Chapter 54
Chapter 54
In Mingjiang City, the upper echelons of the Jiangdong Chamber of Commerce and the Hall of Anomalies drank and toasted one another.
The contest among those at the top had reached its conclusion. The forces lurking throughout the city began to move in silence.
…
Inside an apartment building, the stillness of the night was broken by the sudden appearance of an old man drenched from head to toe in yellow fluid. Moving stiffly, he shuffled to an apartment door and knocked.
Knock. Knock…
The sound followed a strange rhythm.
The man of the house could be heard cursing on the other side. He opened the door-and indescribable terror flashed through his eyes.
The old corpse seized him by the throat and walked inside.
Elsewhere, music thundered through a karaoke club inside a commercial building.
“Why’d the music stop? Get the manager in here! Does he want to keep this place open or not?”
Several tattooed men, flushed from drinking, shouted and cursed with young women tucked under their arms.
“Hey, babe, why’s your leg so cold?”
One of the burly men suddenly turned. At some point, the woman beside him had been replaced by the corpse of a long-haired woman!
“AAAAH!”
Agonized screams erupted from the private room.
…
That night, anomaly incidents broke out one after another across Mingjiang City.
At the same time, outside the city, at one of the locks on the Mingjiang River.
Wet, cold, unpredictable places easily gave birth to anomalies, so special sensors had been installed at intervals along the Mingjiang River shipping channel to detect anomalous auras.
Tonight, every one of those sensors began to shriek.
Wooo-wooo-wooo!
“What is that…?”
An employee on monitoring duty hurried outside. Then he saw a vast expanse of darkness advancing from downstream.
It was as though some terrifying behemoth were moving upriver.
Countless carp, grass carp, silver carp, and bighead carp suddenly leaped from the Mingjiang River, as though they had sensed the approach of a catastrophe.
“Holy crap, look at all those fish! It’s a feeding frenzy! We’re gonna fill our nets!”
Not far away, a group of anglers on the bank went red-eyed with excitement.
“Feeding frenzy, my ass! Run! Get out of here!”
The monitoring employee was in a complete panic. His voice trembled with sheer terror.
“Anomalies… A whole swarm of anomalies is coming! Run!”
…
Inside the Anomaly Suppression Bureau.
“Three entire families have been slaughtered in the eastern part of the city. We believe it’s the A-class anomaly known as the Knocking Corpse. We’ve issued a citywide broadcast ordering residents not to open their doors…”
“Several nightclubs and karaoke bars have reported anomaly incidents. We believe the A-plus-class Mute Songstress is responsible…”
“All the readings from the Mingjiang River route are beyond the sensors’ upper limits… It’s terrifying!”
Dashan, Erhe, and the others were so busy they could barely think straight. Panic had gripped them all.
The Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau had barely a dozen anomaly wielders in total, most of them C-class. None of them had ever faced anything on this scale.
It felt as if every anomaly in the world were converging on them.
Worse yet, every line of communication between Mingjiang City and the outside world had been severed. All signal transmitters in the city had been destroyed in targeted demolitions.
Even within the city, they could communicate only through more primitive devices like walkie-talkies.
“Director, they’re coming to massacre the entire city!”
Wang Dashan’s expression was grim. “First they cut off communications, then they released all these anomalies. What do we do?”
Xu Changjiang looked equally grim. He slammed a fist down on the table and snarled,
“They’re one of the distinguished Old-Grave Clans. How can they stoop this low?”
Anomalies had been spotted around the city before, but none of them had caused any disturbances.
Then Shi Xuan broke with Xu Guoguo and openly opposed her. As though responding to some secret signal, every anomaly began to run wild at once.
Someone had even cut every channel connecting the city to the outside world.
If officials were not secretly fueling this disaster, then ghosts truly did exist.
“Xu Guoguo is vicious, but even she couldn’t have devised something this underhanded. Guo Shoubo is probably the one who came up with it,” Shi Xuan said, his expression dark.
“They want to plunge the city into chaos before the Special Anomaly Investigation Bureau arrives. They’ll let other factions and anomalies slaughter civilians, then step in under the banner of suppressing the anomalies and protecting the region. That gives Guo Shoubo and Xu Guoguo the perfect excuse to seize everything they want.”
“Even after the Special Anomaly Investigation Bureau arrives, their actions will appear entirely legitimate. No one will be able to fault them.”
“An excellent plan!”
He had thought that by reporting Rain and Li Que’s situation through the Special Anomaly Investigation Bureau, he could place it in the public eye and impose some restraint on the Xu family.
But it now seemed that whatever lay here… truly was important to Xu Guoguo.
