CH 9

Intense lightning flashed across the Yong’an West Mountain, some of them directly hitting the Bureau's building, being absorbed by lightning rods and lightning-proof arrays. The scene outside the window was a pale white. After a moment, thunder followed and reverberated in the hall. The tiles trembled slightly and then the thunder suddenly exploded deafeningly like a suppressed roar.

The golden dragon, who was lying on the tiles near the doorway, was so scared that it swam to the corner of the wall, sticking to the wall like a lizard, not daring to move.

"What's going on, a sudden thunderstorm?"

"Shouldn’t there be a lightning-proof array at the foot of the West Mountain, shouldn't there be..."

"Wait, what is that? Is that..."

Another dazzling lightning flashed, and all the people and objects in the Supreme Bureau building became overexposed silhouettes. When people adapted to the strong light, they found something moving on the four walls.

"Blood... is it blood?"

The thick liquid that was similar to blood flowed down the wall, its trajectory was strange, and gradually people could see that it seemed to be outlining something... No, it was a handwriting.

The bloody words quickly spread to all directions. A rotten smell spread everywhere, and someone murmured, "The text, this, this seems to be the Yin Sacrifice text..."

"But the last sacrifice didn't die, didn't we kill the suspect in time and rescue the victims?"

"Isn't the Yin Sacrifice' already broken?"

"Nevermind if it's the same one or not. Why is the Sacrifice Text appearing in the Bureau building!"

"Director Xiao," a staff member from the dispatch room broke into the meeting room, "It's not just us. All the branches are reporting similar situations! Ahhh... Dr. Wang, the danger level hasn't been assessed yet, what are you doing here!"

In the chaos, Dr. Wang, who had been moving slowly, suddenly appeared from somewhere and came trembling to the wall, almost pressing his face against the blood words. Hearing a sound, he turned his head, and his already large and protruding eyes were magnified by the spectacles, looking like an old dragonfly specially dressed for mourning.

"Blood words sacrifice," Dr. Wang said in a dull voice, "This is a blood words sacrifice!"

"What?"

"Director Xiao, the Yin Sacrifice succeeded! A thousand people have been offered as a live sacrifice, the blood words have been successfully formed, and the caster has summoned the legendary 'Demon Lord'. The Demon Lord has descended, and has regained its full power at the stroke of midnight, and tonight he must fulfill his promise. This... the place where the blood words appeared is the Demon Lord's target!"

Xiao Zheng was stunned for a moment, and his pupils shrank: "Xuan Ji!"

The Gu Team Leader watched helplessly as Xuan Ji, who was at the forefront, was completely swallowed up by the black fog, and there was no time for any emotion, because it would soon be her turn.

The smell of death quickly reached her, and the Gu Team Leader almost clearly felt her blood cooling quickly, and her life flashed quickly in her mind…

Just then, she heard a sound like striking a match, "Sizzle" -

A small flame emerged from the dead silence of the black fog, like an arrow of light, piercing the black fog in an instant, and the Gu Team Leader rolled away, and the cold air rushed into her throat. She turned her head abruptly, and her pupils were shrunken by a sword light.

It was seen that Xuan Ji, who had been swallowed up by the dead air, did not die. His eyes, raised up, had a ring of flame-like light around the pupils, and a totem-like fire-red pattern in the middle of his eyebrows. The frost wrapped around him was directly sublimated. Xuan Ji held a heavy sword in his hand, about two palm widths wide, with flames painted on the sword body. A sword broke the Demon's thick fog, and the fire light swept towards all directions, suddenly breaking open the death field.

In a trance, the Gu Team Leader leader thought she saw the legendary ancient Demon King.

In the dark clouds condensed over the hospital, a shocking lightning split the fog, illuminating half of the sky. Shen Lingyuan was caught off guard and had no choice but to catch the heavy sword with both hands - the Yin Sacrifice text on his two sleeves seemed to have encountered an enemy, quickly dissipating, revealing the pale color of the sleeves.

Xuan Ji pressed the heavy sword down fiercely, smashing the Demon's head into the hospital building, directly smashing two floors from the third floor, and the Demon's head, together with the stone, smashed into the first floor outpatient hall.

He wielded his sword with an aggressive style, swinging it widely and arrogantly, completely unlike his usual smooth and gentle demeanor. He no longer resembled the timid quail he had been during the intense struggle just moments ago, gritting his teeth and holding on with all his might.

