Chapter 39
Chapter 39
“Director Shi, do you know the origins of Five Dragons Village?”
Before the great tomb in the mountain forest, Zuo Yuanfeng watched his men digging and spoke with keen interest.
He was in no hurry.
Shi Xuan, Wang Zhong, and the others were already under control. The black mist would eliminate Qin Shiyu inside Five Dragons Village as well. No one posed a threat to them anymore.
They could take everything here at their leisure.
Shi Xuan merely stared at him coldly.
Zuo Yuanfeng continued,
“The first anomalies in this world were born when the black mist descended. Most anomalies are still destined for destruction in the end… Only those favored by the black mist have any hope of surviving.”
He looked toward the great tomb and murmured,
“When the black mist returns, every anomaly and anomaly wielder will die, no matter how powerful. Only anomalies that possess divine authority will survive.”
“These five dragons could have lived, but they did something they should not have. They actually tried to protect this place and oppose the black mist… so they died.”
“Shi Xuan, you consider S-class anomalies powerful, don’t you?”
Mockery flashed through Zuo Yuanfeng’s eyes. “What if I told you that all five dragons buried here were SS-class anomalies?”
“Five SS-class anomalies were destroyed by that thin layer of black mist!”
Even as he spoke, complicated emotion surfaced in his eyes.
As a leader of the Zuo Group, why would he have chosen the Eclipse Organization’s path if there had been any other way?
“Are you saying the black mist that just left… was the thing that killed five SS-class anomalies?”
Shi Xuan frowned deeply. “It’s… alive?!”
Xu Changjiang’s expression had changed completely as well.
He and Shi Xuan had long known that Zuo Qingting was a mole and that the Eclipse Organization had laid a trap here.
Even so, they had come. They had pretended not to notice and gone along with the plan, deliberately placing themselves inside the trap.
Their purpose was to create an opportunity for Li Que and draw every member of the Eclipse Organization into the open.
But what they were hearing now… genuinely frightened them.
Based on their previous deductions, Li Que was most likely SS-class.
That was the source of their confidence.
Yet five SS-class dragons had all died to that thin layer of black mist.
Now the mist had left the great tomb and entered Five Dragons Village. Could Li Que… stop it?
If Li Que died as well, the authorities’ operation would end in total defeat.
The Eclipse Organization would obtain everything. Afterward, an unimaginable catastrophe might befall Mingjiang City-or even all of Jiangdong Province.
Zuo Yuanfeng smiled faintly. “We owe this to the teachers you brought. They make excellent offerings.”
“Do you know why Five Dragons Village survived for so long after the five dragons died?”
“Because the black mist requires a human-sacrifice ritual.”
“Living human sacrifices!”
“The villagers believed they were still worshiping the five dragons. They never knew the dragons were long dead and that the black mist consumed every one of their offerings!”
“Later, Five Dragons Village dwindled, and its isolation left them with no outsiders to use. No one has conducted another sacrifice here for many years.”
“More than a hundred young, healthy teachers will feed the black mist for a long time. They’ll also give us enough time to open this great tomb and take the remains of the five dragons!”
Shi Xuan and Xu Changjiang fell completely silent.
They had never imagined Five Dragons Mountain could be so sinister or conceal so much forgotten history.
They had believed the Eclipse Organization was their only enemy. They had not known the black mist was the greatest threat here!
“Teacher Li and the others…”
Xu Changjiang murmured, despair nearly filling his eyes.
“Third Master, there’s a coffin!”
Zuo Qingting, who was personally digging the great tomb, called out.
The mound had been leveled, revealing a red coffin before them.
…
Five Dragons Village.
Inside the old wooden house, the two candles Li Que had lit on the shrine now shone like twin suns in the night.
Lin Xiaoyu stood before the shrine. Every trace of fear, timidity, and self-doubt had vanished from her face, leaving only determination.
“I will… become a god!”
She spoke each word with deliberate force.
The red knot around her wrist resembled a scarlet dragon slowly opening its eyes.
Across the ancient painting, the five dragon shadows seemed to come fully alive.
On closer inspection, they did not resemble the true dragons or divine dragons of legend. Their bodies were more like enormous serpents. They had probably only reached the stage of flood dragons.
