Chapter 169 - 156: Temple Worshippers’ Association

As soon as Bai Qiang returned to Beiling Mental Hospital, she saw several fire trucks and black vans bearing the Abnormal Investigation Bureau’s emblem parked haphazardly behind the hospital. A police helicopter hovered at a low altitude overhead. Feigning a mixture of confusion and nervousness, she hurried toward the main building’s side entrance, where a police cordon had already been set up.

"Doctor Lin, you’re here?" A familiar colleague stood inside the doorway, his face somewhat pale.

Bai Qiang’s current Identity was "Lin Xi." She walked over and lowered her voice. "What happened? Why such a massive scene?"

The colleague looked left and right before leaning in close. "Around seven this morning, someone blew up the tower behind our hospital. We don’t even know why! It threw the inpatient building in the back into utter chaos, and two patients took the opportunity to escape."

Bai Qiang nearly asked who else had escaped, but swallowed the words just in time, asking instead, "Which two patients? Were they from the intensive care ward?"

"It was that mother and daughter sent over by the Abnormal Investigation Bureau!" the colleague said. "They kept clamoring that neither of them was sick and that they were wrongfully locked up. Not long after the explosion this morning, the on-duty doctors did an emergency headcount of all the patients and realized they were gone! Can you believe it, at a time like this..."

Zhang Yueqin and Qin Jia were missing, too? Bai Qiang’s pupils shrank slightly. She was almost instantly certain that the current Zhang Yueqin and Qin Jia were Players—and they might even be Guan Lan and Guan Xing.

When she transmigrated over at seven o’clock last night, Lin Xi had just finished working overtime and was getting ready to leave. Passing by the ward, she had seen the mother and daughter. Qin Jia was standing on the hospital bed with her hands on her hips, yelling something at Zhang Yueqin, while Zhang Yueqin sported a dark expression, pointing at the floor and ordering Qin Jia to get down.

She had felt that something was off about the pair right then and there. At the time, Bai Qiang didn’t possess Lin Xi’s memories and hadn’t dared to linger in the hospital for too long. Afraid of drawing suspicion if she bumped into colleagues, she could only leave in a hurry. She had originally planned to make a special trip to check on Zhang Yueqin and her daughter this morning, but unexpectedly, they had escaped.

Why did everyone become fugitives this time? It made her seem like she didn’t fit in at all! Bai Qiang sent Guan Lan a private message through the forum, directly asking if she had transmigrated to Beiling Mental Hospital.

After her colleague finished his rambling, Bai Qiang appropriately displayed an expression of mingled surprise and worry before asking, "With the current situation, are we still working today? I haven’t had a day off in a whole week."

"I want a vacation, too."

Bai Qiang and her colleague sighed in unison before returning to their respective offices. She had just resigned in Ancient Abyss, only to end up working at a clinic here in Autumn Tomb before she could enjoy even a few days of freedom. Was she destined to be a natural-born corporate slave doctor?

Meanwhile, behind the mental hospital, beneath the collapsed White Tower.

A massive crater several meters in diameter had been blasted into the level ground. A middle-aged woman radiating a powerful aura stood at the edge of the pit, her brows furrowed tight. She wore the uniform of the Abnormal Investigation Bureau. Beside her, a technical agent was giving his report.

"Director Zheng, our people have also investigated the explosion site over by the abandoned tunnel. There were only the completely incinerated remains of a motorcycle at the scene. It was burned exceptionally thoroughly. The technical department’s preliminary judgment is that the explosion was caused by the fuel tank being ignited. No human tissue was found. The trail has gone cold again."

Zheng Shu’s sharp eyes swept over the large pit before her. Her voice was icy. "The lack of traces is the biggest trace of all. A seventeen-year-old high school girl mysteriously vanished from an underground prison sector sealed off by layers of talismans and guarded by Fierce Ghosts. She even managed to disguise herself as a prison guard, followed immediately by a surface explosion paving the way for her, with backup waiting outside.

"There are definitely accomplices backing Qiao Mu, and they wield considerable power! This style of operation is very reminiscent of the Temple Worshippers’ Association. Notify Ye Mingzhe. Hasn’t he been tracking the incense master all this time? Give him the lead on Qiao Mu’s prison break. Tell him that Qiao Mu is very likely a Pilgrim of the Temple Worshippers’ Association, and have him dig deep into this trail!"

"Yes, Director Zheng!" The deputy immediately took the order and went to pass it on.

Having issued her orders, Zheng Shu walked to the edge of the blast crater and squatted down. She carefully pinched up a bit of the scorched soil debris from the crater’s rim, which displayed a bizarre Crystallization. She rubbed it between her fingertips and brought it close to her nose to sniff. Her frown deepened, her eyes brimming with confusion and solemnity.

"Has the composition of the residue been analyzed?"

"The preliminary tests show no common explosive residue. The instantaneous high temperature and directional shockwave were exceptionally intense, but the subsequent combustion and dispersion effects were very low. It looks like the instantaneous penetration was caused by energy weapons we’ve never seen before."

Zheng Shu stood up and muttered to herself, "Just what kind of Weapon could possess such destructive power?"