To seize everything, they would not hesitate to drag all of Mingjiang City into the grave with them.
“First they manufacture a catastrophe, then seize everything in the name of ending it… How can anyone be this vile?”
Xu Changjiang ground his teeth.
“She’s a member of the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance. She has a duty to protect ordinary people. Her family has an old grave, and her ancestors rendered great service too…”
Shi Xuan shook his head.
“The corruption in the upper ranks of the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance is spreading faster-and runs deeper-than you imagine.”
“If the people at the top hadn’t fallen first, how would the families beneath them, or ordinary anomaly wielders, dare to follow? They’re the ones who poisoned society.”
“Worse, the protection of their old graves lets them commit evil without restraint. No one can hold them in check.”
Xu Changjiang sighed helplessly. “Then what do we do now?”
Shi Xuan might be S-class, and his Sundial of Insight might allow him to command a battlefield with effortless precision, but there was no one left for him to command.
Guo Shoubo had transferred away every elite anomaly wielder in the Provincial Department. The Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau’s personnel could never stop this alone.
Mingjiang City… was in grave danger.
“They released so many anomalies for one reason: to flush out Rain and Teacher Li’s location,” Shi Xuan said slowly.
Xu Changjiang nodded. Mingjiang No. 7 Special School might contain many S-class anomalies, but outsiders found it almost impossible to investigate. Instruments for detecting anomalous auras and the like were virtually useless there.
The Hall of Anomalies and the Eclipse Organization could not pinpoint Rain’s location. That was why they had released all their people and anomalous entities for a citywide search.
“Which means changing the situation is simple,” Shi Xuan continued. “Call Teacher Li and ask whether he’d welcome so many people coming to tour Mingjiang No. 7 Special School… and whether he can handle them.”
His voice was calm.
The one who tied the bell had to be the one to untie it. As far as Shi Xuan was concerned, Li Que had laid this trap himself. Naturally, only Li Que could close it.
Xu Changjiang nodded.
“All right. I’ll contact him now.”
…
Mingjiang No. 7 Special School.
“Teacher Li, I’m so sorry to disturb you this late!”
At the faculty dormitory, Leng Qingyan knocked on Li Que’s door. He opened it with bleary eyes.
“Vice Principal Leng, what’s wrong?”
“Director Xu just called,” Leng Qingyan explained. “He said a great many people want to come ‘tour’ the school and asked me to find out… whether you can handle them.”
Anxiety showed on her face. She knew what was happening in the city now.
It was practically a night parade of a hundred anomalies!
And their only purpose… was to find Li Que and Lin Xiaoyu.
Li Que froze. A great many people wanted to tour the school?
Leng Qingyan had warned him earlier that the school might face trouble soon and told him to prepare. Now she had appeared at his door in the middle of the night.
This visit would clearly be no ordinary tour. It might very well decide the school’s future.
Leng Qingyan had probably come to him because she had no other choice. Nearly every other teacher at the school was just coasting through the days. Li Que alone possessed a genuine passion for education.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind. At last, he drew a deep breath.
“When are they coming?”
Leng Qingyan blinked. She had not expected such an immediate answer.
“Tomorrow?”
Li Que nodded.
“That’s fine. I’ll make the necessary preparations tomorrow. Please tell Director Xu that they’re welcome to tour the school!”
It seemed he would have to prepare carefully tomorrow.
Leng Qingyan was overjoyed. She immediately said goodbye and hurried off to contact Xu Changjiang.
Li Que closed the door and lay down again, deep in thought.
Mm. If he wanted to save the school and make sure Lin Xiaoyu and the others still had a place to study and live… he would have to come up with a few ideas.
…
Inside the Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau.
Everyone else was running themselves ragged, but Shi Xuan and Xu Changjiang-the two men holding the entire Bureau together-remained in the office beside a specially modified radio.
The radio suddenly crackled to life. Both men lunged closer to listen.
When Leng Qingyan’s report ended, their faces lit up at once.
“Excellent… Teacher Li really was prepared!” Xu Changjiang said excitedly. “Director Shi, what do we do next?”
Shi Xuan spoke slowly.
“Spread the word. Tomorrow, the Water God and her teacher will face every challenger at Mingjiang No. 7 Special School. The Hall of Anomalies, the Eclipse Organization, and all anomalous entities are invited to come and fight!”
Since everyone was searching for Li Que and Lin Xiaoyu, he would simply reveal their location himself.
They would openly challenge every enemy at once!
Xu Changjiang’s spirits soared. He nodded at once, summoned the Bureau’s personnel, and began issuing orders.
…
Mingjiang City was destined to spend this night without sleep.
…