**Chapter 112: Malevolent Spirit Interpretation**
“They” had long been dead, yet the shadow of d*ath still lingered, “they” were suspended, their postures as they were in life, on a dimly lit stage.
As if that shocking performance had yet to conclude.
Rotting flesh scattered, on rust-stained props, on a wooden floor filled with mold in the gaps.
Decomposing scavengers had already perished, their shriveled bodies floating on foul-smelling sludge.
A murky, cold wind blew in from somewhere beyond sight, silently depicting the face of the perpetrator.
…
On the stage, the victim’s corpse floated, the head hanging low, face obscured, toes barely touching the ground, as if suspended by some invisible force.
Upon witnessing the scene before them, three members of the Special Action Team froze for a few seconds, quickly retrieving various tools and standardized talismans to eliminate spiritual influences from their gear, preparing to inspect and secure the scene.
The Special Action Team member who had recently been spooked by a dummy seemed eager to prove he was unafraid of urban legends, boldly jumping onto the stage, his 92G pistol “clicking” as it was chambered.
The magazine was loaded with copper-covered steel bullets, inscribed with simple spell formulas.
Jiang Li squinted her eyes, observing the oddly positioned corpses, seemingly deep in thought, when suddenly something flashed through her mind, a past she was unwilling to confront.
Those bizarre, evil, and filthy images caused her consciousness to momentarily falter.
It was as if she heard the sound of nails scraping across a blackboard, the friction of plastic foam, the noise of a drill drumming, various sounds driving her mad.
The noise grew more and more chaotic, inciting a violent desire to vent and destroy within her.
However, Jiang Li had long since adapted to this influence, remaining from the Solar Eclipse Society’s evil rituals, as the faint blue glow on her silver armor flickered, swiftly suppressing all impulses.
Once her state stabilized, Jiang Li hurriedly looked up at the stage.
There, three members of the Special Action Team, relying on their guns, were already approaching the corpses.
Seeing this, Jiang Li’s expression changed, and she cried out, “Stop! Don’t touch them!”
Upon hearing her shout from behind, the three Special Action Team members paused, their eyes filled with confusion as they turned to look at Jiang Li, then back at the corpses.
At that moment, they felt a jolt of fear and stepped back in panic.
The corpses, at the instant they turned their gaze, silently raised their heads, looking over with pale faces wearing eerie smiles, tears flowing from their hollowed eyes.
Though nothing could be seen in those dark, hollow eyes, an intense longing was palpable.
The three members of the Special Action Team shared a brief exchange of glances with the corpses, clearly feeling dark and evil emotions growing uncontrollably in their minds.
Just then, a faint blue flash cut through the darkness, with a “clang,” a slender long kn*fe pinned itself between the three and the corpses on the stage, while a pale blue glow radiated from the silver blade, flowing like gas, soon covering the entire stage.
As the pale blue glow fully enveloped the stage, the corpses suspended in mid-air fell silently to the ground, like feathers drifting down.
Simultaneously, strange sounds echoed in the hall, as the dummies placed in the seats fell one by one, making dull thuds, as if the audience were leaving their seats.
Upon hearing the noise, Jiang Li turned to glance back, her gaze deepening, and through her spiritual perception, she sensed countless invisible, treacherous figures swiftly fleeing—those were incomplete urban legend seeds.
Retracting her gaze, Jiang Li stepped onto the stage. Those unformed evil spirit seeds, lacking the need to pursue, would likely dissipate after enduring two or three days of sunlight without this special environment’s nourishment.
But…
If it hadn’t been for Luxianbei accidentally stumbling upon a brewing conspiracy in that Urban Legends Chat Group, where would things have headed? Jiang Li pondered.
Members of the Special Action Team stationed near Shihhekou Middle School were only responsible for ensuring the urban legends within the school did not leave its confines, with regular patrols, rarely venturing into places like the auditorium.
In this scenario, to discover the evil ritual breeding urban legends within the auditorium, they would need at least a few months, if not longer.
However, not only months, even ten days or half a month at night, those unformed evil spirit seeds would transform into true urban legends.
Although these would only be the lowest-tier D-Rank legends, the sudden emergence of thousands of D-Rank urban legends in Huacheng would be enough to cause a small disaster.
Thanks to Luxianbei this time, who’d unexpectedly proven somewhat reliable, perhaps she should circle back and reward him—a deserved gesture.
However, she needed to think of a way not to let him realize he was being rewarded. Jiang Li considered, otherwise, with his temperament, he’d surely become inflated with pride.
While deep in thought, Jiang Li reached the stage. By now, the three Special Action Team members had completed a preliminary survey of the surrounding environment and were preparing to inspect the bodies.
