Chapter 239
Chapter 239
Ground spotlights illuminated the entrance to the Hu Family Manor. One Shadowy Figure after another darted overhead, casting broad swaths of darkness.
A spread, fleshy membranous wing dropped down, only just managing to cover one of the spotlights.
The intense heat of the spotlight’s cover scorched the black, downy wing, sending up wisps of smoke.
Then came another, and another. Overlapping membranous wings smothered every spotlight outside the Hu Family’s gates, piling atop them in mounds of bats that resembled burial barrows.
The red lanterns hanging from the Hu Family Manor’s vermilion gates spun wildly as one Shadowy Figure after another slammed into them. Eventually, the lanterns could no longer bear the weight and were torn down, wires and all.
From her elevated vantage point, Qin Ying watched the lights around the Hu Family Manor go out one after another.
Beneath the violet-blue night sky, crow plumage and membranous wings circled above the manor, forming two tangled, writhing banks of black cloud.
It was as though the world had been split in two. Behind her was the noisy bustle of the commercial street. A few hundred meters ahead, a brutal war was underway.
The bats pouring out from somewhere on the Hu Family grounds were only the size of a fist. They were too far away and moving too quickly for Qin Ying to make out their exact appearance.
All she could see was the corpse-wax cast of their bluish-black bodies beneath the night sky.
The moment the first wave of bats appeared, the sentinels within the flock of crows rallied.
No one knew how the small creatures communicated, but they assembled into a spearhead-like torrent and plunged straight into the swarm of bats.
In terms of size alone, the crows held an overwhelming advantage. The flock descended like a flood, wheeling around before charging again and again.
Before a bat could flap its wings a second time, three or five crows would seize it in their talons and tear it apart together.
Mouse-like bat heads tumbled from the sky, trailing blood, only to be snatched away and devoured before they could hit the ground.
Standing sideways in Han Lie’s arms, Qin Ying’s pupils contracted. “These crows are unnaturally vicious.”
She was no zoologist, but crows belonged to the corvid family. Was this really how ordinary crows fought?
By contrast, the bats had only tried to block the light sources since their appearance. Judging by their combat performance, they had yet to display any especially obvious abnormalities.
But as anyone with common sense knew, the real danger of bats was that they were natural hosts for all kinds of viruses.
After the first clash between the crows and bats, dark red droplets of blood fell from the sky like agate beads.
Qin Ying gripped her phone, recorded a short video, and sent it to Deputy Director Chen.
She turned her head and pulled away from the hand Han Lie had clamped over her ears.
Qin Ying had braced herself for an assault of screeches and caws, but to her surprise, the distant slaughter was not particularly noisy.
It was as if both sides, despite fighting to the death, had tacitly and conscientiously agreed to comply with nighttime noise regulations.
Even so, Qin Ying’s ears still hurt.
It felt as though an enormous, soundless drum were vibrating beside them. Her ears throbbed, and a wave of nausea churned in her stomach.
Noticing her discomfort, Han Lie said worriedly, “This happens when bats gather in large groups.”
As a man from the ancient Great Xia Dynasty, he had no way to explain it to Qin Ying using terms like sound-wave frequency.
But Qin Ying understood the gist of it.
Suppressing her nausea, she stepped back and opened the window facing the commercial street.
The clamor of countless speakers poured in. Only then did the ringing in Qin Ying’s ears ease slightly.
Rubbing her ears, she asked Han Lie, “Whether it’s the bats or the crows, why are they only moving within the Hu Family grounds?”
Han Lie looked toward the distant flock of crows locked in battle.
Even at the height of the fighting, neither side flew beyond the grounds of the Hu Family Manor.
His voice was grave. “It’s a cage. Something must have been set up within the Hu Family Manor to keep the bats from leaving.”
They were unable to leave, not unwilling.
Qin Ying carefully considered his words, then breathed a sigh of relief.
If they couldn’t leave, that was actually a good thing.
She stroked her chin, thinking it over seriously. “Would setting it on fire work?”
The same woman who had been so conscious of fire safety before was now considering whether burning the Hu Family Manor to the ground might eliminate the threat once and for all.
After all, no one stayed there at night. It would be a shame to lose a historic building, but the lives of everyone in the city mattered more.
Her proposal was shot down as soon as she made it.
Han Lie rested a hand on the window frame, his gaze still fixed intently on the manor. “The crows and bats aren’t the real problem. There’s something inside the Hu Family Manor.”
Ring, ring, ring!
Qin Ying’s new phone was still set to its shrill factory-default ringtone.
As soon as she answered, Deputy Director Chen’s near-frantic voice came over the line. “Qin Ying, what’s happening over there?”
“What’s going on in that video you sent me?”
“It’s the Hu Family Manor,” Qin Ying answered briefly. “For now, neither the crows nor the bats seem likely to leave the manor.”
Silence fell on the other end as Deputy Director Chen seemed to consider the situation.
After a long pause, he said, “You and Xie Shao need to prioritize your own safety. As long as those things don’t come rushing out, then…”
Before he could finish, Han Lie suddenly said beside Qin Ying, “There are more and more bats. The crows won’t be able to hold them back much longer.”
Still holding the phone, Qin Ying turned to look. A seemingly endless mass of bats was pouring out from a single point underground.
The tide of the one-sided slaughter was beginning to turn.
She said nothing. Unable to see what was happening, Deputy Director Chen grew even more anxious. “Who was that? Xie Shao? Qin Ying, what’s happening over there?”
Qin Ying covered the microphone and asked Han Lie quietly, “What if we let Jinbao handle it?”
“A giant Jinbao.”
Qin Ying had already anticipated that something might happen before coming here, so she had brought the Zheng Serum with her.
It was meant for use in case Han Lie suddenly shrank or some other emergency arose.
Clearly, leaving home fully equipped had been a wise decision.
Han Lie nodded, then said, “Stay here. I’ll go.”
Qin Ying raised a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet, then told Deputy Director Chen, “Understood. I’ll meet up with Xie Shao first and find a way to seal off the Hu Family Manor.”
With that, she jerked her head at Han Lie. “Let’s go!”
She knew Han Lie wanted her to remain somewhere safe, but Qin Ying couldn’t hide forever.
Nor did she want to.
Trouble kept coming one thing after another. She had to force herself to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Han Lie said no more.
The two of them left the room. Qin Ying strode quickly down the corridor, tapping her phone screen several times to settle the bill.
Quite a few teahouse patrons had come out into the corridor.
Among them was a pregnant woman who looked ready to throw up, one hand clamped over her mouth. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I suddenly feel awful,” she said urgently.
Her husband supported her as they made their way outside.
Many others in the crowd were reacting the same way, especially those in poor health, who were showing clear signs of discomfort.
Yet once they reached the bustling shopping street, their symptoms began to ease.
Before long, a sizable crowd had gathered outside the teahouse.
Passersby naturally stopped to rubberneck, assuming some sort of large-scale incident had occurred.
Qin Ying motioned for Han Lie to put on his mask properly. Together, they squeezed through the crowd and headed toward the Hu Family Manor.
On the way, Qin Ying called Xie Shao several times, but no one answered.
Just as she was about to try one final time, she and Han Lie stopped in unison and turned toward the Hu Family Manor.
A wave of heart palpitations and ringing in her ears hit Qin Ying, like a sudden drop in blood sugar. Then she felt as though the ground itself had trembled.
A deep, muffled heartbeat thudded once and vanished so quickly that it almost seemed like an illusion.
Beside her, Han Lie said, “It’s the Earth Womb.”