**Chapter Seventeen: Testing the Poison with One’s Body**
Huacheng, where a tributary of the Yangtze River runs through the entire city.
By a seemingly unremarkable water bay along the hundreds of kilometers of riverbank.
A black and ugly monster fish has been staring at the hole in front of it, seemingly drilled by a drilling machine, for over ten hours.
“Luxianbei got a head start of several years, earning the title of ‘Calamity’… members of the Solar Eclipse Society carry the flesh and bl**d of the Inheritance Beast with them…”
“Crazy, this is truly insane; what the hell happened in this timeline of rebirth?” the system muttered to itself.
While each rebirth brings slight deviations in the events experienced, this time is undoubtedly the most variable.
The terrifying pressure brought by the unknown is making it feel as if it’s on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Finally, at the moment the morning sun rises, it makes a brave decision—it has to go down and take a look.
Though without a host, in terms of direct combat capability, it doesn’t even match a regularly exercising adult male.
However, one of the seven factors capable of destroying the world is causing trouble right in front of it. Even if it can’t stop it, at least it should be aware of what is happening below, right?
Moreover, in terms of danger, the Inheritance Beast may be more perilous than the uncultivated Calamity.
According to the limited intelligence collected from three declared missions against the Inheritance Beast, where it was severely injured twice.
In terms of its own form, aside from its distinctive dark red flesh, the Inheritance Beast doesn’t even have a fixed form that it could remember and describe completely.
Its powers can change thousands of times in a short period depending on the different urban legends it encounters and transform into various forms based on its “food” and regional differences.
The core of its urban legend has been liberated from the “common sense” of all urban legends, continuously and almost madly copying the powers of other urban legends, and then violently merging them.
This monstrous copying and evolution will, sooner or later, collapse due to its extreme deformity and irrationality, exhausting the Inheritance Beast’s life force and leading to its d*ath.
At that time, the powers it had copied would crumble, losing their binding, and, alongside its body collapsing, would scatter like ghostly figures in all directions, causing a black night plague affecting over a billion people and countless plants and animals, further spawning a multitude of urban legends.
Although it has no intention of destroying the world, its existence acts as a potent catalyst, accelerating the growth of urban legends across the world.
If left unchecked, the number of urban legends could multiply several times in a short period—typically requiring just three to five years.
And instead of allowing the Inheritance Beast to “expand” itself, being controlled by other urban legends or spiritual ability organizations would be even worse.
The only failed instance where the system didn’t severely injure the Inheritance Beast was under such circumstances.
That time, the Inheritance Beast came into contact with the Pestilence Taijie, and the two destructive factors formed a symbiotic relationship for unknown reasons.
One continually copying powers and merging and the other constantly devouring urban legends and splitting—this combination was phenomenally unreasonable, as reasonable as a ghost celebrating Halloween.
In less than two years, the system stood on the last piece of pure land in the world, witnessing the last sunset as the entire world transformed into the “Pestilence Taijie.”
…
The system twisted its body, digging a waterway on the riverbank to divert the water into the deep, bottomless hole. As the river water rushed in, it leaped and shot down the stream, quickly falling into darkness.
Then…
It fell in the dark, constantly down, until a sensation of weightlessness washed over it. Finally, in the profound blackness, it saw a city seemingly wrapped in a gigantic bubble.
Countless shadows were flying out of the bubble, descending downward.
The dark red torrent made from the flesh and bl**d of the Inheritance Beast was coiling atop the bubble, sitting in wait to prey on those shadows, while countless dark red threads spread from its body, deeply rooting into the bubble.
After a long while, the system couldn’t help but let out a curse.
“What… what the hell is this situation? I can’t even handle this!”
It initially thought it had “rebirthed” again, but upon seeing the scene before it, it suddenly realized that this “Huacheng,” where it had been for the last few days, was actually a place similar to the Bamboo Slips Illusion.
