Chapter Five: Mission
Lunch break.
Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, in the pavilion of the courtyard.
A few Siye Society operatives, excluding Gu Xiliu, rarely gathered together, casually discussing the three bizarre and strange Nightfall Syndrome patient corpses that appeared yesterday during lunch.
Yes, three corpses.
Earlier, An Qing had just finished dissecting the first corpse when Jiang Li hadn’t yet completed the filing, and the stationed Special Action Team at the hospital delivered two new corpses.
The time of d*ath of those two corpses was also last night, slightly later than the first one, and the Nightfall Syndrome symptoms exhibited were almost identical to that of the first corpse, as though another person was trying to grow out of their body.
Jiang Li watched An Qing dissect two severely mutated corpses, feeling somewhat queasy. After eating some fruit, she put down the lunch box sent by Ahua and looked at her colleagues.
“You all should know that the residual spirit energy fluctuation is an important pathogenic factor for Nightfall Syndrome. I think we should investigate from this direction. What do you think?”
While chewing a piece of tomato chicken with a fork, An Qing muttered, “It’s not that simple. The simultaneous appearance of three patients with similar symptoms of Nightfall Syndrome could already be considered an urban legend or the work of a spirit ability user.”
“Of course, I think the probability of the Solar Eclipse Society acting behind the scenes is quite high.”
Since the nights became longer, the number of Nightfall Syndrome patients has been increasing day by day.
However, among the numerous Nightfall Syndrome patients, to suddenly have three patients with highly similar symptoms appearing in a short period, it can almost be certain that they were affected by the same source of spirit energy.
Additionally, among the three corpses that have appeared, one of them had an incomplete Solar Eclipse Society totem, indicating a possibility that a force from the Solar Eclipse Society has infiltrated Huacheng.
Li Xuan watched as An Qing swallowed a finger-like chicken strip that looked like it was smeared with bl**d, then licked the ketchup off the corner of her mouth with a crimson tongue, uncomfortably setting down his lunch box.
“I told you so. I warned you all that the urban legend sightings in Huacheng have been increasing lately.”
“The week I was on night duty, there were as many as ninety-two sightings of urban legends! If you didn’t encounter any, it just means you were lucky.”
“I suspect this incident is related to the increase in urban legends in Huacheng. We need to organize a few operations to deal with it.”
Jiang Li looked at Li Xuan, noticing the unmistakable fatigue on his face, and gently shook her head.
She felt deep sympathy for Luxianbei’s malicious behavior towards this lamb.
But…
If Luxianbei wasn’t lying to her, the urban legends in Huacheng had been well managed and certainly wouldn’t resort to such cruelty.
According to An Qing’s conclusion after dissecting the two corpses, those two Nightfall Syndrome patients had abnormal proliferation of all tissues, organs, and bones, possibly enduring pain even more intense than late-stage cancer patients, one could even say they were tortured to d*ath by excruciating pain.
After Li Xuan spoke, he looked around at his colleagues. Seeing that no one responded, he turned to Bai Kai, who had been silent and lost in thought, and frowned, “What about you, Bai Kai?”
“You usually talk the most. Why are you silent today?”
“What?” Bai Kai snapped out of his daze, looking bewildered, “Sorry, I zoned out and didn’t hear what you were saying.”
While speaking, he quickly finished the hamburger in his hand, crumpled the wrapper into a ball, and stood up.
“Keep discussing; I have something to take care of. I’ll return for the meeting later.”
With that, he threw the paper ball into a nearby trash can and quickly walked out of the pavilion.
Li Xuan watched Bai Kai leave. As his back began to disappear from view, he squinted and muttered, “Don’t you think there’s something off about Bai Kai?”
“Is it about relationships?” An Qing shrugged, disinterested, “After so many years of casual dating, having someone suddenly take charge must be uncomfortable for him too.”
Jiang Li glanced at Li Xuan and asked, “Is your car fixed?”
Not fixed? Why would you provoke him? Do you not need the car anymore?
Li Xuan, “…”
————
In the afternoon, Huacheng Siye Society, in front of the Special Action Team training room.
Bai Kai stood at the entrance of the training room, hearing the exciting and vigorous music from inside, hesitated for a few seconds, and pushed open the door.
He scanned the spacious training room and found Qi Dong among the muscular men, waving hello to him.
Qi Dong was deeply immersed in the delightful pain from leg training when he was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. Following the direction indicated by the person, he turned to the door, met Bai Kai’s gaze, and frowned.
A moment later, in the alley behind the Special Action Team training room.
Qi Dong looked at Bai Kai and said solemnly, “Speak up, what do you want?”
“…” Bai Kai was silent for a few seconds, looking into his eyes, and answered seriously, “It’s about Qin Nanzhu.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t we already settle things regarding her?”
