Chapter 312: Interception!

In the silence, Bai Kai looked at Lu Yibei. The face was still that of a boy with facial paralysis, yet there was something unfamiliar about him.

While helping Lu Yibei with drawing the Spirit Pattern, Bai Kai had already noticed that Lu Yibei had somehow acquired the power of a witch type haunting. But until five minutes ago, he hadn’t given it much thought.

After all, even a quarter haunting bloodline was still a haunting bloodline!

As one grows older, it’s not unusual for some haunting power to manifest within.

After a long pause.

Bai Kai suddenly burst into laughter, “Come on, Yibei, why would you want to do something like that? Don’t you know I’m currently investigating this very thing?”

“Pick something else, anything else, and I can help you.”

“Shui-Ge…” Lu Yibei said seriously, “This Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts might be far more severe than you realize. The Midnight Watchers Society alone might not be able to handle it.”

Bai Kai frowned, then relaxed, smiling as he brushed it off, “Yibei, you should stay out of it. When it comes to handling the Night Parade, the Society has more experience than you.”

“Oh, and those things you just said, it’s fine to tell me, but don’t let any other Society members hear, especially Li Xuan. If he hears, he’ll report you straight to headquarters!”

Seeing that he couldn’t persuade Bai Kai, Lu Yibei pondered for a moment, then had a sudden idea, “Taisui, the emperor of the year, must not be offended, for to do so bodes ill…”

“Shui-Ge, have you ever heard a description of haunting power like this anywhere?”

Although Lu Yibei didn’t fully repeat the description he heard in the Dream, whispered by the Dusk Maiden, doing so might attract the attention of some dangerous entity.

The last time he carelessly recited Lady Zi’s description, it left him anxious for a long time and even attracted Gou Meng, a “ferocious” haunting. He didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

But even this incomplete content was enough for Bai Kai to connect many dots.

As soon as he heard Lu Yibei’s words, Bai Kai’s expression changed slightly, his gaze deepening, “X Taisui? Could it be that the Night Parade is being orchestrated by it?”

“X Taisui?”

Hearing the haunting name Bai Kai blurted out, Lu Yibei was taken aback, “What kind of haunting is that? The name sounds like something out of cyberpunk!”

Honestly, when Bai Kai mentioned “X Taisui,” Lu Yibei’s mind conjured up an image of a bizarre, colossal creature.

Its pink, slippery body was interwoven with various futuristic metallic devices, adorned with neon lights that seemed to serve no purpose other than causing light pollution.

Could it be a creation born from the Eclipse Society’s mad experiments?

Seeing Lu Yibei’s confusion, Bai Kai explained, “Yibei, for catastrophe-class hauntings, even if you don’t fully recite their haunting power descriptions, merely mentioning their name can already make them faintly aware.”

“Although the level of sensing is usually not dangerous, to be on the safe side, The Midnight Watchers Society always omits part of its name.”

Lu Yibei was speechless.

Wait, didn’t Jiang Li just call out the Haze Deity by name before? Isn’t she afraid of being targeted?

And what about my constant complaints about Gou Meng? Could she sense them too?

Pondering this, Lu Yibei rested his chin on his hand for a couple of seconds and nodded slightly.

Probably not. That pesky little sister is just all talk. Besides tricking people into giving her food and drinks, she doesn’t have any real skills.

With these thoughts, Lu Yibei pressed on, “Shui-Ge, what exactly is this X Taisui? Is it really that terrifying?”

Bai Kai was silent for a moment, glanced around, and then gestured for Lu Yibei to follow him. “Yibei, let’s move somewhere else to talk.”

Ever since the nights grew longer, incidents of hauntings being attracted by excessive discussion have become all too common. Discussing a catastrophe-class haunting in public, even without mentioning its name, is not wise.

Especially considering they were at the entrance of Mudan Street, less than five hundred meters from the Hua City headquarters of The Midnight Watchers Society…

The Society first discovered the existence of the Plague Taisui four years ago.

At that time, the nights had just started to lengthen, and daylight had shortened by less than half an hour, barely affecting people’s lives.

The Plague Taisui was discovered at a relatively large private sanatorium located in a remote area.