However, even the living Great Serpent God couldn’t create a complete “world.”
What kind of existence could generate a city so real that it couldn’t detect any discrepancies?
Another factor for destroying the world? Could it be Calamity? the system wondered.
————
In a cold storage near the outskirts of Moon City, less than ten kilometers from the Huacheng border.
In the dimly lit space, a damp, cold atmosphere and a nauseating stench permeated.
A man cloaked in black stood silently before a rusted metal operation table, his figure almost melding into the shadows. Only his pale face was visible, with deep and gloomy eyes staring toward the door as if waiting for something.
“Creeeak—!”
The heavy iron door of the cold storage was pushed open, emitting a low groan. A burly man strode in.
The man was dressed strangely; despite the warming weather around Huacheng in early spring, he wore a thick military coat for deep winter.
His slightly thin face bore a pair of triangular eyes, and his right ear seemed to have been bitten off, lacking an earlobe. The arrangement of his facial features combined gave him an expression that was a mix of sorrow and slight fierceness.
The burly man carried a corpse bag over his shoulder, but what was inside was a live specimen. As he moved, the “live” contents of the bag squirmed, emitting low, distressing moans.
The burly man approached Beres and casually tossed the corpse bag onto the operation table, scowling and speaking in a deep voice, “There, I brought you what you wanted. Where’s my payment?”
“Very good, very good! You truly live up to being one of the highest-rated bounty hunters for three consecutive years—notable efficiency,” Beres replied, smiling warmly.
As he spoke, he bent down to retrieve a metallic box with silver and gold trim from beneath the operation table, pushed it forward, and opened the lid to present its contents to the burly man.
Inside the box were thirty-five test tubes made of special crystals, filled with a mercury-like substance glimmering with a faint green light. Faces expressing pain occasionally appeared among the bubbling contents.
These were all high-purity Primordial Spirits, worth one C-grade urban legend core each.
“I personally purified these Primordial Spirits; could you verify the count?”
The burly man glanced at the test tubes in the box, frowned, and said solemnly, “The numbers are off. The bounty said thirty portions; you have five more.”
“Heh-heh.” Beres chuckled lightly, raising his hands in a shrug, “My friend, Huacheng is the territory of Calamity. Collecting samples from Nightfall Syndrome patients here is dangerous work.”
“To be honest, I initially hired three bounty hunters, and you’re the only one who returned, proving your capabilities.”
“The extra five portions are a form of advance payment; I hope to establish a long-term partnership with you in the future.”
After hearing Beres’ explanation, the burly man’s mouth twitched slightly as he covered the metal box and held it close, saying gloomily, “Are you scared of Calamity?”
“A minimum level of respect is essential for a king of urban legends,” Beres explained perfunctorily.
Moreover, this urban legend king exhibited some extraordinarily unique traits… Beres mentally added.
However, research findings about “special individuals” within the Solar Eclipse Society are classified as top secrets and would not be easily disclosed to a bounty hunter only interested in money.
“Just a matter of clever thievery,” the burly man replied dismissively. “If you’re so concerned about Calamity, you should keep an eye on Gu Qiqi instead. I’ve heard she’s from Huacheng too.”
During their time in the Peach Source, “Gu Qiqi” was encircled by a multitude of spiritual ability users and urban legends, assassinated Solang Pema, and took down three A-grade urban legends single-handedly—her reputation precedes her.
Recently, various factions trying to infiltrate Huacheng for revenge on “Gu Qiqi” have failed and suffered losses, further amplifying her notorious reputation.
The person who devours urban legends, the cunning character with chestnut hair, the bloody and seductive witch, a sinner counterfeiting the miraculous Sky Father… these terrifying titles intertwine, making her a figure of extreme danger in rumors.
In some places, urban legends have even started using, “If you don’t behave, you’ll be sent to Gu Qiqi to be eaten!” to scare the lesser urban legends in graves.
