Chapter 378: The Signal of the Silver Owl

As the flock of Fire Crows dispersed, the plane’s flight gradually stabilized. The economy class was shrouded in silence, broken only by the rise and fall of breathing.

Everything seemed so peaceful and serene, as if the life-and-death crisis moments ago had never happened at all.

“……”

The moment he lifted the curtain, Lu Yibei already began to regret it. The person holding the bone flute had over a hundred passengers in economy class as cover, but he had none.

The instant he appeared at the entrance to the economy class aisle, he was exposed.

A situation that could have allowed for covert action had now turned into one where the enemy was hidden, and he was in the open.

Utterly passive.

Besides, who could guarantee that among these passengers, there weren’t other psychics harboring hostile intentions?

His gaze lingered on Hu Yue for a few seconds, and Lu Yibei sighed silently.

Although Hu Yue’s clothes matched the color of that fleeting shadow, with a sixty or seventy percent probability that he was the person in question, there were still four other passengers wearing similar-colored clothes, so none of them could be completely ruled out.

Presumption of innocence-among so many, he couldn’t just search each of them simply because he suspected they were psychics plotting a terror attack, could he?

If he really did go to search them, there would be only three possible outcomes: finding the bone flute and solving the problem; not finding it and suffering social death; or uncovering some odd, unspeakable thing, leading everyone to social death together.

They might not even be coming for him specifically-was it really worth it? Lu Yibei thought, gently letting down the curtain and returning to his seat, fastening his seatbelt.

Just as Lu Yibei turned away, Liu Seer’s eyes opened a crack. He glanced in the direction of Professor Ma and Hu Yue, then closed them again, slipping the bronze Hetu turtle’s shell into his bosom without a trace…

Tang City, Arrow Tower Old Street. In the attic of a shabby pawnshop, a table laden with all sorts of snacks had been set in front of the wide-open wooden window.

A cold wind whistled in from outside, ruffling the curled hair at the temple of the dainty little girl. She wore a light gray hoodie, pale blue jeans revealing a sliver of fair ankle, her bare feet perched on the chair, gently rocking.

After two or three days of recuperation, Gou Meng’s complexion had grown noticeably rosy.

As the King of Hauntings across these eight hundred li, she was already a veteran among veterans. As long as she wasn’t killed outright and her core entity devoured, under the blessing of Ley Line Energy, she always found ways to slowly recover.

“Pa-!”

Gou Meng slapped away Grandpa Turtle’s hand reaching for the snacks, grabbed a pork trotter with her own hand and bit into it, muttering, “Don’t touch! What bad habit is stealing offerings?”

“I bought these!” Grandpa Turtle protested bitterly.

“Hmph!” Gou Meng snorted, “You’re my familiar. If you buy it for me, isn’t it an offering? Stealing the offerings of the deity of reproduction-watch out, or you’ll be infertile in the future!”

“How’s the task I assigned you going?”

Grandpa Turtle looked at the table covered with Tang City’s famous snacks, swallowed hard, and bowed to Gou Meng. “Patron, it’s almost settled.”

“Everyone that could be notified has been notified. By now, they should all be on the road, expected to assemble within five days.”

Hearing this, Gou Meng nodded.

In these years as King of Hauntings, she had made many enemies among psychics and hauntings, but just as many owed her favors.

When it came to numbers, those sinners might not necessarily win.

“And the knife? Did you find out where that knife came from?” Gou Meng pressed.

In her long years of awareness, aside from the set of kitchen knives at Lu Yibei’s home, she had hardly ever been hurt by a psychic artifact.

If not for the Ally Mark showing no reaction, she might have suspected Lu Yibei of secretly making mischief.

Grandpa Turtle shook his head. “As for those sealed items… our people have only recovered some of them. We’re still working on the rest.”

At this, Gou Meng tore off a chunk of meat from the pork trotter, speaking earnestly, “This needs to be handled quickly. Those are all my treasures-not a single one can be missing.”

“Besides, if something happens and we’re targeted by The Midnight Watchers Society, that’ll mean big trouble-do you understand?”

“……”

If only we’d known, why do it in the first place?

Grandpa Turtle hesitated, glancing at Gou Meng as she devoured her food, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.

His Patron, though she smoked, drank, conned, and bickered proudly, was still far kinder and more compassionate than any King of Hauntings he had ever heard of or seen.

If only she were a bit more ruthless, there wouldn’t have been so many messes.

