Chapter 464: No Big Deal!

Hua City, Infectious Disease Hospital, outside a certain isolation ward.

Looking at Silver Horn, who was unconscious and swollen like a balloon, Golden Horn couldn’t help but sigh.

“Sigh-!”

Although he often bickered with Silver Horn and disliked his low emotional intelligence, after working together for two or three years, he had already come to see Silver Horn as a brother.

Now, seeing his brother suffer and being unable to help, Golden Horn couldn’t help but feel despondent.

The Shanhaiguan Pass area had always been rife with haunting legends, and a large number of The Midnight Watchers Society operators were stationed there.

Given the gravity of the situation, dozens of The Midnight Watchers Society operators moved together, and in less than half a day, they found clues about the bionic demon, ruling it out as the source of Hua City’s Nocturnal Syndrome.

The possible sources were suddenly narrowed down to only the Beast of Inheritance, but the investigation hit a deadlock.

Although, with the help of the Alchemical potion developed by Silver Horn, the Nocturnal Syndrome outbreak in Hua City was now well under control, Berses had been imprisoned, and everything seemed to be going well.

But this was only temporary.

According to the intelligence held by The Midnight Watchers Society, the power of the Beast of Inheritance would change and strengthen as it copied more powers.

If it copied some powerful haunting power and became stronger, the Nocturnal Syndrome outbreak in Hua City might flare up again.

They couldn’t always let Silver Horn risk his life as a test subject to develop suppressive potions, could they?

Although, when there was no other way, this was a solution, it was ultimately not a long-term plan, and besides…

He really couldn’t stand seeing him like this… Golden Horn thought, glancing at the unconscious Silver Horn in the isolation room, and sighed silently.

“Tap tap tap-!”

The light sound of leather boots striking the floor echoed.

A member of the special task force strode quickly from the end of the corridor, stopping in front of Golden Horn. “Secretary, that prisoner…”

The special task force member was cut off by Golden Horn’s silencing gesture before he could finish.

“This isn’t the place for a report. Let’s talk over there.”

Golden Horn looked around, then quickly walked toward the emergency exit at the end of the corridor, beckoning the special task force member to follow.

As the special task force member caught up, Golden Horn softly recited an incantation, simply casting a soundproofing spell formation, then said seriously, “Go ahead, what’s the situation? Has he confessed?”

“N-no…”

“Then why are you coming to me?”

“Well…” The special task force member said weakly, “I came to report that not only has B2016 not confessed, but he’s also constantly trying to escape. In just half a day, he’s already tried more than twenty times, and he’s almost bled himself dry.”

“At this rate…”

“You’re afraid he’ll kill himself?” Golden Horn asked.

“Yes.”

“Hmph!” Golden Horn snorted coldly. “If he wants to die, let him. I’ll go over later and transfer him to the lowest level cell!”

“Alright, thanks for running over. That’s all for now.”

“Yes!” The special task force member responded and turned to leave.

—

Evening, Amber Mansion.

Amid the crimson clouds, the ancient mansion exuded a sense of decay.

Inside the quiet and eerie building, at the end of the top-floor corridor, the dark solid wood door was ajar, and the blood-red sunset shone through the crack, casting a slender beam of light on the wooden floor.

Inside the room, Jiang Li stood before the wardrobe’s full-length mirror, wrapped in a bath towel, her damp long hair coiled up, still faintly steaming, with a few crystal droplets clinging to her fair and slightly thin shoulders.

With no one else around, she took a lotus pendant from the bedside table, returned to the mirror, gently loosened her bath towel, turned around, and under the soft glow of the bedside lamp, illuminated the smooth skin of her back, where a jet-black solar totem was inked.

As if suddenly recalling something, she frowned, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. The hand holding the pendant twisted at the wrist, and her fingertips shimmered with a silvery-white light.

Her rosy lips parted slightly as she softly chanted a Sanskrit incantation. As the incantation, like an ancient ballad, was recited, the silvery-white light at her fingertips grew ever brighter, and in an instant transformed into a brilliant gold, with faint lotus petals swirling in the golden glow.

Guided by her psychic energy, the lotus pendant in her palm floated up and began to circle the ceiling.

Outside, the sunset gradually dipped below the horizon, and the room grew darker, but the golden light from the lotus pendant only grew stronger.

With a thought from Jiang Li, the pendant wreathed in golden light seemed to be guided, suddenly plunging down toward the black tattoo on her back, the golden light tracing a path through the air like a shooting star.

Just as the pendant was about to touch the black tattoo, it suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall, letting out a muffled sound as golden arcs of electricity spread in all directions.