After pondering fruitlessly for a moment, Zheng Shu continued issuing orders. "Re-screen all personnel within the hospital. I want to know everyone’s detailed whereabouts from last night to this morning. Pull up all surveillance footage within a five-kilometer radius and have someone review it frame by frame. Not a single anomaly can be overlooked. Furthermore, this location has been compromised. Have everyone work overtime and prepare to relocate."

Hearing this, the deputy looked troubled. "Director Zheng, everyone is already working overtime. Last night, there was a sudden, explosive surge of supernatural incidents in the city proper and several surrounding districts. The Abnormal Investigation Bureau’s phones are ringing off the hook, and the Sealing Spirit Team is severely understaffed."

Zheng Shu abruptly turned her head to stare at her deputy. "Some abnormal situation that we’re unaware of must have occurred. Compile the detailed information on all of last night’s supernatural incidents and send it to my office."

"Yes, ma’am!"

Yin Zhen found a few scammers’ phone numbers on telephone poles in downtown Beiling City. She called them out and "borrowed" tens of thousands of yuan from them. Surprisingly, the paper currency in Autumn Tomb was exactly the same as in Ancient Abyss. She bought a high-end laptop, a new phone, and the essential electronic devices listed on Lucy’s checklist, then found a hotel in the most bustling commercial district to stay in. Places with dense crowds had strong Yang energy, meaning supernatural incidents would be relatively fewer.

At eight o’clock in the evening, after eating her fill and taking a hot shower, Yin Zhen finally relaxed. Facing the city’s night view through the high-rise’s floor-to-ceiling windows, she opened her laptop and connected Zhang Yueqin’s phone. Once Lucy’s clone, A, finished its deployment, it sent Qiao Mu’s Identity investigation report to Yin Zhen.

As soon as the file opened, the first thing that caught her eye was a family portrait. It was a photo of Qiao Mu’s family of four from when she was young.

Yes, a family of four! Qiao Mu was actually a twin; she had a sister. Yin Zhen’s heart skipped a beat as she continued reading.

Below the photo was a news report: a family had gone to the mountains to escape the summer heat, resulting in a child drowning. In the report’s photo, the mother and father were kneeling by their daughter’s corpse, wailing uncontrollably. The other daughter stood woodenly beside them, and in her arms was none other than that rabbit doll.

The successive shocking reveals gave Yin Zhen goosebumps on her arms.

The next page was just as shocking! It contained two of Qiao Yun’s childhood diagnostic certificates.

At three years old, the mother’s chief complaint was that Qiao Yun had no sense of attachment. She wasn’t clingy, wouldn’t act spoiled, and never cried for comfort. She showed zero reaction to her parents’ intimacy and was extremely emotionally apathetic. In stark contrast, her older twin sister, Qiao Mu, would act spoiled and throw tantrums.

At six years old, the mother’s chief complaint was that Qiao Yun lacked empathy. She threw her sister’s pet rabbit off the building without a shred of guilt, deliberately caused trouble in kindergarten with no sense of shame, and showed zero remorse when she did something wrong, completely disregarding others’ feelings.

The preliminary clinical screening and psychological evaluation read: Emotional apathy, antisocial personality tendencies, and abnormal personality development.

A directly provided a conclusion.

[Based on the analysis of subsequent developmental experiences, the probability that the target individual is Qiao Mu is 43.75%, and the probability that she is Qiao Yun is 56.25%.]

Yin Zhen felt her mind buzz. No wonder the Character Card in the system hadn’t unlocked. It turned out that her perception of her Character’s Identity had been wrong from the very beginning!

[Congratulations Player, the new Character "Qiao Yun" has been unlocked.]

Yin Zhen wasn’t in a hurry to check the Character Card. The events behind her Character were likely deeply intertwined with everything else, and might even be directly connected to the main storyline of the Autumn Tomb World. She suddenly recalled the photo on Qiao Mu’s student ID that she had seen in her dream. Only now did she understand what had felt so discordant about that photo—it was her eyes. They clearly contained no emotion, yet they masqueraded as introverted and cowardly.

Yin Zhen flipped back to the childhood family portrait and the news photo of the drowned child. In the family portrait, the one hugging the rabbit doll and smiling happily was the normal older sister, Qiao Mu. The expressionless one was the younger sister, Qiao Yun.

Qiao Yun had likely become Qiao Mu starting from the moment her older sister drowned.

In that case, did the older sister’s drowning have anything to do with the younger sister? Did her parents know that the surviving daughter was actually the emotionally apathetic younger sister?

BZZT! BZZT!

"I LOVE U."

The lights in the room suddenly flickered twice. The cheap electronic voice nearly made Yin Zhen jump, instantly shocking her into a cold sweat. She whipped her head around and saw that filthy rabbit doll sitting on the edge of the bed.

BZZT! BZZT!

After the lights flickered again, the rabbit doll vanished, leaving a narrow yellow strip of paper on the bed that resembled talisman paper.

[The incense master wants to see you.]

Yin Zhen was rendered speechless when she saw the words on the paper.

"You could at least clarify where we’re supposed to meet."

Yin Zhen deeply missed her blank-slate Identity from her previous transmigration. It hadn’t come with this much trouble.