Chapter Fifteen: Calamity
Jiang Li lifted her head and glanced around. The standing apartment buildings resembled silent, massive stone tablets.
“Is this the place? But…”
Muttering to herself, she frowned as her words trailed off.
Logically speaking, Mr. Rabbit is a C-grade urban legend, close to B-grade. If it were nearby and preparing to commit a crime, she should be able to easily detect its general position.
But why is there not a single spirit energy fluctuation above the safety index?
Just as Jiang Li was puzzled, a sudden sharp scream like a blade cutting through the air rang in her ears. She turned to look for the source, and a white figure came gliding on the wind.
Raindrops fell lightly. A sudden gust of wind stirred up dry leaves, which danced in pursuit of the wind’s path as the figure in white walked through the rain, stepping on the fallen leaves.
Bai Kai? What is he doing here? Jiang Li frowned.
At the same time Jiang Li caught sight of Bai Kai, he also noticed her. Their gazes met briefly, and his footsteps halted momentarily next to her, leaving behind an angry, cold snort before he continued to sprint in the direction of Luxianbei’s home, quickly disappearing into the night.
Jiang Li slightly parted her lips as if to say something, wanting to ask Bai Kai a question, but just then, a strange and intense spirit energy fluctuation suddenly came from the opposite direction of Luxianbei’s home.
The restless spirit energy gathered together like boiling iron flowing through the air, and the sound of a piercing scream faintly echoed in her ears, intertwining with suffocating negative emotions and a shudder from the depths of her soul, creating a painful vortex.
Caught in the terrifying vortex, Jiang Li’s complexion turned pale, and shock lingered in her eyes.
S-grade spirit energy fluctuation? When did Huacheng…
The Siye Society typically categorizes the spirit energy fluctuations of urban legends with the simplest letters, but the top tier, S-grade, due to its enormous destructive power akin to earthquakes and tsunamis, carries another title—Calamity!
The Siye Society has recorded no more than five calamity-grade urban legends, each causing thousands of casualties.
Jiang Li never imagined that such a level of urban legend would appear in Huacheng, which could be facing the greatest crisis in its history.
In an instant, Jiang Li weighed the safety of Luxianbei, who was serving as bait, against the impending outbreak of the “Calamity” several times and made her decision.
“Sorry! I will visit you often in the future,” Jiang Li said softly before getting up and heading towards the direction of the calamity-grade spirit energy fluctuation.
Between one person’s life and the lives of hundreds or thousands, she chose the latter.
Bai Kai had already headed towards Luxianbei’s direction. Although she didn’t know how he found out about the situation to come here, he should be fine with him around, right? Jiang Li thought.
Even though she usually disapproved of Bai Kai’s carefree style and shallow mind, she still trusted her colleague more in this situation.
……
Outside the window, a deep blue light shone in, casting a brief brightness over the entire apartment.
Upon seeing “Mr. Rabbit,” Luxianbei’s mind went blank, his arms instinctively flailing as panic and fear fluttered in his eyes, as if the thick fog had been blown away by the wind, replaced by a cold steel-like chill.
The thunder faded, and the light in the apartment soon dimmed.
“DUANG!”
A dull thud rang out from the darkness, as a blunt object struck a head.
Following that, the outline of the tall figure in front swayed unsteadily a few times, its body leaning back before toppling over with a loud crash, rolling down the stairs with a “thud thud thud.”
“Clang—!”
Luxianbei, feeling weak, dropped the Ming King Statue and walked to the stairway, leaning on the railing as he peered down.
He faintly saw “Mr. Rabbit” twitch a few times before slowly relaxing and no longer moving. Only then did he exhale a sigh of relief, support himself against the railing, and lie down on the ground in a star shape.
“Whoosh—whoosh—!”
He gasped heavily, greedily inhaling air into his lungs. A buzzing sound filled his ears, and he saw little stars dancing before his eyes, with a pain that felt like having two burning coals stuffed inside.
As the tension in his nerves suddenly relaxed, the strength he had summoned through sheer adrenaline began to wash away like a tide, leaving him feeling as limp as a puddle of mud.
In the darkness, a foul, bloody odor gradually drifted closer.
Did I… k*ll someone?
Luxianbei realized that the “Mr. Rabbit” he had knocked over might have been a total stranger. To his surprise, he wasn’t in the extreme panic he had imagined; rather, he felt more disgust and discomfort.
Intense discomfort!
His stomach convulsed in waves, as if it might throw up everything, even his stomach itself.
I killed someone and didn’t even scream hysterically! Does that mean I might have some sociopathic tendencies? Luxianbei wondered.
If I were sociopathic, logically, I should go for the finishing blow!
If I didn’t k*ll him with that hit, once he recovers and gets back up… that would be problematic!
But I really can’t move; I have no strength left!
An unbearable wave of fatigue washed over him, and Luxianbei felt his eyelids growing heavier, with his consciousness becoming hazy.
Just as he was drifting toward sleep, a scream with an electric sound effect pierced his ears.
“d*mn! Electric! Electric! Electric!”
Who is that?
Forget it, I don’t care; I just want to lie down! Let them k*ll or butcher me, I don’t give a d*mn! Luxianbei thought, closing his eyes and letting his consciousness sink into silence.