Hearing “Qin Nanzhu,” Qi Dong’s expression immediately darkened, veins popping on his forehead, and his fist clenched, looking as if if Bai Kai said one wrong word, he would suddenly erupt and smash his head with a fist as big as a clay pot.
“Indeed, it’s settled, but…” Bai Kai stated seriously, “Luxianbei recently learned her name from somewhere and is secretly investigating. I’m worried you might slip up, so I came to remind you.”
Qi Dong’s gaze wavered as he studied Bai Kai for a moment, his expression softening slightly. He sneered, “Heh! Just take care of yourself. My lips are very tight.”
“…” Bai Kai stared at Qi Dong for a few seconds, silently sighed, and nodded, “If that’s the case, then that’s for the best.”
“Alright, I just came to remind you. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
With that, Bai Kai turned to walk out of the alley. He hadn’t gone far when he heard a light call from behind.
“Wait!”
Turning back, he saw Qi Dong straightening his posture, his expression serious, “Though I’ve always disliked you two brothers, concerning this matter…”
“In short, later, I will also visit those old fellows to give them a heads-up. You can rest assured.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Kai smiled, turned around, and bowed to Qi Dong, “Then thank you for that.”
————
At one-thirty in the afternoon, Huacheng Siye Society, in the meeting room.
The bright afternoon sun bypassed the girl peeking in from the window and fell on the long conference table.
An Qing held the file compiled by Jiang Li based on the results of the three corpses’ autopsy, explaining in detail the potential threats behind this “Nightfall Syndrome incident.”
At the end of the meeting table, Luxianbei was absent-mindedly listening to An Qing’s explanation, looking expressionlessly at Du Sixian, who was making faces at him, feeling restless.
Just like Jiang Li planned to cultivate Luxianbei as her successor, An Qing had also been trying to train Du Sixian, so she naturally wouldn’t let her miss the meeting.
“……”
An internal meeting of the Siye Society was infiltrated by two insiders; that’s simply outrageous!
At this rate, the Huacheng Siye Society would eventually be finished.
Luxianbei glanced at Du Sixian again, then his eyelids twitched slightly as he silently raised his hand to cover his forehead, shielding his eyes.
Not knowing if it was due to receiving his gaze, Du Sixian’s eyebrow movements became even quicker, her brows writhing like they were dancing the hula.
“……”
d*mn, why do I feel like I’m on a clandestine date and my girlfriend is about to catch me?
d*mn, stop looking at me! If Miaomiao Sauce becomes suspicious later…
While Luxianbei was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Jiang Li’s cough. He, feeling guilty as if he were a thief, trembled slightly and hurriedly sat upright, looking over at Jiang Li.
“Everyone, Officer An Qing has already explained the specifics of the incident very clearly. Now let me present the specific action plan.”
Although only three Nightfall Syndrome cases with similar symptoms have appeared so far, some level of investigation is still necessary.
If Nightfall Syndrome does exhibit infectious traits, allowing it to fester would be a terrifying thing.
In matters of disease prevention and control, people of Z Country have always been meticulous and serious, and are very willing to prepare for the future.
Since the Huacheng Siye Society currently does not have an officer responsible for coordination, this time it will temporarily be overseen by Jiang Li, who is responsible for file management and is relatively meticulous.
“I propose that as before, I will monitor all major shopping malls and markets within Huacheng, Officer An Qing will oversee hospitals, Officer Bai Kai will handle entertainment venues, and Officer Li Xuan…”
“Interrupting!” When Li Xuan was mentioned, he suddenly raised his hand and said, “On my side, not only do urban legend incidents frequently occur during my night shifts, but I also have to keep an eye on the Li Tanghan father and son!”
“You all know that the father and son have deep ties with the Haze God. If I don’t keep a tight watch on them for a second, I worry they might cause some big trouble.”
Hearing this, Luxianbei scoffed dispassionately.
Tire Uncle, if you want to slack off, just say so!
You think I, the King of Urban Legends in Huacheng, am just idly sitting by?
If the Haze God really comes… As Luxianbei was thinking, Du Sixian’s voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
“Hey, I’ll interrupt too!”
Du Sixian seemed to sense something from Luxianbei’s gaze and stood up to interject, “I think we don’t need to worry too much about the Haze God’s actions for the time being. After all, Huacheng has the King of Urban Legends, right?”
“According to The Book of Siye, urban legends generally have a strong sense of territory. I believe if the Haze God appears in Huacheng, the calamities would not just sit by idly, right?”
As she spoke, she looked at Luxianbei and subtly signaled with her eyes.