Jiang Li pulled the long kn*fe from the stage, stepping forward to use its tip to flip a corpse onto its back, then sliced through its clothing to reveal a familiar totem exposed on its dark red-speckled back.
Feeling an unsettling pain in the tattoo hidden beneath her clothes on her back, a ruthless glint flashed in Jiang Li’s eyes, and she quickly averted her gaze towards the three Special Action Team members.
“Could you manage the corpses here briefly? I’ll notify the others to come over.”
“Understood, just leave the dirty work to us.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li nodded slightly, turning away to lightly touch the badge on her chest.
…
After sending a message to An Qing and Ahua, Jiang Li suddenly remembered something, taking her long kn*fe with her as she walked toward the two o’clock direction of the hall.
Upon arriving, she searched briefly and, as expected, found a glass bottle filled with owl eyeballs in a dark corner.
After a brief glance at the glass bottle, she swung her kn*fe, shattering the bottle along with the eyeballs inside into powder, continuing on her way toward the four o’clock direction. However, she also found a cluster of withered black lilies on an abandoned projection light stand.
Moving further, she found a pair of goat horns at six o’clock.
Just as she was about to continue toward the eight o’clock direction, the main entrance of the auditorium was pushed open, and An Qing and the others arrived.
…
Before entering the auditorium, sensing the cold wind caused by the fleeing unformed evil spirit seeds, An Qing realized the situation inside the auditorium was likely complicated, even asking Du Sixian if she wanted to go in.
Although she had been terrified by the urban legend at Shihhekou Middle School before, nearly dying, after becoming a spiritual ability user and practicing for some time, Du Sixian felt she could handle it.
Then… there was no other outcome.
Upon seeing the decayed, grotesque corpses on stage, her face turned pale, and covering her mouth, she fled from the auditorium.
Before entering, An Qing and Ahua had already inspected the area around the auditorium, confirming no urban legends were hiding. Seeing Du Sixian run out, they allowed her to go.
Retracting her gaze from Du Sixian, An Qing walked over to Jiang Li, whose expression was dark and furious, and asked seriously, “Are you sure this was done by the Solar Eclipse Society?”
“Yeah.”
Looking around the unsettling atmosphere of the hall, An Qing grimaced, “What in the world are these things? Do you know their purpose?”
“Evil Spirit Interpretation,” Jiang Li explained in a deep voice. “A ritual that gathers unformed urban legends and rankless urban legends, transforming them into evil spirit seeds. If I had to give an example, it’s somewhat like brewing wine; those things on stage are the yeast.”
After a pause, she added, “If the time is long enough, it could cultivate a large group of C-Rank and above evil spirit urban legends.”
Though An Qing wasn’t well-versed in the various evil rituals of the Solar Eclipse Society, upon hearing Jiang Li say it could nurture a large group of C-Rank legends, she grasped the severity of the situation, her expression growing grave.
“Is there any way to trace this ritual back to find the caster?” An Qing asked.
Jiang Li gently shook her head, “From the scene, the caster has likely left at least a week ago, and the residual spiritual energy is already quite weak.”
As An Qing listened to Jiang Li, she suddenly noticed the goat horns in her hand, “With that, perhaps we can have Gu Xiliu give it a try.”
“…” Mentioning Gu Xiliu, Jiang Li slightly parted her lips, hesitating to speak. In the end, she nodded, “Mm.”
After discussing for a while with An Qing, Ahua, who was in charge of investigating the victims’ identities, approached after completing her preliminary survey.
“Miss, based on the victims’ characteristics, I’ve cross-referenced the household registration management system, and three identities can be confirmed.”
“One is a first-year student who went missing from the 15th Middle School on the 27th of last month. The other two are company employees and a taxi driver who went missing earlier this month. The taxi driver’s time of d*ath was the most recent.”
“The remaining corpses have deteriorated too much over time to be identified.”
…
Du Sixian rushed out of the auditorium, not getting far before bracing herself against a wall, vomiting uncontrollably.
Once she regained her composure, she glanced around, her hand lightly brushing over the porcelain plate hidden beneath her clothes, her eyes narrowing.
It was true she wanted to vomit at the sight of those horrifying corpses, but at the same time, taking this opportunity to slip away from the watchful eyes of the Siye Society and find a place to dispose of the plate was also true.
Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention to her, Du Sixian stealthily walked toward the open window, then pulled it open and tossed the white porcelain plate forcefully into the woods outside.
The porcelain plate arched through the air, falling among the dense forest, rolling a few times before disappearing into the wilderness under the night sky.
(EMMM, I’m a bit stuck today, so there’s just one update! I’ll think it over and take a slight break for a day~)
