Chapter 23: The Dark Red Dragging Trails [4K]
At 12:25 AM, in an alley beneath Shancheng Seven Stars Ridge.
Holding an umbrella and standing at a crossroads in the rain, Lin Kule slightly parted her lips, hesitating to speak as she stared at the two diverging paths ahead, which appeared almost identical, yet led in different directions.
It was the first time she realized that even locals can get lost in Shancheng.
The Shancheng Siye Society had a total of fifteen personnel, sufficient manpower to assign two night watchers every night, responsible for guarding different areas, and the Seven Stars Ridge was not part of Lin Kule’s main area of duty.
She had only come here once before while accompanying other members of the Siye Society to reinforce the sealing, and was not familiar with the terrain.
“d*mn it, which way did Linge and the others go?”
The surroundings were eerily quiet, no one answered Lin Kule’s question.
Most of the old houses on both sides were abandoned, dark and gloomy, the glass in the windows shattered long ago. With the dim yellow light from the streetlamp, she peered inside through the gaps, faintly discerning the bizarre outlines of broken furniture and garbage.
Accompanying the damp wind was a pestilent odor that even the rain couldn’t disguise.
In that moment, Lin Kule found herself alone in such an environment, her emotions uncontrollably becoming complex.
She desperately wished someone would show her the way, but at the same time, the dilapidated surroundings made her feel that it was best if no strangers appeared beside her.
In a haunted place like Seven Stars Ridge, who knows if the one pointing the way is a person or an urban legend?
Although according to her spirit energy fluctuation level, she was indeed a genuine B-grade spiritual ability user and could be considered a backbone strength within the Siye Society.
However, due to the peculiar nature of her spirit patterns, her combat effectiveness was really not that great; she wasn’t even an opponent for some C-grade spiritual ability users who excelled at combat.
And Seven Stars Ridge had once been the site of A-grade urban legends.
Sometimes, she would hear people mocking those who had excellent academic performance but could not apply their knowledge in practice, dubbing them “high scores, low abilities.” From a certain perspective, Lin Kule was exactly the “high scores but low abilities” among spiritual ability users.
She had little practical experience, only excelling at reconnaissance and escape.
If it weren’t for following Jiang Li and seeing her mingling with an unknown urban legend, worried that involving other personnel would cause Jiang Li’s inspection to fail, Lin Kule would never have dared to come to Seven Stars Ridge alone.
“What do I do now? I should have stayed back instead of following Li Jie here.”
Lin Kule muttered, feeling a bit wronged; she regretted having quietly followed Jiang Li out when the inspiration struck her earlier.
The worst part was that she had already lost track of her.
If she hadn’t followed, she should be sitting with Mai Mai and the others eating hot pot and singing, instead of standing in the rain at a crossroads where urban legends might appear at any moment.
Such a situation reminded Lin Kule of the time in her childhood when her parents had sneaked out with her late at night for some late-night snacks and she got lost at an unfamiliar crossroads.
It was during that experience that she was abducted by an illegal spirit energy organization, becoming a test subject and ultimately a spiritual ability user.
She was also a failed test subject, nearly destroyed by that illegal spirit energy organization due to her lack of combat capability.
But why did Li Jie suddenly come to Seven Stars Ridge? Did she purposely disguise herself?
Who was that urban legend working with Linge? She actually deceived me for that urban legend; I am her inspector!
The key question was, would there really be any clues to a case here?
Lin Kule pulled back her thoughts and carefully examined the two paths ahead, choosing one and bravely stepping forward.
Driven by intense curiosity, she opted to follow her intuition, as she usually did when faced with difficulties.
As she traversed the roads that intertwined like a fishing net, the steep and winding narrow street was lined with old houses, each stacked upon the other, and the sporadic lights in the distance formed bizarre patterns, seemingly attempting to replicate the wicked constellations of the distant starry sky on earth.
Something threatening and unsettling brewed in a place invisible to the n*ked eye.
Like a newly born pain cell, hidden in the most secret corners of the body, quietly growing.
Lin Kule had not walked far in her chosen direction when the rain began to intensify.
