Chapter 507: Hungry Ghost Festival (4)

“Alert, alert. Ultra-high Yin energy detected in the city. 10 million… 11 million… 13 million… Warning, Yin energy readings have surpassed 15 million Yin. Evacuation is advised if the situation escalates further…”

15 million Yin…

He wasn’t the only one who froze in horror. In fact, practically every other investigator in their office right now stopped what they were doing as they attempted to process the news that they had just heard.

But he was soon startled to find Zhou Xianlong and Mo Changhao already standing right outside his door.

“Don’t panic!” Zhou Xianlong spoke with a grave expression. Nobody expected such a seemingly ordinary midnight to be no different from a death knell in Martial City. The rift to Hell opened wide like the jaws of death. Dense Yin energy poured out from beneath the surface of the ground, intensifying only as time went by. Everything happened like a bolt out of the blue.

“It’s impossible!” One of the investigators seated right in front of a monitor immediately turned back and responded with great anxiety, “The entire city… is in the midst of an outbreak! Take a look…”

It wasn’t formed by the overlay of a massive red dot over the map of the city. Rather, it was tainted red due to the convergence of dense red dots that appeared to be populating every single corner of Martial City as a whole!

At once, Wu Wenqing roared at the top of his voice, “Where’s the backup generator?!!”

Black Bamboo Road, North Misty Road, South Misty Road, National Highway 27, the City Hall, the Poly Centre… Not a single one of them was spared from the fizzle out of footages. Wu Wenqing shut his eyes in despair.

And one that took place at midnight marking the start of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

The entire room fell silent at one. The only sounds that could be heard were the increasingly ragged breaths of the investigators in the room. An unspeakable sense of terror bound their hearts tightly like a boa constrictor, causing them to scream wildly in their minds. It was no different from walking alone in the streets at night, only to sense a third hand gently running across one’s cheeks.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded again, “The backup generators have encountered an unknown failure. Forced start-up has been activated. Time remaining: one minute. The city’s power map is displayed on all screens. Kindly comply with the government’s instructions and prepare to evacuate…”

This time, it was a map of Martial City’s power lines.

Bzzt… The computer screens went out in an instant. Meanwhile, a mechanical voice reported through the public broadcasting system, “Yin energy readings have officially exceeded 20 million Yin. This is the fourth highest recorded eruption of Yin energy in Cathay’s history. City-wide evacuation recommended. The Vault of the Sky system has now entered a dormant state…”

What in the world is going on here in Martial City? Is this happening in other cities as well? Is every other city out there facing the same problem?

“Sir… we’re unable to pinpoint an epicenter to the outbreak!” One of the investigators working on his laptop typed rapidly, before soon revealing a bitter expression on his face, “Martial City has already begun to show signs of Yin-Yang Symbiosis. Without the Vault of the Sky in operation, it’s simply impossible to pinpoint the source of the supernatural outbreak! Even the main frame has been forcibly shut down as a result of the city-wide blackout!”

It was a sword.

It was incredibly old, with countless seals and runic symbols affixed to it. Only a small part of the blade was exposed at this very moment, and yet it revealed countless images that flickered by, before it finally paused on a single image.

Zhou Xianlong heaved a sigh of relief as he respectfully cupped his hands towards the person holding the sword in the darkness. Then, he turned around and addressed the rest of the investigators waiting for orders, “All Hunter-class investigators and above are to follow me to the Lush Garden Acres. All investigators lower than the rank of Hunters are to be deployed throughout the city to protect its citizens as much as possible! Stay vigilant! All who retreat without reason shall be court-martialed as deserters!”

At once, there was a mad scramble of footsteps as the rest of the investigators took to their tasks. Zhou Xianlong stepped forward and set his hand on the handle of the main door to the city hall. He pushed hard… only to realize that it didn’t budge in the slightest!

“What’s going on?” Mo Changhao walked over. He was just about to reach out for the handle when everyone suddenly took a step back in unison, almost as though they had just been manipulated by a master puppeteer.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“Who might you--...” “Shh--.”

The room instantly fell silent, and every single investigator pricked up their ears. And that was when they heard… rustle, rustle… It was the sound of someone sweeping the floor.

This would at any other time have been an incredibly ordinary sound.

Who’s there? Who’s sweeping the floor on the midnight of the Hungry Ghost Festival, right in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass panels?

Gulp… The investigators inside city hall gulped nervously.

“Shut up.” The man standing in front of the door reached his hand out and placed it right on top of a panel of glass.

They were dressed in all kinds of clothes and standing at the entrance--... Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they were floating at the entrance, because not a single one of them had their feet touching the ground right now!

They came in all shapes and sizes, whether young or old, male or female. Yet the one feature that they all shared was the fact that their eyes were blazing with two spots of jade-green netherflames, and the fact that their bodies were covered with dark purple livor mortis spots!

In other words, a large group of corpses had at some point already gathered around the entrance to the city hall, obstructing any of their way out!

The silver lining was the fact that the ones gathered in the city hall were all courageous and bold investigators. Anyone else would have fainted from fear by now!

As he spoke, the front door to the city hall exploded into smithereens, and the cloaked old man stepped out boldly. Moments later, dozens of talismans appeared from nowhere and began to fold themselves into paper cranes, before falling into each person’s hands.

Everything… had changed.

But this was nothing like the greenish wisps of Yin energy they were more accustomed to. Rather, it appeared completely black in colour, almost as though a tank of pure Yin energy had exploded and contaminated the entire city.

It was delicate and beautiful; demonic and moving.

After all, it was only in Hell that one could see such solitary red spider lilies instead of several of them blooming in a bed of flowers. Legend has it that every red spider lily that bloomed represented an aggrieved soul that was dying to enter Hell but unable to do so. And in this moment… they could clearly see that the number of such flowers peeking out of the dense fog of Yin energy… was clearly in the thousands!

What was truly terrifying was the fact that the Yin spirits were all toting a white lantern that was lit with a scarlet netherflame within. And one by one, in an incredibly orderly fashion, the Yin spirits were all hovering in place with their feet just off the round, waiting patiently for the hearse of Hell to receive them with open arms.

This was clearly the sign of the jaunt of a thousand ghosts!

1. For those who need pictorial reference -