Just like when she once vied with Fuyang, resulting in him being forced to sleep for centuries-yet she hadn’t wiped out all his devotees, only drove them away.

During past Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, she had never slaughtered all the challengers either.

If some were local deities or relatively benign hauntings, she would drive them away if she could; if not, she’d casually seal them in jars and bottles from Taoyuan.

Although Gou Meng always claimed those were emergency rations for when needed-to dig out and devour the core entity, like pickles-Grandpa Turtle knew it was only because she pitied them, reluctant to kill, wanting to give them a chance to “reform and start over as hauntings.”

In fact, Grandpa Turtle himself had once been sealed inside a turtle’s shell, until he swore loyalty to Gou Meng and signed a familiars contract, only then breaking free.

Perhaps those sinners couldn’t break through the spell formation Gou Meng had cast on those sealed items, unable to release the hauntings inside to aid them.

Or perhaps they simply didn’t know what those things were, thought the carvings and totems related to Gou Meng were eyesores, and just tossed them out of Taoyuan as trash.

But that’s hazardous, non-recyclable trash!

So many years had passed; any haunting that could be released had already been let out by Gou Meng. Those still locked in sealed items were either eccentric or already twisted by fall.

A few days ago, Gou Meng had even joked about opening two jars of “kimchi” for everyone to enjoy during the New Year!

Well, that’s fine now.

If those things end up loose in or around Taoyuan, it’s fine if nothing happens, but if even one haunting breaks free, it could cost dozens or hundreds of lives. By then, The Midnight Watchers Society simply couldn’t stand by and watch.

Once The Midnight Watchers Society takes action and traces things back-“Well, well, turns out you’re the one behind all this?”-Gou Meng would probably find herself beset on all sides.

As one of the top-ranked hauntings on The Midnight Watchers Society’s Wanted List.

Although the local Midnight Watchers Society usually kept the peace because of Gou Meng’s formidable power, if they found out she was badly injured, who knows if they’d make a move or not.

“Hic-!”

Having swept up all the snacks on the table like a whirlwind, Gou Meng let out a satisfied burp, rubbing her round little belly. She leaned back in her chair, looking at Grandpa Turtle, as though she could guess what was on his mind. With heartfelt gravity, she said, “Grandpa Turtle, I know what you’re thinking, but I’m really not what you imagine.”

“I’m the King of Hauntings of the entire eight hundred li of Taoyuan-how could I ever be soft-hearted, don’t you know? These hands of mine, they’re stained with blood, you know! Tsk tsk, I really am a woman of deep and terrible sin!”

She had killed plenty-thousands, easily-but hadn’t she let off even more? Grandpa Turtle grumbled inwardly, his face expressionless as he nodded, “Mm-hmm, go on, what else?”

“I sealed them away only because I wanted to collect them, like collecting figurines. And to make them watch me live happily, suffering all the while!”

As Gou Meng spoke, her face grew redder and redder. She finally turned her head aside, refusing to meet Grandpa Turtle’s eyes.

“Go on,” Grandpa Turtle said mildly.

“A-and, don’t you think it’s really exciting to make them watch as their own devotees are turned into my devotees…?” Gou Meng’s voice shrank noticeably as she spoke.

“Fair point,” Grandpa Turtle nodded again. “Continue…”

By now, Gou Meng’s little face was flushed bright red. She buried her head in a cushion, pointed at Grandpa Turtle, and said, “Have you finished all the things I asked you to do? If not, hurry up and get to it!”

Grandpa Turtle cupped his hands toward Gou Meng. “In that case, I’ll take my leave, Patron.”

With that, he turned and left the attic.

“Dundundun-!”

The light sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed, then faded away.

Only after Grandpa Turtle had gone far did Gou Meng slowly put down her cushion and sigh silently.

The world of hauntings had always been one where the weak are prey to the strong. She’d known this from the moment she first opened her eyes to this world.

In the eyes of many people and hauntings, Taoyuan was a juicy piece of meat. If she didn’t disguise herself as a fearsome demon, there was no way she could lead everyone and survive. So Gou Meng thought.

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded behind her.

“Patron, you really aren’t suited to playing the ruthless killer role.”

“Also, I suggest you come up with some new lines next time. I’ve heard those a hundred times already.”

Grandpa Turtle gripped the window sill with both hands, his ghostly figure poking halfway through the wooden window.