Raindrops crashed against the umbrella and the waterlogged ground, creating a crackling sound as if countless ghosts were hiding in the shadows, doing a wild dance amidst the rain’s sound.
Suddenly, as if under a hallucination, Lin Kule truly heard a faint sound of footsteps.
These footsteps did not seem human, but rather like some four-legged beast scurrying about.
Listening closely, she could even hear its claws scraping against the hard ground beneath the sound of the flowing water as it approached.
In an instant, like a tense nerve in her head being gently nudged, a sharp instinct told Lin Kule that danger was approaching.
A chill crept along her spine like a cold reptile, and her body stiffened as she halted in place, abruptly turning around and calling out in a somewhat tense voice.
“Who?! Who’s there?!”
The alley behind her was empty, the rain falling on the puddled ground rippling out in circles.
On one side of the alley, a window shrouded in shadows stood ajar, swaying back and forth in the gusting wind, making a creaking m*an as if someone was standing behind it, peering at her from afar.
“Nobody? Did I mishear?”
But even if I misheard, my instincts shouldn’t be wrong!
“Bang—!”
While Lin Kule pondered this, a strong wind blew, and that half-open window slammed shut as if pushed by invisible hands hidden in the wind, producing a muffled sound.
In the instant the window closed, Lin Kule’s reflection appeared on the glass, alongside a figure in a white dress that had appeared behind her without her noticing.
That twisted, deformed face filled with grotesque tumors, pale in color, was almost pressing against hers from behind.
“Ah—!”
A scream echoed through the rain-soaked alley—
Old buildings often had strangely unreasonable designs.
For example, uneven stair heights that increased falling risks, oversized or undersized building structures resulting in awkward layouts, or excessively large public activity areas that served little purpose.
The “Han Ye Studio” located in a row house had its unreasonable design in a five-meter-long, nonsensical corridor in the hallway.
Stepping into the row house, the light dimmed rapidly; beneath her feet, paper scraps and shards of glass crunched softly.
A nauseating aroma of rotting food lingered in the air, seemingly from takeout orders long ignored in the corner.
“Hmm?”
Noticing something, Luxianbei, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped, turned back, and saw a corner of the old district cloaked in misty rain, along with Jiang Li’s expressionless face in the shadows.
“What’s wrong?”
Luxianbei frowned. “Did you hear that? It sounded like a scream.”
Jiang Li tilted her head, looking at Luxianbei with a silent sigh. “If you’re really scared, I can go first.”
“I really heard a scream!” Luxianbei emphasized.
“Is that so?” Jiang Li pondered as she looked behind them, and said seriously, “Then I’ll keep watch from the back.”
“Okay.” Luxianbei nodded and continued forward.
According to the plan discussed between them, upon reaching their destination, they would first disguise themselves as prospective art buyers and enter the studio in a normal fashion.
Generally speaking, a natural talent with a high spiritual perception who witnessed a high-level urban legend would likely become a pile of bones within a week without someone to protect them. But what if?
What if they burst in, only to find the artist unharmed at home? It would become quite awkward.
In truth, the members of the Siye Society were usually quite friendly.
Using the light emitted by the alchemical dirty bomb, they moved deeper into the hallway and soon saw the door of the “Han Ye Studio.”
The studio’s door was on the left side, while the door on the right had been removed and rebuilt into a wall.
Reaching the left door with the “Han Ye Studio” sign, Luxianbei raised her hand and knocked.
“Knock knock knock—!”
“Is anyone home?”
After several knocks, there was no response.
“Knock knock knock—!”
“Teacher, can you open the door? We saw your paintings online and came here hoping to purchase a few masterpieces.”
Luxianbei knocked a few more times, and after waiting a moment, seeing the door still didn’t open, she turned to Jiang Li and whispered, “It looks like there’s no one here. Should we activate PLAN B?”
PLAN B involved breaking in.
Using violence was one of the ways Siye Society members solved problems.
“Okay.” Jiang Li hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “If we’re breaking in, let me do it. After all, we don’t know what the situation is inside.”