"The 36th generation leader of the Nanming Fire-Keeper, who did not want to show his destiny sword in front of mortals, not intentionally hiding and keeping," Xuan Ji borrowed the force of pressing down the heavy sword and pushed it forward two inches, the fire light almost swept to Shen Lingyuan's face, he smiled, "Sorry, the predecessor."

"As the 36th generation clan leader of the Nanming Fire-Keepers, I didn't intend to reveal my life-bound sword in front of mortals, not because I was intentionally trying to hide it," Xuan Ji exerted downward pressure, pushing the heavy sword two inches forward. The flames almost reached Sheng Lingyuan's face, and he smiled, "I'm sorry, senior."

With a "crackle," the heavy sword actually slightly burned Sheng Lingyuan's hands, which were normally impervious to fire and water."

"As the 36th generation clan leader of the Nanming Fire-Keepers, I didn't intend to reveal my life-bound sword in front of mortals, not because I was intentionally trying to hide it," Xuan Ji exerted downward pressure, pushing the heavy sword two inches forward. The flames almost reached Sheng Lingyuan's face, and he smiled, "I'm sorry, senior."

With a "crackle," the heavy sword actually slightly burned Sheng Lingyuan's hands, which were normally impervious to fire and water."

The demon lord's calm and gentle expression cracked, replaced by a sinister look. "How dare you!" he exclaimed.

Black mist rose from under Sheng Lingyuan's feet, forming the head of a beast that roared and lunged towards Xuan Ji.

Xuan Ji did not dodge or avoid the beast's fangs. Flames surged on his heavy sword, aimed straight at Sheng Lingyuan's throat. This time, neither of them showed any mercy. It was a battle of who could kill the other first.

The chilling black mist had already swept up to Xuan Ji's hair, and his heavy sword collided with the demon lord's collar.

Just then, Xuan Ji's invisible ring suddenly appeared. Before he could even make sense of it, the ruby on the ring's surface cracked, and countless fragments sprayed out like a scarlet light.

Xuan Ji felt a sharp pain in his chest. It was as if he had been pierced through the heart by an invisible blade. He didn't even have time to groan before he collapsed to the ground, completely powerless. This time, he really fell to his knees, with no pretense.

At the same time, the beast's head formed from black mist let out a painful howl and disintegrated in mid-air. Sheng Lingyuan staggered back five or six steps, as if he had been hit by something. The palm of his hand was covered in the crushed fragments of the ring's gemstone, which had burnt it black.

For a while, they both stood there in silence, each with a strange feeling that there was some kind of secret connection between them that could not be violated.

After a while, Sheng Lingyuan pressed down his trembling injured hand, covered his mouth with his sleeve, and coughed up some blood. His face grew paler.

Then he looked deeply at Xuan Ji, leaped out of the window behind him, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Xuan Ji did not pursue him - he really couldn't, this time it wasn't an act. He struggled to get up with his heavy sword, but failed three times. Finally, he half-knelt on the ground for a while before he could catch his breath. When he looked down, his invisible ring had become visible. All that remained was a shabby ring band and the ring's setting. He gently pulled the ring, and the ring slid off his finger, feeling as though a part of his finger had inexplicably disappeared with it.

It seemed to have been clinging on to him for many years, just to betray him at the critical moment.

Xuan Ji was both embarrassed and puzzled, "What's going on? Did the Yin Sacrifice ritual summon our ancestors' creditors?"

But the sacrificial victim possessed by the butterfly was not dead, and the caster had already been killed...

Xuan Ji suddenly realized that the little mustached man might not be the caster after all!

The illegal visitors who broke into Chiyuan entered the Grand Canyon after the mutation tree riot.

It was said that the demon picked them up and had seen the little mustache! If the little mustache is the caster, he will keep a safe distance from the summoned devil until the contract is established because no one knows what will be summoned, and monsters are capricious. If the contract is not complete, and he is disturbed by the sacrificial text, he might get angry and kill the caster before the ritual is completed.

And why could the boy infected by the Mirror Flower Water Moon Butterfly use sacrificial text to seek help? Why not just shout out loud or write in plain words?

Assuming that the reason why the boy, who became the sacrificial victim, could not control his body to shout or write freely and could only communicate with the outside world through sacrificial text was that he did not understand something, why did he choose to write a plea for help in his diary? A diary is something only you read, so what's the point of writing a plea for help there?

From start to finish, someone has been misleading them step by step! If no one knew about the Yin Sacrifice ritual, the caster could naturally complete the "sacrifice of a thousand people" without being noticed.