“Bang-!”

The pendant hovered less than a finger’s width from Jiang Li’s skin, spinning rapidly and radiating an even more dazzling light.

In an instant, Jiang Li’s body convulsed as if struck by electricity, her face turning pale. The intense pain felt as though it was tearing her soul apart, yet she bit her lips tightly, not making a single sound.

Wisps of black mist drifted from the black tattoo on her back, merging into the Tibetan silver pendant.

Soon, the pendant stopped spinning, as if it had exhausted all its strength, falling onto the hardwood floor with a soft “plop!”

“Gulu… gulu…” The fallen pendant rocked back and forth on the floor.

The golden light swirling around it, the bright silver surface, dimmed visibly to the naked eye. In just a few breaths, the silver lotus turned pitch black.

Then…

“Crack!” It shattered.

Hearing the sound of the pendant breaking, Jiang Li froze for a moment. Coming back to herself, her pupils contracted, her face turned ashen, and she hurriedly looked down.

On the floor, the pitch-black lotus petals were shattered, scattered everywhere.

Staring at the completely ruined pendant, her gaze gradually grew cold.

In that instant, she suddenly felt that back at the cold storage door, she should have risked suspension and killed Berses with a single stroke.

Ever since she met Berses earlier, the Eclipse Society totem on her back had become active, forcing her to take out the pendant again to suppress it, only for it to be damaged as a result.

Although there were many other psychic artifacts that could replace this pendant and continue to help her suppress the Eclipse Society totem,

But…

“Creak!”

The door to the room opened. Ah-Hua entered, carrying clean clothes. Seeing the broken pendant on the floor, her eyes widened in shock.

“Oh no! The pendant Benefactor gave you…”

As she spoke, Ah-Hua glanced at Jiang Li, whose face was as gloomy as water, and quickly forced a smile, changing the subject to comfort her, “Miss, don’t be sad. Even though the pendant Benefactor gave you is broken, haven’t you found Lu Yibei now? Just ask him to give you another identical one later, won’t that be fine?”

Hearing this, Jiang Li’s expression softened a little. She playfully scolded Ah-Hua, “Ah-Hua, have you been getting more and more gossipy lately? You’re almost catching up to Li Xuan.”

After speaking, she looked at Ah-Hua, who was sticking out her tongue and playing dumb, gently shook her head, bent down, picked up the fragments of the pendant, and carefully put them into her jewelry box.

Lu Yibei…

Where on earth did he run off to?

Even his familiars and the haunting chat group don’t know… Jiang Li thought.

—

At dawn, Hua City, University of Technology faculty compound, Lu Yibei’s home.

Unable to withstand the intense pain from within her body, Lu Yibei fainted, realizing in that moment that she might have gone too far this time.

As her nerves “snapped” and her consciousness sank into silence, everything before her eyes shattered rapidly, dispersing like invisible vapor and crushed crystals, slowly merging into darkness.

She didn’t know how much time had passed-perhaps only a few hours, but it felt as long as several years.

A scorching wind blew by, carrying dust and fine grit that brushed across Lu Yibei’s face, bringing a tingling itch.

“Mm…”

With a soft, delicate moan, she opened her eyes.

And so, the illusionary bubble burst, the darkness unfolded like a vast curtain, and she glimpsed the scene hidden behind it.

Amidst the intense dizziness and pain, she saw a desolate, ruined residential area.

The buildings made of red bricks were square and blocky, resembling the architectural style of the seventies and eighties. Most of the houses were pitch black inside, with several broken metal pipes still hanging from the walls.

The windows were shattered, the gray curtains indistinguishable from their original color, exposed on the red brick walls, drifting like ghosts in the wind.

Moss covered the walls, wild grass grew rampant in the open spaces, and in the distance, a blackened chimney stood tall, seemingly reaching the end of the sky, lonely and desolate.

This seemed to be a factory.

In the sky, sunlight was distorted by some force, casting a grayish light.

Beneath the sky, everything was silent. The whole factory seemed dead, leaving only “corpses,” turned to ruins.

Even the fierce wind blowing through the air was soundless, carrying a scorching breath that slapped against one’s face.

The wind carried black dust from burning fires, fluttering before her eyes like swarms of butterflies, mocking viciously.

Where… is this place? Lu Yibei wondered in confusion.

“Uuu… uuuu…”

Suddenly, a child’s crying tore through the fierce silence.

The sobs were suppressed, as if desperately trying not to make a sound.

Following the direction of the sound, vague shadows approached from the factory entrance.

