Chapter 527: Forcing the Way with Violence

Yu Sheng, carrying Irene (rebar form), pushed open the door of No. 66 Wutong Road with Hu Li and Luna.

Outside the door, the once-familiar streets were now shrouded in rising mist, and the slightly distorted buildings had become shaky silhouettes within the fog.

Li Lin and Zheng Zhi were just pushing open the door of the small package collection station. Both of them looked up in stunned confusion at Yu Sheng standing at the entrance of No. 66 Wutong Road.

Irene grabbed Yu Sheng's hair: "Did you forget about this package collection point again?"

Yu Sheng stiffened his neck: "It's all part of the plan..."

"Then you forgot."

Zheng Zhi walked over at that moment: "Brother Yu, what's this..."

"Your director just called me. Something's happened in Mist City," Yu Sheng immediately put on a serious face. "I'm heading over now."

Zheng Zhi let out an 'oh' as he understood, quickly speaking up: "Then I'm coming with you guys."

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment. He looked at the eager and sunny-faced nephew, then up at the fog-shrouded sky of Mist City. After a few seconds of delay, he said: "The entity density and abnormal environment here are different from outside. We're heading into the thick fog blocks. With your constitution, this might be a bit intense."

"I know," Zheng Zhi only nodded seriously. "But I can't take the salary for nothing—the bureau sent me here to assist you. This is just the time I can help..."

"Cough, the bureau sent us to help collect packages at No. 66 Wutong Road," Li Lin coughed dryly beside him, a bit awkwardly reminding him.

Zheng Zhi was taken aback: "...Is that right?"

"No big deal. Since you want to come, then come with us. Maybe we'll find more clues or something," Yu Sheng thought of something and patted Zheng Zhi, who was still a little dazed, on the shoulder. "Li Lin, you stay here. Keep an eye on the environmental changes in the 'safe zone' around No. 66 Wutong Road. Contact us immediately if anything happens—the bureau has installed communication nodes in most areas of Mist City, so your phone will have signal. Remember, stay within the safe zone and don't cross the line of the delivery station."

Li Lin quickly nodded: "Okay, I understand."

Yu Sheng grunted, then turned to look at the nine-tailed fox beside him: "Hu Li—"

Before he could finish his words, the fox girl had already taken a few steps forward, then leaped with momentum. With a loud "bang," she transformed into a silver-white demon fox the size of two minivans.

The giant fox carried Yu Sheng and the others and charged into the mist.

The area where Xu Jiali's team first encountered the "spider silk" wasn't far from Wutong Road. Even at a pace that Hu Li considered a casual stroll (by her standards), they quickly arrived at that fog-shrouded intersection.

Yu Sheng jumped off the demon fox's back, still carrying Irene, and the first thing he did was look around at the environment.

A clearly defined "wall of fog" stood on the street about ten meters away, covering the entire block ahead in thick mist. The warning lights at the edge of the thick fog block flashed glaring red, and a striking light screen and isolation tape stretched across the street reminded the Spirit World detectives and investigators entering this block to stay away from the dangerous area ahead.

In the thick fog, the buildings leaned and twisted, the edges of high-rises trembling like living things. Suspicious shadows could occasionally be seen strolling among those buildings—whether they were entities born from the fog or merely grotesque hallucinations generated by the abnormal environment was unclear.

But apart from that, there were no traces of black spider webs in the entire area.

According to the report from Xu Jiali's team, they started encountering strange events after coming into contact with those webs in this area, but they also mentioned that the webs only appeared for a short time before vanishing into thin air.

"Irene, do you sense anything?" Yu Sheng turned to look at the little doll on his shoulder.

Irene had the Omen Wandering Star floating above her head as an amplification pendant. She was raising her hand now, conjuring wisps of black silk threads to search for traces homogenous with herself in the surrounding fog. Hearing Yu Sheng's words, she frowned and shook her head: "No, but it might be because the environment here is too chaotic. I need to look more carefully."

With that, she jumped down from Yu Sheng's shoulder, took the Omen Wandering Star from above her head with one hand, holding it in her palm, and with the other hand holding several black silk threads, she paced around with a serious expression.

To be honest, watching the little thing's serious demeanor, Yu Sheng was half afraid that at any moment she would blurt out some weird mantra like "Seek the dragon, part the gold, look at the encircling mountains" or "If the cock crows and the lamp goes out, no loot shall be touched"—mainly because her aura combined with the surrounding environment made her look exactly like a grave robber...

Then Yu Sheng turned his head to look at his nephew on the other side: "What about you? Any discoveries?"

Zheng Zhi had been staring wide-eyed all around, and at the question he shrank his neck: "No spider silk or anything, but I feel the fog is pretty lively. Especially across that isolation tape line—in just a short while, about seven or eight things that looked like acquaintances have popped out of there and called me over. I've seen my great-grandma three times already."

Yu Sheng had only asked casually, but when he heard the answer, he was flabbergasted: "Holy... your constitution here really is a bit intense! Are you sure you're okay?"