Gou Meng’s mouth twitched. She grabbed the cushion and hurled it at him. “Get out! Go away! I don’t want to see you!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the plane has landed at Tang City Airport. The temperature outside is minus five degrees Celsius. The plane is taxiing. For your safety and the safety of others, please do not stand or open the overhead bins yet…”

As the plane landed safely and the cabin announcement sounded, Lu Yibei looked out at the windswept, chilly tarmac, quietly breathing a sigh of relief. He immediately turned on his phone and tapped on Meow Meow-chan’s avatar in a certain social app.

Wang Buliuxing: I’ve arrived. Ran into a haunting attack on the way-damn, almost…

Halfway through typing, Lu Yibei pursed his lips, deleted the whole thing, and re-edited a message before sending it.

Wang Buliuxing: “Arrived safely, thanks for your talisman [dog head].”

Meow Meow-chan: “[heart emoji]”

Seeing Meow Meow-chan’s reply, Lu Yibei felt a warm glow in his heart. But the next moment, when Jiang Li’s message came through, his expression darkened instantly.

Dog Leader: “If your flight was delayed less than half an hour, you should have arrived, right? I have something to inform you.”

Cats never have bad intentions, but dogs-dogs have plenty.

Lu Yibei: “What new assignment do you want to give me? I’m here for a research project! Boss, I’m only an intern operator, can’t you let me off? Someone’s waiting for me in Hua City-I want to get back alive!”

Dog Leader: “Looks like you’ve arrived? Don’t worry, it’s all things you can handle. And it’s exactly because you’re in that research project that I’m looking for you.”

Then-

Before Lu Yibei could refuse, Jiang Li sent another message, a long, obviously prepared paragraph, straight copy-pasted.

Dog Leader: “Now, let’s get to business. Lu Yibei, reserve operator of Hua City Midnight Watchers Society, due to your outstanding abilities and widely recognized character, you are invited to assist Tang City Midnight Watchers Society in investigating a series of recent haunting attack incidents. The Inspector has approved the request. Please contact the local Midnight Watchers Society operators within forty-eight hours of your arrival in Tang City.”

Lu Yibei: “Damn! Something happened in Tang City-what’s it got to do with our Hua City Midnight Watchers Society?”

Dog Leader: “Normally, nothing. But as you know, The Midnight Watchers Society is short-staffed. Tang City’s team only has three people. Suddenly there have been a lot of haunting attack incidents, and they can’t handle it. That’s why they posted a Silver Owl Signal on the intranet.”

The so-called Owl Signal is a request for volunteers sent by each city’s Midnight Watchers Society when support is needed. There are four levels: bronze, silver, gold, and crimson.

A Silver Owl Signal means things are really getting tricky.

Lu Yibei: “Wait, Tang City’s way bigger than Hua City, and Taoyuan is right next door. Only three operators? What are they thinking?”

If I were the one in charge of personnel scheduling for The Midnight Watchers Society, at the very least, I’d assign ten A+ level psychics to Tang City, just to keep that pesky little sister firmly in check, sparing the common folks from her tyranny. Lu Yibei thought.

Dog Leader said, “There are plenty of reasons for this. First, Tang City is close to Taoyuan. Under Taoyuan’s management, most hauntings don’t escalate into haunting attack incidents. Second, because of Taoyuan’s existence, almost no operators are willing to take up posts there. Add a bunch of miscellaneous reasons, and over time, only three operators remain.”

Lu Yibei replied, “So, you submitted a request for support on my behalf? But I don’t remember signing anything!”

Dog Leader: “[image] Didn’t you sign this yourself?”

Lu Yibei stared at the vaguely familiar form, stunned for a moment, then the corner of his brow twitched.

Isn’t this my leave application?

Lu Yibei: “Did you set me up?”

In a certain sense, this is basically attempted murder of your own husband, do you know that? Lu Yibei thought.

Dog Leader: “How is this setting you up? I’m helping you accumulate achievements, which will make it easier for you to become official and get promoted in the future. Plus, if you ever mess up, you can use your merits to offset punishment, maybe even reduce your sentence.”

Lu Yibei: “If I may ask, besides me, has anyone else submitted a request for support?”

Dog Leader: “Quite a few. So far, seven official operators and sixteen reserve operators have submitted requests, all approved.”

Lu Yibei was taken aback and typed a reply: “That many?”