As she spoke, she silently activated her spirit pattern powers, entering the first stage of release, dark armor enveloping her form with each breath.
“With this armor, I can at least defend against some unforeseen circumstances.”
If the artist had been hunted by the urban legend she had witnessed, it was highly likely that the studio concealed the legend, and there was a possibility of being attacked by it the moment they broke in.
“Then that makes it even more of a reason for me to break the door,” Luxianbei replied, summoning her Ling Tai Purification to wrap her body in thick armor.
The originally slender girl instantly transformed into an “iron barrel,” while Jiang Li, clad in Xiezhi armor, appeared relatively fragile by comparison.
“Actually, I recently got a set of armor myself; it might be even better at handling emergencies than yours. Not only can it block some hits, but in most cases, it can provide complete protection.”
Saying this, she knocked on her breastplate, demonstrating her “absolute defense” to Jiang Li.
The clash of the arm and heavy armor sounded with a clang.
Jiang Li, through her spirit pattern powers, concluded that Luxianbei was not exaggerating, meaning Luxianbei’s armor was indeed tougher than her Xiezhi armor.
Looking at Luxianbei, she found it amusing, feeling as if she invited her boyfriend to see her new car, only for him to arrive in a heavily armored tank.
So, was that the reason why she was uncharacteristically rushing ahead?
How terrified of d*ath can one be to carry such heavy armor?
But if they encounter a situation like outside the Dream Come True Entertainment City on the golden plains, having such armor should prevent her from getting seriously hurt, right?
Thinking this, Jiang Li felt that Luxianbei’s fear of d*ath might not be a bad thing.
Because, from a certain perspective, she was even more afraid of Luxianbei dying than Luxianbei herself.
“You know, what if that artist actually heard our knocking just now but didn’t manage to open the door in time? Would they be scared by our disguise when they finally do come over?” Luxianbei said while pulling out Xuan Ying Luo Fu from the portal in her chest.
Upon reflection, in the early morning hours, two armored figures holding glowing, unidentified objects knocking on the door like terrorists would indeed deter an average person from answering.
But it also didn’t seem right not to answer; terrorists would forcibly break down the door if things escalated.
Luxianbei imagined the scenario, picturing the not-so-sane artist crouched against the door, looking through the peephole at the sight of them both trembling.
“Regardless, let’s get in first,” Jiang Li said. “If he’s really inside, I’ll explain to him.”
“Alright.” Luxianbei replied, raising her Xuan Ying Luo Fu, channeling her spirit energy. With a soft hum, a bl**d-colored glow enveloped the umbrella frame, outlining the shape of a long sword.
Aiming the sharp edge of the light-formed sword at the door lock, she prepared to break it.
“Click!”
“Creeeak—!”
Accompanied by a sound, the door to the “Han Ye Studio” opened unexpectedly.
“Sorry, we just—” Luxianbei’s words halted midway.
There was no one behind the door; all that could be seen was the hallway illuminated by the light of the alchemical dirty bomb.
In the air lingered a sweet, metallic scent mixed with decay.
A dark red hue trailed from the hallway into the darkness, resembling the marks left by a heavy object dragged along, and there were more than one trace!
Upon closer inspection, those dragged marks varied in depth and interlaced yet did not fully overlap, suggesting they had not been made simultaneously.
Amid those dragged trails were a few distorted dark red handprints and small bits of flesh, as if reminding the two at the entrance that these were the traces left by dragging bodies.
Using the light of the alchemical dirt bomb, they fumbled in the hallway to find the switch and turn on the lights. Following the dark red trail, they looked ahead to see a chaotic main room.
A vase broken in half lay on the ground, the TV screen was caved in, the sofa had a large hole, and pale “innards” spilled out onto the floor.
Scattered across the off-white ground, various paints intermingled with the dark red dragging trails, creating a picture filled with both magnificence and horror.
Snapping back to reality, Luxianbei turned back to Jiang Li and exchanged a glance.
[Things are looking a bit grim! It seems another batch of “terrorists” has come through here before us.]
[Yeah, let’s go in and take a look? Follow those dark red dragging trails.] Jiang Li replied with her eyes.