On the surface, this sanatorium offered various health services, but in reality, it specialized in treating infectious diseases, tumors, and certain unspeakable injuries. It also…

Made some extra money by taking little trinkets from unclaimed bodies.

Inside a luxurious private room at The, completely sealed off by Bai Kai’s spell formation.

Lu Yibei couldn’t help but interrupt Bai Kai halfway through his explanation, “Hold on, Shui-Ge, aren’t hospitals that treat infectious diseases supposed to be publicly run?”

“That’s why it was under the guise of a sanatorium!” Bai Kai scoffed. “Besides, if there weren’t any issues, why would such a luxurious hospital be built in such a remote place?”

“There are always some people who, due to the nature or cause of their illness, are too embarrassed to seek treatment at a regular hospital.”

“Moreover, later investigations revealed that the hospital was secretly selling organs from corpses.”

“Got it!” Lu Yibei nodded.

It’s like those shady clinics or the underground hospitals in gangster movies where they help the boss remove bullets, or the desperate remedies sought by cancer patients when they’re out of options.

Even the wealthy might need such places, right?

It’s just that one is out for profit and harm, while the other might only be out for profit without harm, Lu Yibei thought.

Where there is demand and profit, there will be supply. Thus, a hospital claiming to “perfectly protect patient privacy” emerged.

This private hospital was located on the hillside next to a small town that can no longer be found on maps today.

The town was picturesque, with a pleasant climate, and there was a comforting legend for those who were ill.

It was said that in ancient times, a talisman practitioner who had studied the arts of spirits and gods was recommended to the court and soon gained the emperor’s trust.

One day, the emperor asked the talisman practitioner about the secret to immortality. The practitioner eagerly recounted all the various elixirs and miraculous medicines recorded in ancient texts.

The emperor was delighted and immediately bestowed a thousand taels of gold, commanding the practitioner to find the materials needed to concoct these elixirs.

The practitioner pursued this task for six years, visiting countless famous mountains and rivers, collecting many treasures that could prolong life. However, he never found the elixir that could grant immortality.

Six years is a long time, enough to wear down one’s patience. Moreover, the emperor was aging, his health declining, and his desire for immortality growing stronger. He finally issued a stern order: if the practitioner did not bring back the elixir within a year, he would face execution.

The emperor’s authority was overwhelming, and the practitioner dared not delay. The next day, he set out from the capital with a team of more than ten people, embarking on the journey to find the elixir.

Later, during a search for a mystical mountain, the practitioner’s team encountered a natural disaster while traveling overnight. Amidst the landslides and earthquakes, the horses panicked and scattered, losing supplies and causing casualties, making it impossible to continue.

With no other choice, the practitioner ordered his men to find an open area to set up camp, bury the dead, and send people to nearby towns to purchase supplies.

After setting up camp and burying the dead, about half a day later, the followers sent to buy supplies returned with something peculiar.

It filled a clay pot to the brim, looking like a lump of red jade, round and soft like flesh, yet even softer, with a layer of slippery, sticky substance on the surface.

What amazed the practitioner most was that when he cut a piece from it, there was no blood, and within an hour, the cut area was as good as new.

The practitioner examined it closely and suddenly recalled that ancient texts mentioned a mysterious substance called “Taisui,” which resembled the thing in the pot.

Judging by its color, it was likely the rare “blood Taisui,” a supreme form of the flesh lingzhi1.

He remembered the book’s description: “Taisui, when consumed entirely, regenerates anew. Eating it can transform one’s being.”

The practitioner immediately ordered the wounded from the team to be brought over, cut a piece from the blood Taisui brought back by the followers, and fed it to them. Within half an hour, the severely injured were healed and running as if nothing had happened.

Seeing the injured healed, the practitioner knew he had found the emperor’s desired elixir for immortality. Overjoyed, he summoned the followers who brought back the blood Taisui and asked where they had found it.

The followers replied that twenty miles from the camp, there was a mountain village surrounded by clouds, peaks, and mirror-like streams, resembling a paradise. The previous day’s earthquake had caused a small mountain at the village entrance to collapse, and villagers investigating the landslide found the substance in the mountain crevices.