Dog Leader: “Of course! It’s a rare opportunity-lots of people want to use it to rack up achievements. Besides, do you really think you’ll be sent to the front lines as a fighter? All the dangerous stuff is handled by the official operators.”

Lu Yibei: “That’s a relief, then.”

I’m quite skilled at coasting along and slacking off. Worst case, I’ll just hang back and let the allies handle any trouble. Lu Yibei thought.

Dog Leader: “Come on, all the operators of Hua City’s Midnight Watchers Society are your solid support.”

Lu Yibei: “Except Li Xuan.”

Dog Leader: “Seconded.”

As Lu Yibei replied to Jiang Li, he dawdled his way off the plane, and from a distance he saw Professor Ma and Liu Seer together, chatting and laughing. Hu Yue, however, was nowhere to be found.

Don’t tell me he snuck off somewhere to get into trouble again?

Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, walking over just in time to catch Professor Ma and Liu Seer’s conversation. His face turned pale.

“You’re no ordinary man, stuck in shallow waters and harassed by shrimps. Old brother, this journey is full of danger for you!”

Lu Yibei, “…” Damn, the professor sure is bold, messing with all sorts of unclean things just because he’s got a tough fate?

After hearing Liu Seer’s words, Professor Ma froze for a second, then asked weakly, “You mean, someone wants to harm me?”

Liu Seer waved his hand. “Not necessarily intentionally-could be unintentional. In any case, you’ll run into petty troublemakers on this trip, and things won’t go smoothly!”

Lu Yibei stared deadpan at Liu Seer. “…” Are you sure you’re not the petty troublemaker yourself?

“Uh…” Professor Ma frowned. “Is there any way to resolve it?”

Liu Seer shrugged. “How would I know? I’m a fortune-teller, not a lifesaver. I only tell fortunes, not fix problems.”

“By the way, did you buy any accidental insurance? If you did, at least your family will get something out of it. Not a wasted life-have a safe trip.”

Professor Ma, “…”

Seeing Professor Ma clench his fists, Lu Yibei hurried over and inserted himself between him and Liu Seer.

“Professor, what are you doing here? Our ride’s already here, let’s get going!”

Professor Ma looked at Lu Yibei, confused. “The car’s here already? But Professor Hu went to the restroom and isn’t back yet. Let’s wait for him here?”

Lu Yibei frowned.

Bathroom again?

Is there something wrong with his kidneys?

Maybe I should ask that pesky little sister for a couple pills to help him out?

Tang City Airport, inside a certain restroom.

A stall door was locked from the inside. Within the stall, a man squatted on the ground, both hands pressed against the rim of a battered white porcelain saucer, whispering softly.

“On certain nights, a woman binds a figure made of straw, with a face of paper and powder, and dressed in a headscarf and skirt…”

As the man chanted, the cramped bathroom stall grew noticeably darker. Something filthy and impure writhed restlessly in the shadow behind him.

After a long while, the white porcelain saucer trembled ever so slightly, and the man ceased his murmuring.

“Master, the mission failed. There was a powerful psychic on that flight-I couldn’t intercept the one coming to support Gou Meng…”

“Ding-!”

Before the man could finish, the white porcelain saucer shook gently, letting out a crisp clang. Instantly, the light in the stall plunged into gloom. Strands of shadow, as fine as hair, crept forth and wrapped tightly around the man, growing tighter with every word, until his body convulsed and he let out a cry of pain.

“Ugh-ah!”

After a long time, the man steadied himself against the wall, face pale and drenched in sweat, and staggered out of the stall. The moment he stepped out, he bumped into Lu Yibei, who was washing his hands at the sink. His pupils shrank.

Then-

Lu Yibei walked over and patted him on the shoulder. “Professor Hu, constipation is an illness, you need to treat it! If it’s really bad, try using a suppository. That stuff works wonders-guaranteed to clear out your system in one go!”

Hu Yue, “…”

Did he just discover something or not?

If he did…

As Hu Yue brooded, he suddenly noticed that Lu Yibei’s hand was still rubbing his shoulder. He paused, looked at Lu Yibei, and said in a low voice, “What are you doing?”

Lu Yibei shrugged expressionlessly. “Nothing at all!”

With that, he withdrew his hand and turned to leave.

Hu Yue narrowed his eyes, watching Lu Yibei walk away. Suddenly, a chill ran across his shoulder. He looked down, only to find that the water stain Lu Yibei had left on his shoulder had already frosted over…