A dozen seconds later.
The window in the living room shattered with a bang, the transparent shards appearing as if cut by some force, turning into uniformly shaped diamond-like fragments scattered across the ground.
Then, a high-pitched shriek suddenly escalated, drawing closer. A white figure cut through the air like a blade, landing steadily in the living room, and then…
Shook off his tingling right hand.
“Tsk! You little brat, who taught you such things?” Bai Kai muttered under his breath as he got up and saw the body sprawled at the stairway, catching the intense scent of bl**d in the air.
He froze for a moment, then became alert, turned on the light, and cautiously approached, confirming that the body had no vital signs before looking up the stairs, where he vaguely saw Luxianbei’s figure. His expression changed, and he instantly vanished from his spot.
When Bai Kai reappeared, he had already arrived by Luxianbei’s side.
He directed a sliver of silver light to Luxianbei’s forehead, using a simple spell formula to confirm that he wasn’t injured but merely exhausted to the point of fainting. He let out a long breath.
If Xiao Bei encounters any problems, when I d*e and meet that couple, I’ll definitely be in for a beating!
Bai Kai thought, catching a glimpse of the bl**d-stained Ming King Statue and then abruptly turning back, frowning at the statue that was smeared with bl**d and had bits of flesh hanging from the sharp protrusions, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
After a long pause, he supported his forehead and sighed helplessly, “Ah, silly child, it’s not meant to be used like this…”
……
Beneath the night sky, the rain fell silently on the rooftop, collecting and mixing with the stench of bl**d, slowly flowing towards the drainage hole at the edge.
The water tank and solar panel frames were covered in mottled rust, and the peeling plaster made the wall uneven. The pitted ground sprouted black-green mold, exuding a cold, damp atmosphere.
Five members of the Special Action Team lay in a corner on the ground, peacefully asleep, the little maid’s clothes soaked in bl**d, unconscious.
Jiang Li, chasing the calamity-grade spirit energy fluctuation, arrived to see this scene, but that powerful spirit energy fluctuation had vanished in just a few seconds, as if it had never appeared.
She stood silently in place, her expression grave for a moment before turning to look at the rooftop of another apartment not far away, an expression of confusion flashing in her eyes.
In the same neighborhood, the rooftops of different apartments seemed to present a scene that appeared to have been eroded by decades of time. What happened here just now?
Thinking this, she confirmed that the members of the Special Action Team were fine and took out a test tube the size of a finger from her pocket, walking towards the little maid.
Jiang Li helped the little maid up, leaning her against the wall. One fingertip gently pried open her pale lips, while the other hand poured the mercury-like liquid from the test tube into her mouth.
The slender, long neck and throat twitched slightly as the bleeding from the shoulder wound stopped and slowly healed. The little maid suddenly woke up, gasping for air as if she had just been rescued from drowning.
“Gasp—! Gasp—!”
Jiang Li let the little maid rest in her arms until she calmed down completely, then said lightly, “Ahua, do you feel better?”
“Miss?” The little maid blinked, tears welling in her eyes, and said, “I’m so sorry, Miss, we failed to protect the target!”
Upon seeing Jiang Li, the little maid instinctively thought they had failed the mission, that Mr. Rabbit had escaped, and that Luxianbei, the bait, was probably dead.
Jiang Li gently shook her head, “It’s not your fault. Now tell me, what happened here just now?”
With five members of the Special Action Team, dealing with Mr. Rabbit should have been straightforward. However, facing an S-grade urban legend, even ten times that number would be insufficient, so reprimanding the little maid was completely pointless.
Now, clarifying the source of the calamity-grade spirit energy fluctuation was of utmost importance.
“Miss, you are too good to me; I’m so touched! Boohoo!”
“Get to the point.” Jiang Li said calmly, glancing down at the hand that was secretly unbuttoning her blouse, and her voice suddenly turned icy, “And take your hand off my chest.”
The little maid stuck out her tongue, turned her face away, and acted as if nothing had happened while quietly recounting what had happened earlier.
One minute later.
Jiang Li watched the little maid, furrowed her brow, and interrupted, “Are you saying that while you were tailing them, you were suddenly ambushed by over ten aberrant urban legends with spirit energy fluctuations between D and C-grade?”
Strange, why is it just a group of D to C-grade aberrants? I clearly felt such a strong spirit energy fluctuation. And there are no aberrant bodies here? Jiang Li pondered.
The little maid nodded, “Yeah, yeah, we were caught off guard, and I got injured. Several members of the Special Action Team struggled to hold on. If that girl hadn’t suddenly appeared, I don’t know what the outcome would have been!”
“Girl?” Jiang Li tilted her head, “What kind of girl?”
Could the calamity-grade spirit energy fluctuation have emanated from her?
“Um…” The little maid recalled, “She was small, but very well-endowed, had chestnut hair, wore a lace short skirt, and wrapped a long red scarf around her face, covering half of it. She looked a bit childish between her brows, and, oh right, she claimed to be the red scarf who didn’t want to reveal her name.”
Jiang Li, “…”
It seems that the number of peculiar spiritual ability users in Huacheng has increased again!
