CH 87

Xiang Jiang snorted at the platform in the night—under the pale light, the evil things were once again motionless. If they hadn’t witnessed them turning with their own eyes, it would have looked as if they were part of the station set.

“Pretend you didn’t see it.” Xiang Jiang took the lead.

The fog behind them was surging, and the platform was overflowing with cold air.

Ge Tingting put on her protective amulet that Xiang Jiang gave her and wore it around her chest as she straightened her back as much as possible. Huang Jin was at the tail end of the team and appeared to want to stay on the ground.

The four metaphysicians walked cautiously through the thickets of evil things that were like a cornfield while Zhong Chengshuo walked straight through those strange-shaped evil things.

The moment he passed through them, the evil things trembled, and their deformed faces showed different shades of unhappiness and condemnation.

Seeing this outrageous scene, Huang Jin couldn’t help but stammer. In the quiet night, an earth-shattering “tsk” rang out.

The night was too quiet, and he couldn’t control the volume.

Yin Ren turned his chuckle into a polite cough. Ge Tingting didn’t understand, and Huang Jin didn’t care, so no one responded.

Unfortunately, Comrade Huang Jin couldn’t escape the attention of the one he should hide from the most—King Yama’s attention was attracted, and he turned his head with interest.

“…I remember you wanting to die at the beginning. Why are you suddenly so squeamish about life now?” Facing Huang Jing, who was dawdling at the end of the group, Zhong Chengshuo sincerely asked.

Huang Jin looked at Zhong Chengshuo speechlessly, then said in a guilty tone, “At least I can choose my method of death when I commit suicide.”

“Huang Jin is scared again.” Ge Tingting summarized.

Huang Jin seemed to want to roll his eyes, but he strongly held back.

Do you know what those two people around you are? The ignorant are truly fearless, Xiao Ge!

“Mr. Xiang, where are we going?” Huang Jin forcibly changed the subject. “Why are there so many evil beings here? What’s going on with that fog just now?”

Xiang Jiang gave him a sideways glance, causing the exaggerated earrings to shake with his movements. “What’s the name of the first mayor of Gengsheng Town? It’s listed in the task information.”

“…I don’t remember.”

“If you don’t read the information, you’re not qualified to ask questions.” Xiang Jiang snorted and turned his head, as if everything was under control.

Xiang Jiang left behind the platform that was rampant with evil things. The fog flowed along the ankles of the group as they walked. In the midst of the night fog, Yin Ren could vaguely see the outline of Gengsheng Town.

Just looking at the types of buildings, it wasn’t much different from a normal mountain town. Except for the density of high-rises, there was only a subway loop in the middle of the town. At this time of day, the lights on the tracks were still on, which meant the subway hadn’t stopped running.

The rest of the “conspicuous landmark” wasn’t part of this world.

Huge human skeletons were curled up in two high-rises. The thin figures were about the height of the buildings and would wander between them. Strange-shaped, unknown objects floated in the sky from time to time. It was like the clouds were too low and the creatures were too high and big. The evil qi was like waves hitting against the reef, splashing between the various buildings.

It looked like a modern evil fair.

Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t see anything, while Ge Tingting was young and simple. Seeing Xiang Jiang walk without hesitation, she followed at ease. Huang Jin’s steps became slower, and his expression became more painful. Yin Ren couldn’t help but picture a shiba inu being strangled by its collar.

It was a pitiful sight. It seemed what happened in the Archive still left a small shadow on him.

As a dangerous evil being, Lord Ghost King fully demonstrated his concern. He retreated to the end of the team and patted Huang Jing on the shoulder to give him some comfort. The latter’s body shook as he stared at his feet, which were dragging on the ground.

The good thing was that their destination wasn’t far so Huang Jin’s entanglement didn’t last long.

Xiang Jing took them to a homestay.

The homestay was located at the edge of town and was divided into two floors. It had an old-fashioned tile roof and a small courtyard full of trees around the front. There were very few street lights next to it. The entire building was soaked in a medicinal soup-like darkness, with only a few windows weakly lit.

Yin Ren looked curiously at the quasi-stronghold in front of him.

Since waking up in this era, he had never seen such a standard haunted house—something was wriggling behind the blacked-out windows. From time to time, a few branches that were definitely not tree branches would wiggle out from inside the canopy. Whispers rolled around near the building, mingling with the scraping of the grass and trees, tingling everyone’s ears.

There were more than a dozen three-meter-high figures standing at the entrance of the courtyard, making the only living person inside particularly conspicuous, like a half-broken tooth in someone’s mouth.

Seeing them approaching, the slightly chubby figure trotted all the way to the front of the group.