Luxianbei widened his eyes, “？？？”
I’m not! I didn’t! Don’t misinterpret! When did I ever say I wanted to oppose the Haze God?
I was going to say that if He really appears, I’ll ask Him to spare Huacheng a little, we are all urban legends, why should there be fighting?
We should focus our attention on dealing with the Siye… uh, thinking about such matters in the Siye Society’s meeting room seems a bit too dangerous, right?
As Luxianbei contemplated this, he quickly gathered his thoughts before the alarm system of the Siye Society went off.
Relying on him to resist the Haze God is less reliable than counting on the city barrier… Jiang Li’s gaze lingered on Luxianbei for a moment, gently shaking her head, and looked at Li Xuan, “I think both you and Du Sixian made some reasonable points. How about we combine your suggestions?”
“Officer Li Xuan, you continue to keep an eye on Li Tanghan and his son, and through their connections, investigate whether those so-called social elites within Huacheng are related to this incident. How does that sound?”
“…” Li Xuan pondered for a moment and shrugged, “If that’s all, then I have no objections.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li nodded at Li Xuan, then looked at Luxianbei and Du Sixian at the end of the table, and lightly spoke, “As for Luxianbei and Du Sixian…”
“How about you each handle the various schools and residential areas?”
Luxianbei often frequented University City, where there are four universities and two affiliated middle schools nearby. If the scope is slightly expanded, there are also five public primary schools and two private junior high schools, which would almost cover half of the schools in Huacheng, making it very reasonable for him to be in charge of schools.
As for Du Sixian…
After returning from the journey of making dreams come true, she appeared in Happy Neighborhood as the “Genius Mahjong Girl,” inquiring about “Wang Buliu’s” whereabouts when she happened to stumble upon Du Sixian, who was angrily scolding the inept urban legends in the office of the underground parking garage.
That girl had a perfect capitalist façade, with the mark of her familiar almost spitting fire from her forehead.
Compared with her seemingly harmless appearance in the Siye Society, it was completely different.
Jiang Li didn’t expose Du Sixian and didn’t care how she became Luxianbei’s familiar.
Can a familiar have ulterior motives towards its master? Absolutely not! There’s no competitiveness at all! Well, probably not.
However, she could be sure that Du Sixian could command a significant number of urban legends within Huacheng.
And most of those urban legends were spread across the various residential areas in Huacheng, making her responsible for monitoring movements around the residential areas undoubtedly a correct choice.
“I have no objections.” Luxianbei nodded.
“No problem, leave it to me!” Du Sixian said confidently, patting her chest.
————
After the meeting ended, Luxianbei didn’t exchange much with Jiang Li and hurriedly left Mudan Street.
It was unclear whether he vaguely sensed that Miaomiao Sauce might discover his relationship with Du Sixian, felt guilty, or was eager to retrieve his unlocked phone—or perhaps it was both.
Exiting Mudan Street, Luxianbei flagged down a taxi, gave an address, and headed straight for the old district of Huacheng.
————
Lianxin Communications City is located in one corner of the old district of Huacheng. At the beginning of the century, business was once booming, but over time, the offline small and medium-sized mobile phone markets could only barely maintain, let alone a mall focusing on second-hand phones and counterfeit devices.
By afternoon, the suffocating air of the old mall wafted with an odd smell that suggested something had been burnt by the electric iron.
Luxianbei had already visited once in the morning and quickly navigated through the maze of haphazardly placed counters and clutter to find the mobile phone repair shop.
“Boss, may I ask if my phone is fixed?” Luxianbei leaned over the counter, calling to the drowsy bald middle-aged man inside the shop.
The man, startled awake from his dream, trembled, rubbed his heavily shadowed eyes, and retrieved the phone from a drawer, handing it over to Luxianbei.
Taking the phone, he paid, and as he walked out of the mall, he eagerly opened the device.
As the animation of “a big hand holding a small hand” flashed across the screen, he pondered for a moment before opening the message inbox.
Phones from that era had very few functions, so if there was important information, it was likely hidden in the text messages; the next option would be the notes.
The inbox contained a total of over five hundred messages, which was quite astonishing for a phone with such a meager memory capacity.
Luxianbei pressed the control button, scrolling through the messages one by one, and couldn’t help but frown.
More than a third of these five hundred messages were chat conversations with Bai Kai, leading Luxianbei to suspect that they shared something intimate, and it wasn’t entirely baseless.
After reading about two hundred messages, Luxianbei’s fingers were beginning to ache from pressing the buttons in anger, so he skipped straight to the bottom of the inbox.
“I want to see how much useless chatter you two have had!” Luxianbei said.
Then…
At the very bottom of the inbox, he saw a message labeled “Zhu.”
Zhu: “To see you one last time, come to Banshan Primary School.”