They came in groups, dozens forming a long line, murmuring softly to themselves.

Lu Yibei couldn’t make out what they were whispering, but she could feel the power in their words-blasphemy, rebellion, and hope.

Under the twisted sunlight, their figures seemed like ghosts, their outlines blurred…

Except for that little girl.

At the very front of the long line, the leading figure was holding a little girl in their arms. The girl looked about five or six years old, with a round face and a mushroom-shaped bob, and between the black strands of her hair was a hint of deep chestnut.

Lu Yibei frowned. “……” Why does she look a bit like Gu Qianqian?

The little girl lay against the leading figure’s chest, her small hands clutching tightly at their clothes, sobbing softly, her eyes like fine agate, shrouded in a thick mist of tears.

Watching that group of ghostly figures take the little girl farther and farther away, Lu Yibei snapped back to her senses and shouted at them.

“What do you want to do to her? Where are you taking her!?”

But it was as if no one heard her; they gradually disappeared into the distance.

Lu Yibei’s voice echoed through the ruins of the factory. Up in the sky, it seemed as if something was startled awake by her voice, opening its eyes and casting an indifferent glance her way.

In that gaze, she didn’t feel any obvious malice, but from deep within her heart, a nameless fear began to rise.

That feeling was just like when she was a child, after making drunken crab for her dad, and he later found out she’d used the prized liquor left by her grandfather-the look in his eyes.

That day, although she wasn’t beaten to death, she spent most of the summer vacation afterward in bed.

Suddenly, the space began to shake violently.

“Hmph-!”

A soft, lazy, yet domineering nasal sound seemed to cross countless voids, coming from afar. The gray sunlight in the sky was instantly ignited, pouring down a scorching heat upon the earth.

In an instant, the sunlight became fierce and viciously intense.

Bathed in the sunlight, a pain as potent as poison rampaged through the depths of Lu Yibei’s consciousness.

“Screech-zzzz-crackle-!”

It was as if something sharp scraped across a blackboard, wires short-circuited and sparked, a mountain of paper was being torn apart… all sorts of maddening noises mixed with incomprehensible mutterings rang in her ears.

More and more, stronger and stronger, more and more chaotic.

Amid the noise, the dream began to blur and fade, everything drifting away, then shattering to pieces……

—

In the sudden, violent tremor, Lu Yibei was jolted out of the dream, her whole body trembling as she woke, wild thoughts crawling through her mind like worms, then burrowing down and falling silent.

She opened her eyes. Sunlight spilled through the gap in the curtains.

For a moment, with her mind not yet fully free from the dream, Lu Yibei felt a flash of fear at the touch of sunlight, instinctively shrinking into the corner.

“Huff… huff…”

Curled up in the corner of the bed against the wall, she took a few deep breaths, looked around, and saw she was in her own bedroom. Only then did she relax.

What on earth is going on?

A few days ago, she only dreamed about things related to herself, but this time she actually dreamed about someone else… Could it have something to do with that notebook found in BanShan Apartment?

Could it be that the scene I dreamed of was something the notebook’s owner experienced?

Lu Yibei thought, rubbing her head, her fingers running through her long silver hair. The silky smooth sensation at her fingertips made her pause for a moment, but soon her brows relaxed and a look of relief appeared in her eyes.

“……”

Wasn’t it the same the night before last?

It’s just a hallucination, at most only Gu Qianqian and I can see it.

No big deal!

Thinking this, Lu Yibei dawdled as she got out of bed, planning to wash up in the bathroom and check out her stunning beauty in the mirror.

A fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged girl, and the white-haired ace of Country Z’s special forces-who wouldn’t love that?

Even if it’s just my own reflection in the mirror, being able to see it every morning is still a delightful and invigorating way to start the day.

Then…

As soon as she got out of bed, her pants slid to the floor without resistance, a chill hit her butt, and she froze on the spot like she’d turned to stone.

“Gulp-!”

Lu Yibei swallowed hard, her gaze slowly dropping past her flat, fair belly to her flawless, jade-like legs.

“……”

Who just said there was no problem?

Now there’s a huge fucking problem!

No, no, this is just a hallucination!

She tentatively moved her feet.

In her vision, those round, pink toes wiggled as if saying in a childish voice, “Aren’t we cute? We’re definitely your toes! Your family jewels really have gone to heaven!”

In an instant, her pupils contracted, her breathing quickened, her heart raced, and her blood pressure fluctuated like a stock market chart.

Lu Yibei, “!!!”

(,#ﾟДﾟ)

Impossible, my family jewels are invincible!