Rumor has it, the effect is remarkable.
As for this burly man, it wouldn’t be right to say he has a grudge against “Gu Qiqi”; it would be more accurate to say it’s a vendetta.
Had he not utilized the uniqueness of spiritual patterns to foresee the danger, he probably would have perished along with those short-lived souls in the riverbed of Golden Toad Gorge long ago.
“Hey, pal…” Beres lightly sighed. “Given our need for long-term collaboration, let me offer you a warning.”
“A ruthless person like Gu Qiqi has not stirred much of a wave in Huacheng; do you really believe it’s only because Calamity fears her and turns a blind eye to all her activities?”
“Among the spiritual ability users and urban legends active around Huacheng, they must have had prior contact with her. My hypothesis is that they are not friends, or they are evenly matched and thus allow each other’s existence. What do you think?”
Of course, another possibility exists, which is that they are, in fact, the same person!
A Calamity possessing two high-level powers could easily create multiple identities using certain techniques to alter appearances.
However, considering the B-class and A-class teams had separately observed their activities in different areas, this possibility is somewhat low… Beres inwardly reasoned.
“…”
The burly man pondered thoughtfully, then nodded slightly at Beres, “Thanks for the heads up.”
————
At Huacheng Central Hospital, in the testing department’s independent laboratory.
Silver Horn paced around various testing instruments, occasionally stopping to skim through the materials and test results on the table.
“This… no, it should be like this?”
In response to the incident of Nightfall Syndrome in Huacheng, he had not slept for a long time, his eyes bloodshot with prominent dark circles, and his slightly pale face was filled with exhaustion.
However, his efforts were worth it. Within these few days, through ample samples of human, animal, and plant Nightfall Syndrome cases, he had made significant discoveries.
He found a special substance in the majority of the samples.
This substance exhibited almost no spiritual energy fluctuations, lacked a physical form but exhibited biological-like vitality. During certain stages of Nightfall Syndrome onset, the level of Nightfall erosion would briefly rise and then deteriorate quickly alongside the patient’s d*ath.
Silver Horn initially classified this special substance as part of a certain urban legend’s organization or as a similar entity to the Pestilence Taijie, and he sent the sample data to Golden Horn for comparison in the Solar Eclipse Society’s database to investigate suspected urban legends and immediately begin inquiries upon discovery.
Additionally, Silver Horn discovered that these Nightfall Syndrome patients exhibited abnormal limb proliferation, signifying the late-stage manifestations of this disease.
From his observations, his findings indicated that prior to the occurrence of abnormal limb proliferation, there should be two more stages in the progression of the illness.
In the early stages of the disease, patients would first experience sleep function disorders, frequently having similar nightmares upon falling asleep each night, which would then wake them up, causing their mental state to rapidly decline due to this process.
However, nowadays, people tend to be more restless as deep night approaches. Even without being ill, there are always a few days each month when their spirits drop, leading most patients in the early stages to not notice the bodily abnormalities.
The initial phase would typically last about three days, then they would enter the second stage.
After the second stage sets in, patients occasionally experience hallucinations and auditory delusions; during the daytime, they might see buildings in the city that do not exist, resulting in brief episodes where they cannot distinguish between dreams and reality, and their emotions begin to become unstable, showing mild symptoms of delusions and personality splits.
Sleep deprivation naturally impacts one’s mental and physical state. Hallucinations and psychological disorders appear, similar to chronic insomnia symptoms, leading hospitals to typically prescribe antipsychotic medications or sleep aids.
Then…
It only takes about two days for patients to realize that the medications don’t work for their condition; they will enter the final phase, which is the abnormal limb proliferation stage.
This unique Nightfall Syndrome has a progression from illness to d*ath that lasts only about a week, which classifies it as an extremely severe acute illness from a pathological perspective.