"It's not a big problem. Compared to usual, it's just a higher frequency. Nothing more absurd has shown up. I'll handle it as usual," the nephew waved his hand, immediately demonstrating an incredibly strong mental fortitude, even smiling. "Brother Yu, let me tell you, I'm used to seeing them..."

Yu Sheng's expression was strange: "Used to seeing your great-grandma too?"

Zheng Zhi spread his hands: "How to put it... Since my great-grandma passed away, I see her more often than when she was alive..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

After marveling inwardly at the hardcore nature of his nephew's daily life, Yu Sheng decided to continue toward the East City district, following the route Xu Jiali's team had taken at the time to keep searching for clues.

Irene continued walking beside Yu Sheng, one hand holding the ball, the other trailing a thread, like a geomancer (mainly because her current body was too heavy—Yu Sheng couldn't be bothered to carry her anymore).

Zheng Zhi pulled out his self-defense pistol, and his other hand somehow produced a pocket watch from his chest. As he walked forward, he glanced at the dial from time to time.

"It's a life-monitoring device issued by the Special Affairs Bureau," he immediately explained enthusiastically when he noticed Yu Sheng's curious gaze. "Sometimes, anomalous environments cause a chronic loss of vitality, or even prevent people from noticing their own death. This thing can give a warning—if the hand stops, the person is dead; if it slows down, you're gradually losing your life. Also, the color change of the dial itself can indicate potential mental contamination..."

Yu Sheng looked at the pocket watch in Zheng Zhi's hand with amazement, thinking that the Special Affairs Bureau actually had such a nifty little gadget. After a moment, he couldn't help asking: "Can I take a look?"

Zheng Zhi immediately handed the watch over: "Of course."

Yu Sheng happily took the watch and looked down at the dial.

The hand was spinning counterclockwise.

After three counterclockwise rotations, it suddenly stopped, then started spinning clockwise while vibrating like it was having a seizure.

Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then watched as the hand spun faster and faster, eventually spinning so fast that a five-speed fan would have been its grandson—

The next second, there was a soft "crack." The watch dial actually shattered, and the hand inside broke free from its axis, standing straight up on the dial.

Yu Sheng: "..."

Zheng Zhi: "..."

"This thing..." Yu Sheng's embarrassment was palpable. "Did I break it?"

The nephew looked like he was about to cry: "Seems like it... I just got it a couple days ago."

"Will your bureau reimburse you?"

"They will, but I need a valid reason—if it's damaged without cause, I'll have to write a self-criticism."

"I'll talk to your supervisor and get you a replacement," Yu Sheng handed the watch, now with the hand still standing upright, back to his nephew, full of apology. "I've got a bit of a special constitution myself, probably clashes with this thing... Sorry."

Zheng Zhi could only sigh, took the watch with a look of heartache, carefully pressed the hand back onto its axis, shook it in his hand, and watched as the hand spun forward for a while, then backward, then stopped in place and shook a couple of times. From a pocket watch, he could somehow read a deep sense of confusion seeping into the movement. He sighed again, closed the watch lid, and put it back in his pocket.

The unlucky probationary operative shook his head and continued to focus on the surroundings.

To the left was a silent street, misty and dimly lit.

To the right was a brightly lit hall, with two strangers in white coats bustling around, heads down.

Zheng Zhi didn't even register it for the first second.

By the time he realized what he was seeing, he instinctively yelped and leaped aside: "Holy shit!"

Everyone in the group was startled, and by then Zheng Zhi had already darted behind Yu Sheng, raising his gun by reflex as he spoke rapidly: "Brother Yu, I saw two people over there..."

The nephew's words cut off mid-sentence—before his eyes was only a patch of fog. Where were the strangers?

It seemed to have been just an instant of "het erotopic interface."

If this had been an ordinary Spirit World detective team or operative group, they would have had no recourse. A momentary brush with the abnormal was over in a flash; the fact that one team member caught a glimpse of that instant was at least something of a gain.

That was what Zheng Zhi thought too.

But this team around Yu Sheng was clearly not an ordinary Spirit World detective squad.

With a series of foxfire explosions accompanied by sharp whistles cutting through the air, Hu Li, still in her giant demon-fox form, had already launched six oversized fox radish missiles in the direction Zheng Zhi had pointed, bombarding the area without hesitation. At the same time, Irene didn't even think before raising her hand and sweeping out massive strands of spider silk, as if they cost nothing, toward the area where the foxfire had exploded. Before the smoke from the explosion had even cleared, Hu Li followed up with a fox radish machine-gun barrage. While Zheng Zhi was still in shock, Yu Sheng spat out a mouthful of old blood to the side. Almost simultaneously, the little doll yelled, "And away you go!" and swung her arm, actually throwing the Omen Wandering Star out...

Zheng Zhi was dumbfounded.

Then he watched helplessly as... large patches of cracks actually emerged out of thin air under the wild bombardment from Yu Sheng and his team.

(End of chapter)