaming over him, yet they remained still, perhaps wary of the talismans surrounding him.

Accustomed to light, losing sight suddenly can be unsettling, which is normal.

However, seeing the two unknown figures remain inactive, Lu Yibei calmed down after the initial unease, then crouched down, eventually sitting on the ground.

Though his situation was dire, unable to see or know his surroundings or enemies, as long as the enemies remained inactive, delaying wasn’t disadvantageous for him.

Good thing I prepared a backup plan!

The special task force is on their way, should be here soon. Lu Yibei thought.

Thus, Lu Yibei and the two unseen enemies entered a brief stalemate, with Lu Yibei sensing their gazes growing increasingly restless.

Lu Yibei, though trying to reassure himself with the thought that the special task force would soon arrive to support him, felt sweat slowly forming in his palms as time went by.

After about ten minutes, the special task force members still hadn’t arrived, but the two unseen enemies were growing restless.

The temperature around him suddenly dropped, and the next moment, a premonition flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind.

[Its hand reaches from behind, clamping around my neck.]

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, in the impenetrable darkness, a pale, withered arm, resembling that of a mummy, seemed to materialize from nowhere, emerging through the gaps between the doll’s dismembered limbs, darting towards his neck.

“Whoosh-!”

Amidst the explosion of talismans, the shrill of the arm’s sudden attack and the sound of Lu Yibei’s swift sword swing almost overlapped, creating a single sound.

The next moment, a muffled groan escaped Lu Yibei’s lips in the darkness.

Though he managed to strike the attacking arm with his sword, a brief hesitation prevented him from completely deflecting the enemy’s attack. Instead, it diverted the trajectory, causing the hand that was meant to grasp his throat to land heavily on his chest.

The blow was swift and powerful. Even though he had prepared by wrapping his muscles in psychic energy for defense, a sharp pain erupted in his chest, sending him flying backward. The sound of dolls shattering echoed in his ears until he collided with a support pillar, finally steadying himself.

“Cough, cough-!”

Lu Yibei coughed violently, a metallic taste filling his mouth as his thoughts raced.

The enemy lurks in the shadows, as hidden as Jacob’s secrets, while I’m exposed, like a girl caught without clothes. How am I supposed to fight like this?!

Sensing that the attack had been effective, before Lu Yibei could regain his composure, he felt the wind rushing towards him.

In the darkness, an arm emerged from below, rising swiftly to strike his open jaw.

“Whoosh-!”

A terrifying force exploded.

[Its hand strikes from below, shattering my jawbone.]

Below?

The premonition flashed through his mind again. This time, without hesitation, Lu Yibei leaped backward, slashing the ground with his Broken Sword in a swift arc.

“Slash-!”

The sound of flesh being torn by the blade and a foul smell erupted simultaneously, followed by a pained grunt from afar, bringing a smile to Lu Yibei’s face.

Amidst the chaotic wind, though the grunt was faint, he definitely heard it.

He had struck!

Perhaps there was a way to handle this?

Yes, let’s try it! Lu Yibei thought.

The next moment, he dashed towards the direction of the faint grunt, his mind constantly flashing with premonitions.

[Its hand strikes from the left, hitting my shoulder.]

“Slash-!”

Lu Yibei swung his sword again, the sound of flesh being torn echoed once more, and a viscous, foul-smelling liquid splattered onto his face. Without pausing, he continued to discern the direction of the pained moans and sprinted forward.

[Its hand strikes from above, hitting my head.]

“Clang-!”

Responding to the attack from above required a more complex sword maneuver. Lu Yibei’s blade was a moment too slow, colliding with a hard part of the pale arm, producing a clear sound.

[Its hand strikes from the left diagonal below…]

“Clang-!”

[Its hand…]

“Slash-!”

…

Successfully defending against several attacks boosted Lu Yibei’s confidence and allowed him to grasp some patterns in the enemy’s assaults. As he gradually adapted to the darkness, his defenses and evasions became increasingly adept.

In the following minutes, he charged through the maze of dolls like a beast ignoring all rules, his ceaseless trash talk even causing the enemy’s attack rhythm to falter.

“What kind of attack is this? You call this a haunting? It’s as soft as toilet paper!”

“No, I apologize for my previous comment. Your attack isn’t like toilet paper; it’s like a puddle of diarrhea!”

As Lu Yibei’s words fell, a barrage of chaotic attacks ensued.

However, the storm was disorganized, lacking any form.

“He’s breaking down, he’s panicking! Didn’t expect this, did you? I’ve got a cheat code for seeing through walls!”

“No way…” A voice filled with surprise came through the wind, quickly silenced as if realizing it might reveal its position.

As the enemy’s voice faded, Lu Yibei suddenly halted, raising his arms in a straight line. His left hand gripped the sword tightly, while his right hand conjured a large, fiery red ball.

“Red flame flash…”

With the final incantation whispered, the red flame flash, amplified twentyfold, shot towards his right. Simultaneously, he leaped into the air, using the momentum to fly to the left.

“Taihe Gentleman Sword: Heavenly Symphony Youth Edition!”

With a low shout, sword energy surged.

The whistling wind abruptly ceased, plunging into silence.

“Thud, thud, thud-!”

In the quiet, a sound like a ball rolling echoed.

Then, the darkness split like a curtain cut by a blade, scattering to the sides, and light gradually returned to Lu Yibei’s vision.

As the dark curtain tore apart, it revealed not a refined stage setting but a gruesome scene of blood.

A hideous head rolled in the pool of blood, finally stopping, its vacant eyes staring at the ceiling. Nearby lay a headless corpse clad in a black robe.

Amidst the splattered blood, the stone pillars, floor, and doll-constructed maze were left in disarray.

Lu Yibei stood amidst the chaos, surrounded by the trenches carved by his sword and the blazing dolls.

Looking down, the path he had carved was a series of irregular circles, and his position was roughly on a line connecting the intersection points of those circles.

Indeed, he wasn’t just running aimlessly; he was constantly determining the enemy’s position through the pained grunts.

However, without that surprised exclamation, it might have taken him much longer to locate the enemy.

Feeling the emptiness from the intense psychic energy consumption, Lu Yibei refocused, gazing at the corpse on the ground with a frown.

Why is it a Black-Cloaked Haunting and not the Boy Haunting?

Could they be accomplices?

As Lu Yibei pondered, gunfire and explosions suddenly erupted from downstairs, followed by the shouts of the special task force members.

“Bang, bang, bang-!”

“Boom-!”

“Catch it, catch it!”

“Guys, don’t let it escape!”

Lu Yibei thought, “…” Another one slipped through? Is it the Boy Haunting?