If…
Silver Horn picked up a test tube containing the special substance extracted from the research samples, frowned as he examined it for a moment, then a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
He turned to grab a syringe, extracted the special substance from the test tube, and inserted the needle tip into his upper arm’s vein.
Just as he slowly pushed the syringe to inject the special substance into his body, a fatigued Jiang Li entered the independent laboratory, bringing the latest autopsy records.
Upon seeing the scene before her, she paused for a moment and asked in surprise, “What are you doing?”
Hearing her voice, Silver Horn glanced at the syringe and then at Jiang Li, managing a pained smile as he said, “I’m testing whether this Nightfall Syndrome is contagious!”
In these past few days of experiments, under the assumption that this Nightfall Syndrome is a contagious disease, he had already verified through traditional scientific methods that this syndrome does not exhibit infectious characteristics in laboratory mice and dogs.
Perhaps increasing the test subjects might show the barest probability of a health condition, but Silver Horn felt it was unnecessary.
There are many infectious factors for Nightfall Syndrome. Apart from being affected by residual spiritual energy fluctuations that result in elevated Nightfall erosion within the individual, there are also possibilities like urban legend contamination, human manipulation, and even certain diseases being urban legends themselves, etc.
Except for the first infectious factor, the remaining factors would only manifest alongside specific conditions when accompanied by special spiritual energy fluctuations, causing Nightfall erosion, thus triggering symptoms.
Just like the samples Silver Horn obtained when participating in the hunt against the Pestilence Taijie, superficially they appear no different from common pneumonia viruses. Only upon entering a biological entity do they start to operate under the control of the Pestilence Taijie, converting the organism into part of its body.
Aside from the numerous Nightfall Syndrome patients seen at the cement factory’s old mining area, the current cases of Nightfall Syndrome in Huacheng predominantly involve biological entities with spiritual ability potential, followed by ordinary humans, and then plants and animals.
Therefore, the quickest method to verify its contagiousness was to use spiritual ability potential individuals or spiritual ability users as samples.
Since the number of plants and animals with spiritual ability potential is low, acquiring them is not easy.
Silver Horn cannot simply capture a spiritual ability potential individual or a spiritual ability user for testing, thus, in despair, he has to use himself for the experiment.
If MARSHALL dared to drink bacteria to verify whether H. pylori causes stomach ulcers, then why shouldn’t Silver Horn inject a little suspected urban legend organization into his body to verify?
“This disease is still unclear whether it can be cured…” Jiang Li diplomatically reminded him, “Also, s*icide does not offer welfare burial services.”
Implying that his reckless actions might lead to disastrous outcomes!
“Ha ha, rest assured,” Silver Horn laughed again, “I’m not like that rough guy, Golden Horn. My spiritual pattern is [Mythological Species: Silver Spirit Boy], a proper deity managing the medicine furnace!”
Silver Horn’s claim holds truth. If Golden Horn is a great weapon under Xing Yuan, then he is the top-tier healer.
Could a healer who can’t even boost their own health dare to claim to be at the pinnacle?
Sometimes, Silver Horn whimsically thinks that if he were a girl, in a novel, he’d at least have to have a G-CUP character design to make sense.
“Besides, if I get infected by myself, wouldn’t that help verify all the characteristics of this urban disease? Isn’t that quite cost-effective?”
“Then, we can issue public notifications early and prepare epidemic prevention measures, potentially saving many people.”
“…”
Jiang Li held her forehead in silence for a while, helplessly muttering, “Madman.”
————
Meanwhile, in the cold storage near the outskirts of Moon City.
Not long after the burly man left, Beres retrieved the Nightfall Syndrome patient sample from the corpse bag, stripped off the patient’s clothing, and fixed his body in the shape of a “Tai” on the cold operation table.
In the darkness, the chilly air brushed against the skin, and the strong stench of dead fish invaded the nostrils. The approximately thirty-year-old man suddenly awoke from slumber, and upon seeing his surroundings, his pupils violently constricted, emitting muffled whimpers from his gagged mouth.