The five flood dragons trembled nervously. Across from them, Lin Xiaoyu stood wreathed in the shadow of a scarlet dragon. Majestic horns crowned its head, and golden scales covered its body, making it seem as though it had stepped straight out of myth!
“Are you… from inside there?”
The azure dragon asked in a trembling voice, staring at the red knot around Lin Xiaoyu’s wrist.
The scarlet dragon’s shadow remained lofty and aloof. It did not even spare the five dragon shadows a glance.
“We… are willing to help Rain complete the containment ritual. We ask only that you take the people of this village away from Five Dragons Mountain. Otherwise, when the black mist descends, everyone will die.”
The azure dragon forced itself to speak.
At last, the scarlet dragon’s shadow looked at them.
That single glance made the entire painting tremble as though it were about to tear apart.
Its meaning could not have been clearer: creatures like you think yourselves worthy of negotiating with me?
The azure dragon lowered its head. “We overstepped… We will spend the last of our anomalous power to help Rain contain you.”
The five dragon shadows flew out of the painting and surged toward Lin Xiaoyu.
Dark clouds seemed to pass above her head, and a damp drizzle began to fall. The five dragons swam through it, their forms gradually fading as streams of multicolored aura descended into Lin Xiaoyu’s body.
She remained standing perfectly still. Then two small bumps appeared faintly on her forehead.
Two tender dragon horns slowly emerged.
“The five of us can only awaken a trace of dragon blood within you. It is not enough. You must obtain our dragon bones before you can acquire a true dragon body…”
As its existence approached its end, the azure dragon looked at Rain and spoke in a near plea.
“The living beings of Five Dragons Mountain worshiped us for generations, but we can no longer protect them. The black mist will devour everything. Will you take them away?”
Lin Xiaoyu fell silent for a moment.
“The villagers have been dead for many years. They became the black mist’s thrall wraiths.”
The azure dragon froze.
“All dead…”
It murmured, then suddenly cried out,
“Run!”
“I remember now! I remember everything! It killed us and used us to nurture anomalies. Our dragon bones are all in its hands!”
“It left the painting intact to use us as bait and lure out the being inside that knot!”
“Your ascension here will alert it. It will come to hunt you… Run!”
The dragon was frantic.
Just then, a thread of black mist seeped into the main hall from outside.
“It’s here! It’s here! Run!”
The mighty azure flood dragon seemed ready to die of terror.
…
Outside the old wooden house.
“Teacher Li!”
Qin Shiyu, still being pursued by “Gao Shen,” saw Li Que like a ray of light in a hopeless darkness.
She was nearly in tears as she rushed toward him.
“Don’t be afraid, Ms. Qin!”
Li Que comforted her, tightened his grip on the piece of firewood, and looked at “Gao Shen.”
Fury had already begun to rise inside him.
From the moment they boarded the bus at Mingjiang No. 7 Special School, Gao Shen had paid Qin Shiyu particular attention. Anyone with eyes could see it.
That much was normal. Qin Shiyu was extraordinarily beautiful and possessed an exceptional bearing. Any normal man would feel a measure of attraction and longing.
But Gao Shen had gone too far now!
He had torn half of Qin Shiyu’s blouse off and still dared to chase her?
Did the law mean nothing to him?!
Were there no consequences anymore?!
Across from him, “Gao Shen” approached at an unhurried pace, his face dark. He glanced first at the old wooden house behind Li Que before turning his gaze upon the man himself.
“You have quite the nerve.”
“Gao Shen” spoke coldly.
Li Que laughed in anger. What was Gao Shen trying to do-throw his status around just because he was a deputy director of the Education Administration Bureau?
“Fine. If you refuse to act like a human being, I’ll teach you how!”
Without hesitation, Li Que swung the length of firewood he had picked up to start a fire.
Now it had become a weapon.
The wood came crashing down toward Gao Shen!
“Gao Shen” raised his eyes coldly. Black mist surfaced within them as he slowly lifted a hand.
Moments earlier, that simple motion had effortlessly suppressed Qin Shiyu’s Sovereign Seal.
But the instant his hand touched Li Que’s piece of firewood-
“AAAH!”
“Gao Shen” screamed in agony and jerked his hand back as though he had been burned.
Terror and dread flooded his eyes, as though he had seen something horrifying beyond imagination.
He spun around and tried to flee.
But Li Que’s strike had already fallen, smashing into Gao Shen’s back.
Thud!