The villagers saw birds and beasts in the mountains consuming it, so they brought it home to cook and eat.

Later, the practitioner sent people to the mountain village to search for blood Taisui, finding seventy-two jin2 in total, which were all transported to the capital and presented to the emperor, extending his life by more than eighteen years.

…

Hearing this, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but scoff, “The emperor ate that bizarre stuff and didn’t die? What’s even more ridiculous is that people actually believed it!”

“Could such a legend really spark a haunting?”

“Who knows!” Bai Kai shrugged. “Even now, within The Midnight Watchers Society, there are still two prevailing theories about the origin of the Plague Taisui.”

“Some believe it was born directly from that legend.”

“Others think that the talisman practitioner didn’t manage to collect all the blood Taisui back then. The remnants grew over the centuries, nourished by the hospital’s waste filled with viruses, bacteria, and organ fragments, eventually becoming a haunting.”

“In fact, according to records, a significant number of people who went to that private hospital for treatment were drawn by the legend, hoping to find the blood Taisui.”

…

With the slogan “Protecting patient privacy, restoring your health,” and bolstered by folklore, the reputation of this sanatorium, operating in a legal gray area, quickly spread.

Initially, many who came for treatment experienced miraculous recoveries, reinforcing the belief among some that the sanatorium harbored the blood Taisui.

Before long, the sanatorium became a gathering place for wealthy and powerful individuals on the brink of death, as well as those with ulterior motives seeking the blood Taisui.

At its peak, the sanatorium housed up to five hundred patients and over a hundred medical staff.

This situation persisted until a patient went missing, marking the beginning of change.

The missing patient was a man suffering from a rare lung disease, with strange leaf-like tissues growing in his lungs, surviving only through repeated lung lavage surgeries.

Sometimes, when conventional medicine fails, people turn to more mystical treatments.

Thus, the man arrived at the sanatorium.

…

“Leaves growing in his lungs?” Lu Yibei frowned. “That sounds like Nocturnal Syndrome to me.”

“It likely was Nocturnal Syndrome,” Bai Kai smirked. “But a few years ago, the term didn’t exist, and people’s understanding was limited, so they just considered it a rare, strange disease.”

“And then what happened?” Lu Yibei pressed.

“Then…”

…

The man’s condition was extremely severe, and he died the very night he arrived at the sanatorium.

According to insiders who once worked there, the man’s agonizing groans, driven by the despair of suffocation, continued into the early hours.

His death quickly threw the sanatorium into panic.

Previously, patients nearing death with families would be taken home by relatives before passing. Those without family or unclaimed bodies were discreetly dealt with by the sanatorium through undisclosed means.

The man’s situation was too unique; after learning of his death, his son and remarried wife had a dispute over the property distribution. They caused a huge scene at the sanatorium but no one suggested taking the body away.

Consequently, the man’s unclaimed, decomposing body was temporarily placed in a small room next to the waste disposal area.

Then, on the following night, his body disappeared…

Soon after, the night shift nurses began hearing footsteps in the hallways during the midnight hours, the sounds odd as if stepping on something wet and sticky, along with whispers as though a group of people were gathering together. Following the sounds led to nothing.

Strangely, the sanatorium’s food and medical supplies also started mysteriously growing large amounts of mold.

The growth rate of these molds was exceptionally fast; sometimes they weren’t there one moment and then appeared like an illusion on the food or bedsheets the next.

However, while the sanatorium was busy disputing with the man’s family and covering up their misdeeds of handling the unclaimed body, these abnormal details initially went unnoticed.

It wasn’t until a janitor died in the sewage treatment pool that people started paying attention. No one knew why she was at the sewage pool in the basement in the middle of the night. All they knew was that she had disappeared for just a couple of days, and her body had already decayed significantly, as if corroded by acid.

After the janitor’s death, a haunting began to circulate within the sanatorium. Anyone who came into contact with the mold was said to be targeted by the haunting, eventually dying in the sewage treatment pool.

As the haunting legend spread, it caused panic, and the once bustling sanatorium quickly emptied, leaving only a few dozen unclaimed patients and medical staff.

