Chapter 51 - 49: A Letter

Chapter 51: Chapter 49: A Letter

New Year’s Eve.

Putting up Spring Festival couplets.

Making dumplings.

Cooking the New Year’s Eve dinner.

’The last New Year before the Apocalypse.’

Xia Yu cherished this time. Casting aside her usual laziness at home, she joyfully busied herself with her younger brother, savoring the unique holiday atmosphere.

The unfinished building.

Xie Shaokun finished packing and set off.

However, he didn’t head into the city. Instead, he made his way to an orphanage in the suburbs.

New Year’s Eve.

Countless families were filled with joy, and the sounds of laughter and celebration could be heard in every corner of the land.

A scene of jubilation.

Many people were sending out mass holiday greetings, many were sending and snatching up red envelopes, many were taking the opportunity to confess their feelings, and some had even accidentally sent indecent photos to their work group chats...

In short, during this special traditional holiday that couldn’t be co-opted by other countries, most people were very happy.

On the streets, many shops were closed for the holiday. There was very little traffic, and the once-bustling city had lost its usual clamor, becoming cold and deserted.

Even public officials were on extended leave, having returned to their hometowns.

The members of the special task force didn’t get a vacation, but on New Year’s Eve, they had all gone home to be with their families—not even Zhao Guohui was an exception.

Conversely, Qian Yihao and Chen Xiao, the two outsiders, had not left because of the Mist Event and remained at the police station.

At Zhao Guohui’s home.

"Old Zhao."

"There’s a letter for you here. I don’t know who left it at the door."

His wife handed him a letter.

’A letter?’

Zhao Guohui frowned, opening the letter with a sense of bewilderment.

The next moment.

His expression changed, and he shot to his feet.

「Thirty minutes later.」

The police station.

"Take a look."

Zhao Guohui passed the letter in his hand to the members of the special task force to read, saying, "The letter says a Mist Event will occur on New Year’s Eve. No specific time was given."

"The location is Donglin Park."

Everyone was instantly alarmed.

"This... This has to be fake, right? The Mist Events happen without any warning. How could he possibly know?"

"Exactly. I suspect this is a diversion tactic. The Mist Event will definitely happen somewhere else."

...

No one believed it.

"Not necessarily."

Chen Xiao voiced his dissent. "Have you all forgotten about Xie Shaokun? He’s someone who has survived four Mist Events."

Qian Yihao asked, "Are you suspecting Xie Shaokun wrote this letter?"

"I don’t know."

Chen Xiao said, "I’m just using Xie Shaokun as an example to prove that the onset of a Mist Event can definitely be known in advance."

"Even so, I don’t believe the contents of this letter."

Qian Yihao shook his head. "Who would be kind enough to inform us voluntarily? Why not say something earlier? There must be an ulterior motive!"

"This trap is too obvious."

Most of the team nodded in agreement.

"But what if it’s real? We’ll miss an opportunity to enter a Mist Event!"

Chen Xiao said, "With something like this, it’s better to believe it than to dismiss it."

Everyone nodded one after another.

"The letter writer certainly has a motive, I agree with that," Zhao Guohui spoke up. "But how could the writer not know that we’d figure out they have an ulterior motive?"

"And yet, they still wrote it."

"Why?"

The team fell into thought.

Chen Xiao, being quite sharp, understood Zhao Guohui’s meaning and asked in return, "You think the time and location this person gave are both accurate?"

"Correct."

Zhao Guohui nodded. "If it’s fake, we can just leave Donglin Park. At worst, it’s a wasted trip."

"Only if it’s real can the writer use the Mist to trap our people and draw our forces into setting up a cordon around the area. By then, all our personnel will be tied up at Donglin Park, leaving the entire city undefended. That would make it convenient for them to make their move."

It was important to remember that the special task force was already short-staffed, and with it being New Year’s Eve, the entire system was severely lacking in manpower.

The team fell silent.

’This...’

’What a deep scheme!’

Everyone’s expression grew grim.

Even Qian Yihao couldn’t find any words to refute the logic.

Chen Xiao’s face tensed. "In that case, we have to send people to Donglin Park? We’re walking into a trap, knowing it’s a trap?"