Gao Shen toppled stiffly to the ground and lost consciousness.
Several faint wisps of black mist leaked from his hair, then dissipated helplessly.
For the first time, Qin Shiyu’s beautiful face went completely blank.
Disbelief filled her eyes.
Heavens… What had she just witnessed?!
Gao Shen, possessed by the black mist, had been knocked flat by a single strike from Li Que?!
Even the black mist itself…
Li Que had… scattered it with one blow?!
…
Meanwhile, before the great tomb.
“A coffin?”
Zuo Yuanfeng approached the blood-red coffin and frowned.
This was supposed to be the grave of the five dragons, yet the coffin was clearly made for a human.
Worse, a cold and sinister aura seeped from the blood-colored wood. Even the anomaly wielders present felt chills crawl across their backs.
“Open it!” he ordered.
Several anomaly wielders exchanged frightened looks. Eager to distinguish himself, Zuo Qingting gritted his teeth.
“I’ll do it!”
He stepped forward with a crowbar and began prying.
The next instant, a shrill scream erupted from inside the coffin, and its lid flew away.
Everyone recoiled in shock and stared inside. A middle-aged woman dressed in traditional Miao clothing rose from the coffin.
Her face was deathly pale, and elaborate silver ornaments covered her body. Her eyes were full of torment, while black mist surfaced around her.
“Who killed me? Who was it?!”
Her voice was piercing.
“The Hundred-Insect Miao Maiden… Auntie Miao?”
Zuo Yuanfeng recognized the female anomaly and stared in astonishment.
Even Shi Xuan was shocked.
According to their intelligence, three powerful S-class anomalies had remained at Five Dragons Mountain after the Water God’s death: Frost, Rain, and the Hundred-Insect Miao Maiden.
They had already encountered Frost and Rain, but no one had expected the Hundred-Insect Miao Maiden to be inside the Water God’s grave.
“No… Something’s wrong with her. The black mist possessed her, and part of it has been nurturing itself inside her body?!”
Zuo Yuanfeng spotted the problem. Terror flooded his eyes, and every hair on his body stood on end.
“Run!”
He had no time to wonder why Auntie Miao was here. Instinct took over, and he turned to flee.
They had prepared thoroughly for this operation. Zuo Yuanfeng was an S-class anomaly wielder with several A-class subordinates at his side.
Yet the moment he saw this thing, his only thought was escape!
The other anomaly wielders panicked and tried to run as well.
Shi Xuan noticed that the instant Auntie Miao rose, Wang Zhong somehow broke free of the Zuo family’s restraint and reached the edge of the forest.
“You’re all going to die! Every one of you!”
“Auntie Miao” shrieked. Faint black mist immediately covered the clearing.
Zuo Qingting, Zuo Yuanfeng, and the others activated their anomalous entities in an attempt to resist. It was useless. After only a few steps, they lost the ability to move.
They could not even speak.
Wang Zhong, who had run the farthest, froze as well.
Sweat streamed from every person’s temples.
Auntie Miao stepped out of the coffin and released a swarm of black beetles. They crawled onto the captives’ bodies.
Everyone began trembling violently, their bodies convulsing.
Zuo Qingting was closest to Auntie Miao. Terror filled his eyes as he tried to resist, but his body refused to obey. His back hunched, his hands and feet dropped to the ground, and he crawled to her like livestock.
The others followed, gathering before Auntie Miao in the same manner.
What… was this?
Every captive was consumed by terror. The sensation of losing control over their own body frightened even veteran anomaly wielders.
Beastmaking…
The word flashed through Shi Xuan’s mind.
He had only read about this kind of anomaly in classified internal files.
It transformed living humans into livestock-an extraordinarily sinister power.
Once someone had been made into a beast, they could never become human again unless the one who performed the Beastmaking released them!
Shi Xuan’s heart sank completely.
…
“Auntie Miao” gazed toward Five Dragons Village, black mist churning within her eyes, cold and dark as ink.
In the end, she gritted her teeth and turned away.
“Once I eat these people and replenish myself, I’ll come settle the score with you.”
She took a whip from her sleeve and lashed Zuo Qingting. He actually bleated like a goat before crawling in the direction she indicated.
…
Not long afterward, the Hundred-Insect Miao Maiden emerged from the forest and returned to a narrow path, driving a herd of black goats before her.
…