“Xiang Jiang of Shian?” The woman had a loud voice.

“Ms. Ren.”

Xiang Jiang put away the impatience in his words and reluctantly gestured to them.

“This is Ren Jiying, the current mayor of Gengsheng Town. During our investigation, we’ll be staying here.”

“Hey, what’s with the Miss? Just call me Ren Jie. Miss sounds so formal.”

Mayor Ren waved at them, speaking at a speed comparable to pouring beans. She looked to be in her thirties, with a thick nose and thin eyes that were illuminated by the streetlights. She wasn’t beautiful but had a bit of liveliness in her. Ren Jiying had short shoulder-length hair, and her clothes were printed with bright cartoon patterns.

“This is my house. I have enough rooms to accommodate everyone. Come, come in, and take a break.”

Ren Jiying’s home had enough rooms, but it was almost full. It seemed that Mayor Ren herself was similar to a science post. Yin Ren looked at the windows filled with all kinds of evil things, and his mouth twitched.

Mayor Ren’s eyes narrowed. She seemed to have misunderstood Yin Ren’s expression and smiled uncomfortably. “Is this everyone’s first time here? The situation in our town is special, so regular hotels may not be… ahem, convenient.”

“Why isn’t it convenient?” Zhong Chengshuo asked seriously.

Mayor Ren led the five of them to the yard, shaking her head as she walked. “I shouldn’t have said that, but Gengsheng Town is quite xenophobic. You guys are all foreigners, so you’ll definitely suffer if you stay there.”

Zhong Chengshuo seemed to want to ask more questions but was stopped by a cough from Xiang Jiang.

“Ms. Ren, it’s alright here. I remember where the room is.” He roughly cut off the conversation.

“Huh? Okay.”

……

“Stay here honestly and I’ll be back in an hour. No matter what happens, never leave the house without authorization.”

A few hours later, Xiang Jiang said this before going out and leaving them alone.

Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, who were in the know, looked at each other.

This execution mission was not what they had expected. So far, apart from the fact that the place itself had a problem, their mission could be said to be unremarkable…

The first task of Unit 9 in Gengsheng Town was to clean up the room.

Naturally, this “cleaning the room” was more than ordinary cleaning. The work content included, but was not limited to, packing, sorting, and throwing out all the evil things in the room, making it look like they were doing a deep spring cleaning. When finished, the doors and windows all had to be painted with exorcism arrays to prevent their view and exit from being blocked.

Comrade Xiao Zhong was entirely responsible for cleaning on the physical level.

It could be seen that this homestay hadn’t been used for 800 years. The dust on the floor was enough to grow sweet potatoes. Yin Ren, who had stayed with Zhong Chengshuo for so long, heard him sneeze ten times more today than in the previous two months combined.

When this person’s “achoo” could be heard from the back, Lord Ghost King even became a little worried that Zhong Chengshuo would sneeze his brain out.

When Xiang Jiang left, Zhong Chengshuo’s nose was still red.

While their two teammates averted their eyes, Yin Ren couldn’t help but reach out and poke Zhong Chengshuo’s nose. Zhong Chengshuo didn’t dodge. His nose was warm to the touch and slightly elastic. Yin Ren immediately withdrew his fingers as soon as he touched him, but the feeling of the touch still lingered for half a minute.

“I’m sorry. I was too busy at work today and didn’t have time to clean up. You guys have worked hard. Have something to eat.”

Not long after Xiang Jiang left, Ren Jiying came to visit them. She put a pot of honey water and a large box of packaged meat floss biscuits in front of everyone.

However, except for Yin Ren, no one had the strength to eat Mayor Ren’s evening snack.

Ge Tingting sat down on the freshly cleaned floors, tired and bleary-eyed. Huang Jin squatted in the corner of the room. He held his breath while embracing a compass spirit weapon for vigilance, pretending he was part of the clutter.

The compass spirit weapon was spinning like crazy as Huang Jin looked at it with an almost desperate gaze.

Ren Jiying was quite mindful. Seeing that the two of them weren’t in a good state, she didn’t force them into any small talk. The young mayor put away the tray and got up to leave—

“What’s wrong? You got the guts to stab me?!” A hoarse and angry roar pierced the night. It sounded like it came from a middle-aged man.

“You still have the nerve to fucking shout—?” Another voice was louder than the first. “Idiot. I’ll really chop off your head if you shout again!”

Two people were shouting and cursing near the courtyard. Ren Jiying’s figure stood frozen in front of the door.

“Say it again? Who are you calling an idiot? Say it again!”

“This is your fault, isn’t it? Huh? The car I bought was just scratched, and you dare to make a scene?” A spirited female voice joined the fray. Her voice was loud enough to be heard for at least ten miles.