“Ugh—ugh—!”
The man vaguely remembered going home after a late shift the previous night without washing up and collapsing onto his bed to sleep. Somewhere in the haze, he seemed to hear noises from the living room but didn’t pay attention.
Recently, his company took on a new project to develop a bizarre app similar to “Didi Scare” for a client named the “Calamity Scare Liability Company,” and the demanding client forced him to work overtime every day, depriving him of good sleep.
Every time he returned home and closed his eyes, he would dream of a city that was both strange and familiar, suffering from severe tinnitus during the day. This further exacerbated into hallucinations, which didn’t surprise him.
However…
He never expected to wake up in such a terrifying place.
The dim light flickered, the air reeked of dead fish, and the old walls were stained yellow with dark water molded into various grotesque shapes. The tattered plastic sheets separating spaces flapped in the breeze like ghosts.
In front of him stood a hunched, pale-faced man wielding a saw, looking at him rigidly as if surveying a corpse awaiting dissection.
This is definitely a situation involving urban legends! the man thought.
“Hmm? Still alive?” Beres glanced at the waking man, shaking his head. “Unfortunately, you’ll soon have the opportunity to watch your own dissection. But don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”
Although Beres’s peculiar spiritual pattern wouldn’t allow the man to lose consciousness entirely, causing a complete sensory loss was quite easy.
As for why he could induce sensory loss without losing the patient’s sight and hearing…
Well, for no other reason than that he enjoys watching this. Before joining the Solar Eclipse Society and being guided by the president to become a “scientist,” he used to sell such videos on certain illegal websites.
“Ugh—ugh—!”
Upon hearing Beres’s words, the man whimpered in fear, struggling violently, causing the iron hooks on his limbs to jingle, but as Beres mentioned, he felt not a hint of pain.
And then, the kn*fe fell.
The man watched as the saw, once used for slicing frozen fish, plunged into his body, the sound of flesh tearing echoing in his ears.
“Don’t move around; look, you’ve already cut it at an angle, your intestines are severed!” Amid Beres’s loud roar, the man’s face twitched violently, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.
————
Meanwhile.
On a mountain road several kilometers away from the cold storage, a small truck laden with potatoes was coming into view.
The lively music with local flavor was resonating from the truck, full of energy.
The driver was an elderly farmer around fifty, with a cigarette in his mouth, humming a tune.
He was driving his small truck down the road when he noticed a burly man in military clothing seemingly waiting for a ride.
As the truck passed by the burly man, the old farmer hit the brakes, stopped in front of him, grinning to reveal a mouth full of smoke-stained teeth.
“Brother, are you waiting for a ride? It’s bad waiting here. Let me give you a lift for a bit; just give me a little cash, and we’re good. Come on, hop in! The truck isn’t fully loaded with potatoes; we can squeeze in!”
Facing the old man’s enthusiastic invitation carrying a local dialect, the burly man furrowed his brows and frowned, impatiently shouting, “Get lost!”
“a**hole!” The old farmer rolled his eyes. “If you don’t want to sit, I didn’t want you either! Forget it, forget it!”
Grumbling, the old farmer restarted the truck and drove off, quickly disappearing around a bend in the mountain road.
After driving a few kilometers more, the old farmer suddenly felt a rush of bl**d rising, his face going pale, and hastily parked the truck by the side of the road, then…
Dug out his phone from his coat, typed with both hands, and quickly sent a text message.
Old Farmer: “The target transaction is confirmed, should we take action now?”
Code AU: “No rush. That guy who stole the bodies of the Nightfall Syndrome patients is definitely aiming to sell. We need to find his buyer before we can strike. Send me the location information, and I’ll dispatch someone to keep watch.”
Old Farmer: “Understood. Also… I think I might have been compromised; please send someone to support me.”
Code AU: “Received. Support will arrive within thirty minutes.”