Zhao Guohui said helplessly, "It’s an overt plot."

This feeling of being completely outmaneuvered left Qian Yihao extremely displeased.

"Hmph."

He snorted coldly and said, "We can’t let them control us like this. I’ll personally contact our superiors and request reinforcements. They can get here in three hours at the latest."

Zhao Guohui shook his head.

"It’s too late."

He glanced at the time and said, "If I’m not mistaken, the Mist Event at Donglin Park should be happening very soon."

"Our main task now is to assemble our people, make all necessary preparations to go to the Mist Event, and participate personally. That’s the only way to study it properly."

"As for the mastermind’s objective... since we can’t guess it, let’s not waste time trying."

"Little Song, you stay behind. When the reinforcements arrive, have them patrol the city and monitor the surveillance cameras. If any other Mist Events are discovered, they are to lock down the scene immediately."

Little Song decisively agreed.

The others also nodded; this was the best course of action for now.

"Move out."

Chen Xiao gave the order.

The team moved quickly.

「A little over half an hour later.」

Xia Yu saw police cars drive past on the main road in front of her residential complex, heading in the direction of Donglin Park. She glanced at the time; it was 11:00 PM.

’One hour until the Donglin Park event begins.’

This time, two Mist Events would occur simultaneously in the city: the Donglin Park event and the Treasure House event.

The former had no resources.

As for the latter, she didn’t know if it had any.

Therefore, she chose to go to the Treasure House event and try her luck.

However, there were numerous surveillance cameras near Treasure House. Once the Mist appeared, the police would notice immediately. Even if the cameras were destroyed, it wouldn’t buy much time.

And this event would last for an hour and a half.

That was more than enough time for the police to react.

By the time Xia Yu and Xie Shaokun came out, they would inevitably be caught by the police.

At that point, even with Xie Shaokun taking the fall, she would still become a person of intense interest.

That was why Xia Yu had orchestrated the current situation.

"Head to Treasure House immediately, destroy the surrounding surveillance cameras, and don’t expose yourself."

She sent a message to Xie Shaokun.

Then, after checking her gear, she turned and left.

Due to his health, her younger brother went to bed very early every night. Not even New Year’s Eve was an exception, so he wouldn’t notice her leaving at this hour.

But as soon as she stepped out the door, she ran into Zhao Xianghe and a few of his friends.

The two parties exchanged simple greetings and went their separate ways.

Watching Xia Yu’s tall figure retreat, Zhao Xianghe’s friend couldn’t help but tease him in a low voice, "Old Zhao, a neighbor this gorgeous, and you haven’t hit that?"

"Old Zhao’s broke! With a girl that beautiful, you can’t get anywhere without money. On the other hand, Wang Lin, you’re so rich, why don’t you give it a shot?"

Hearing this, Zhao Xianghe couldn’t help but say, "She’s a nice girl. Don’t talk like that."

Unfortunately, no one listened to him.

The man named Wang Lin even took out his phone, snapped a photo of Xia Yu’s back, and said with a sleazy grin, "Those AI one-click undressing apps are pretty popular right now. Wanna see what she looks like with no clothes on?"

The others were instantly intrigued.

"Isn’t that a bit messed up?"

Zhao Xianghe said, craning his neck to get a look.

However, it was too dark, and the photo was blurry. With current AI technology, it was impossible to make anything out.

Disappointed, the others chimed in, "Let’s go, follow her and get a clear shot. We don’t have anything urgent to do tonight anyway. A little detour won’t take much time."

"Hurry."

"Looks like she’s getting into a taxi."

"Haoran, use your car! Yours is faster."

"Don’t worry. You don’t trust my driving?"

The group followed.

In the car.

Zhao Xianghe felt the phone in his pocket. It contained many photos of Xia Yu that he had secretly taken from all sorts of angles.

’I can’t believe you can do stuff like that. I’ve never even heard of it.’

’I’ll have to try it myself in secret later.’

’It’s gotta be amazing.’

he thought to himself. The thought of Xia Yu’s devilish figure made his mouth go inexplicably dry.