“Who the hell is making a scene? It’s just a scratch. I don’t care about your…”

“Stop it. Wahhhh. Dad, stop arguing…” Amidst the cursing and shouting, a child’s voice faintly leaked out.

The child’s words hadn’t fallen when another broken female voice joined in. “Okay, dear, put down the knife!”

“Son…” The old man sighed. “Think of the people… the people…”

The clatter outside the yard became even louder. A “fighting symphony” was fully mixed with adult yelling, children crying, and an old man lamenting, with just the right rhythm and intensity to be distracting.

The sound of garbage cans clattering and being smashed was heard. Ten minutes passed, and instead of stopping, the noise outside intensified.

For a homestay, the house was quite large, with three semi-partitioned bedrooms and a total area of 100 square meters. The building was quite well insulted, but unfortunately, even the double-layer glass couldn’t stop the sharp noises outside.

Hearing the endless noises, Yin Ren picked up half a biscuit and ran to the window to watch. Zhong Chengshuo followed him closely; his dark eyes were also looking out the window.

Huang Jin remained squatting in the corner, wriggling his butt unsteadily. “How about calling the police?”

“Don’t worry about things outside.” Ren Jiying was still frozen near the door. Her lively voice had now become a little heavy. “Believe me, do not interfere. It’s not the first time those two families got into it.”

“What do you mean?” Yin Ren smoothly pried.

“…Not worth mentioning. Xiao Xiang told you, don’t leave the house no matter what.” Ren Jiyang’s voice was tinged with exhaustion. It almost overshadowed the curses and shouting from outside.

After saying this, she gripped the tray tightly, bowed her head, and hurriedly left the room.

This mission was getting more interesting.

Yin Ren turned his head and once again looked in the direction of where the altercation was. He wasn’t surprised to find that he still couldn’t see anything…

Outside the small courtyard stood a full house of evil beings, not counting the ones Xiang Jiang had thrown out.

At some point, evil beings had gathered. Shadows squatted outside the fence, looking like a black pine forest. A huge skeleton leaned near the door, and the hole in its eye socket seemed to swallow everything. Countless ghosts with crooked noses and slanted eyes stood shoulder to shoulder on the courtyard wall, densely enclosing Mayor Ren’s house. The evil beings were tall and short, but they also had a weird sense of hierarchy.

At first glance, those who didn’t know would think they were living in a forest cabin.

Not to mention the people who were fighting; even the streetlights at the entrance of the yard were completely covered by the evil beings. Yin Ren could only see the objects in the yard.

Fortunately, it was similar to the station. The evil beings just looked at them quietly without taking further action.

But outside the “wall” formed by evil beings, the quarrel continued.

The noise outside was extremely fierce but Yin Ren had no intention of intervening. He felt right away that there was no murderous intent in this fight. Judging from his experience, those people would break a bone or two at most.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously looked at Zhong Chengshuo beside him—he wondered if Zhong Chengshuo would interfere, given that, as an upright citizen of Haigu, he was probably the madman most likely to call the police first.

Zhong Chengshuo stood next to Yin Ren, looking straight in the direction of where the quarrel broke out.

In Yin Ren’s memory, there was a streetlight near the area of conflict, but given the cover of the evil forest, Yin Ren really couldn’t gauge how much “visibility” a science post could see.

All he knew was that Zhong Chengshuo had no expression on his face, and he didn’t seem to have any plans of taking out his phone.

After a few minutes had passed, Zhong Chengshuo seemed to have seen enough. He went back to his luggage and pulled out the book he hadn’t finished reading on the train. Then he stood next to Yin Ren as he flipped through the pages.

The person’s posture was relaxed.

“It’s not a big deal. We’d better listen to Xiang Jiang’s arrangements.” As the only science post, Zhong Chengshuo was quietly reading a book while expressing his thoughts succinctly.

Outside the dark window, screams, wailing, and roaring intermingled, then something hard snapped and broke. “The Fighting Symphony” reached its most shocking stage, but Zhong Chengshuo acted as if he didn’t hear anything.

“What did you see just now?” Yin Ren lowered his voice.

“They weren’t fighting.” Zhong Chengshuo flipped the pages in his book as he muttered softly.

“Two pairs of adult men and women, one child, and an old man. Six people standing in a row along the side of a nearby street, at least one step apart from each other. They were just shouting with their mouths and smashing things around them, but not actually touching each other.”

Yin Ren: “…Standing in a row?”

“Yeah, facing our window,” Zhong Chengshuo replied calmly.

“As if they’re waiting for us to come out.”