Before long, these people also went missing…

When the families of the missing contacted the police, who in turn notified The Midnight Watchers Society, the local members went to investigate. In the sanatorium’s sewage treatment pool, they discovered Plague Taisui.

This twisted and bizarre haunting terrified the investigating operators from The Midnight Watchers Society. Its very existence seemed like a desecration of nature, prompting them to exterminate it immediately and seal its remains.

…

“That’s not right, Shui-Ge!” Lu Yibei interjected again, “Wasn’t it exterminated and sealed? How did it evolve into a catastrophe-class haunting?”

“If only it were that easy to exterminate!” Bai Kai said seriously, “Though it’s ranked only twenty-sixth on The Midnight Watchers Society’s Wanted List, it’s definitely one of the most troublesome hauntings. It climbs two to three ranks every year.”

“I heard that if even a grain-sized piece of its tissue is left, it can regain its strength in a very short time.”

“When the operator found it in the sanatorium, its tissue had already grown into the underground water layers of the sanatorium, spreading throughout the city with the water flow.”

“Less than three months after the operator exterminated it, a dark green poisonous fog enveloped the entire city. Anyone who inhaled the fog became a breeding ground for Plague Taisui.”

“Not long after, the entire Midnight Watchers Society in that city… was wiped out!”

Bai Kai paused at this point, picking up the glass of amber-colored liquor in front of him and downing it in one go. He then spoke in a haunting tone, “Yibei, do you still dare to go against it now?”

But really, what’s there to be afraid of? Didn’t I offend the Haze Deity and nothing happened?

Lu Yibei thought to himself, meeting Bai Kai’s gaze with a serious expression. “Shui-Ge, I heard from someone that if I connect my aura with the Ley Line of Hua City through the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, I can stop the Plague Taisui.”

“Is that reliable?”

“Who told you that?” Bai Kai asked, surprised.

“A friend,” Lu Yibei replied expressionlessly. “Don’t worry about who it was. Just tell me if it’s reliable or not.”

“It is possible, but…” Bai Kai hesitated.

“Come on, no more ‘buts’!” Lu Yibei interrupted. “If it’s possible, why not let me try? Besides me, who else among the hauntings is suitable for this task?”

“Well…” Bai Kai rubbed his forehead, speaking earnestly, “But Yibei, the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts isn’t as simple as you think.”

“First, you need to have at least one or two familiars.”

“I have two,” Lu Yibei said.

“……”

Bai Kai stared at Lu Yibei in silence for a few seconds before continuing, “Secondly, you need a large following of hauntings, and most of the hauntings in your Night Parade’s area must know of your existence. That’s very difficult…”

“I think I can manage that too,” Lu Yibei nodded.

Introducing oneself as Wang Buliuxing, originally Lu Yibei, the Bomber of Hua City-just mentioning this name… should make many hauntings aware, right?

Bai Kai, “……”

What on earth has Yibei been up to without me knowing?

How does it sound even scarier than the things Ah-Hua has done?

He stared at Lu Yibei, feeling a complex mix of emotions, as if he had aged decades in an instant.

It was like discovering that a child you thought was well-behaved and harmless, just a little mischievous at times, had secretly become a notorious gang leader.

“Lastly, and most importantly,” Bai Kai looked directly into Lu Yibei’s eyes, “you might have to face challenges from all the hauntings in Hua City. Do you think you can win?”

“Well…” Lu Yibei frowned, analyzing calmly, thinking a bit, and then boldly hypothesizing before saying seriously, “What are you thinking! Of course, I can’t!”

Bai Kai, “……” That’s my Beibei!

After a moment of silent contemplation, he seemed to make a firm decision, clenching his fist, “Then there’s only one way to take a shortcut, and I can help you with that!”

If he could harness the power of Hua City’s barrier, Yibei’s safety could be somewhat assured, though afterward… Bai Kai thought.

“What way?”

Hearing Lu Yibei’s question, Bai Kai snapped back to reality and blurted out, “Intercept!”

Footnote:

1. Lingzhi(灵芝): A legendary fungus symbolizing longevity and health.
2. Jin(斤): “Jin” is a traditional Chinese unit of weight, 1 jin ≈ 500g.