However, because the summoned person or demon was random and the Yin Sacrifice ritual could alarm them, the demon might not be willing to cooperate with the caster's desire to be low-key, and if the demon made too much noise, it would alert the Bureau. If they did not have enough information, they would first try to search for the sacrificial symbols, and then fall into the trap set by the caster - the unfortunate child infected with the Mirror Flower Water Moon Butterfly would be a "firewall" to lead them to the wrong suspect.

The little mustache himself is the final sacrificial victim!

The demon who watched the show also knew that they were being misled!

The caster needed to ensure that the little mustache died at the exact time of midnight, so he must have been present at the capture site and had close contact with the target.

And this person's special ability is very special. It can make others... even the living dead who have been infected with the Mirror Flower Water Moon Butterfly obediently follow their pre-written script.

Xuan Ji suddenly realized that the reason why something was off about what Ping Qianru said earlier was because her original words were "But if you're here, where should I go, Director Xuan? Even Old Luo is waiting downstairs" - the three people in the aftermath department all came out with him.

When the Bureau's field personnel were in a state of chaos, everyone's first reaction should be to follow their immediate superiors and wait for instructions.

This was a natural reaction.

Ping Qianru was not a normal person. She was probably the same as the little mustache, being controlled by the caster, and everything she said and did was part of the script. But who was the caster? And what was their ultimate goal?

The chubby girl has been squatting at the door, and even Old Luo, who was scared to sprout, is waiting downstairs, but why hasn't one person appeared?

She knew very well that the focus of their mission this time was the Abyss, but when she arrived at the hospital, she didn't even take a glance and immediately threw herself into "intense" work. Afterwards, she took it upon herself to escort the illegal tourists for transfer, and even left without saying hello to her new boss - this is a major taboo in the workplace, and even a slightly sensible intern would not do such a thing.

It's not that her emotional intelligence is low, or that she's not afraid of offending her superiors, but she knows that Xuan Ji is confronting the demon and is afraid of meeting him early and revealing her plans!

"Director Xuan!" At this moment, there was a "whine" from behind, and Luo Cuicui stuck his head out from behind the broken glass window of the hospital's pharmacy. He looked around warily before crawling out on all fours, covered in green leaves and stems like a trendy potted plant. He helped Xuan Ji up.

"Where is Bi Chunsheng?" Xuan Ji grabbed her.

"Sister Bi? Didn't she go to the hospital placement point with them?"

"Give me a specific location, quickly!"

"Oh... okay." Luo Cuicui quickly pulled out her phone and used the navigation software to search for the placement point's location. "Here - are you looking for her? Should I try to get a car?"

"It's too late." Xuan Ji snatched his phone and quickly grabbed the map of the planned route on the navigation app out of mid-air with a powerful move. Luo Cuicui had never seen this kind of ability before, and looked up at him dumbfounded with his mouth agape.

Xuan Ji lifted his heavy sword and quickly drew a symbol in the air, sparks flying everywhere, causing Luo Cuicui to exclaim in surprise.

The next moment, he took him out, and they quickly passed countless blocks. Old Luo clung tightly to Xuan Ji's arm, and he heard the sound of the navigation app fast-forwarding like a cassette tape. He rolled around like a fireball, his mind blank with extreme fear, and he even forgot to scream.

Before he could catch his breath, he heard the navigation app say: "...You have arrived at your destination."

Luo Cuicui’s eyes rolled and he passed out.

At this time, the field team at the placement point had just killed Little Mustache, and had not had time to clean up the scene. They saw a fireball rushing in from the sky, and they were frightened and ready to fight.

Xuan Ji carried a heavy sword with one hand and carried Old Luo with the other. He walked out of the firelight. "I’m in charge of the Aftermath Department." Xuan Jin waved away the fireball and threw both Luo Cuicui and his work permit to the person in charge. "Where is Bi Chunsheng?"

"Oh, Director Xuan, you can rest assured that Sister Bi is fine. She just...uh, where is the person? "

Bi Chunsheng had disappeared at some point.

"Don't give me that 'rest assured' crap!" Xuan Ji snapped, flicking a coin out of his hand. In the instant the coin left his hand, it turned into a small fire wheel and rolled along the ground, burning a gloomy sacrificial text into the stone ground as it passed.

"Arrest Bi Chunsheng," he said, and he was already out the door before he finished speaking.