Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Was there still time?

At four in the afternoon, everyone in the conference room of the Third Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute was thinking the same thing.

“Minmin!” Old Miao, who had always looked as unreliable as some washed-up old geezer, pressed a hand down on Yin Minmin’s shoulder.

“Don’t panic. Go get the DV camera first.”

Old Miao’s gaze swept between Qu He and Zong Li before landing on Qin Ying. “We’ll head to Ninth Street first.”

As he spoke, chairs and tables scraped across the conference room.

Qin Ying, Zong Li, and the others all rose briskly to their feet.

At a time like this, it was clear that these people were all on the same wavelength when it came to taking action.

Yin Minmin jogged back to her office and soon came out with a small bag on her back and that old DV camera in her hand.

Only now did Qin Ying understand why Old Miao and the others had given up using phones to record things and opted for this outdated equipment instead.

Videotapes were far more secure than phones.

Qin Ying silently made up her mind to buy one later too, so she could record the World in the Box.

The group left the Cultural Preservation Institute together. Zong Li wanted to get the car, but Qin Ying stopped him.

In the Old City District, driving was the least cost-effective way to get around.

Instead, they chose to walk, heading straight for Ninth Street, where the little boy had witnessed the Huodou.

They had only just reached the area near Ninth Street when Zhang Lang, who was walking with them, shuddered.

“There’s something here.”

Having fused with the Monstrous Beast armadillo, Zhang Lang had an innate sensitivity to danger.

His face turned bluish-white as he stopped in place and looked around uneasily.

At the same time, a sharp squeaking came from Old Miao’s pocket.

It was Rat Scout, the rat he kept. Its head was buried deep in his clothes pocket, too frightened to come out.

Only its thick, long rat tail was left outside, trembling nonstop.

“Here!”

Poor Old Dao, who had been elbowed into a concussion by Qin Ying, did not even get a proper chance to rest.

With a cigarette between his lips, he crouched beside a utility pole.

Moss grew at the base of the pole, and there was a reeking smell of dog urine. It was clearly the neighborhood dogs’ public toilet.

Old Dao did not mind the filth. He brushed the moss aside with his hand.

Yin Minmin turned on the DV camera and filmed from the side, while Wen Hao took out several evidence bags.

“This black mark smells like sulfur.” Old Dao plucked off a piece of moss with his bare hand and held it under his nose.

There was a small black stain on the moss. At first glance, it looked like a speck of mud or something similar.

Old Dao held the moss out in front of Qin Ying. “Was this the sulfur smell on that kid?”

Qin Ying looked at the damp moss in front of her, still carrying the stink of dog urine, and fell silent for a moment. A second later, she shut her eyes and leaned in to sniff it carefully.

The first thing that rushed into her nose was the smell of dog pee. The offending dog could not have left more than fifteen minutes ago; the scent was still very fresh.

But beneath that thick base note of urine, Qin Ying caught a faint trace of sulfur.

It was very light, but it was definitely there.

Qin Ying nodded firmly. “That’s the smell.”

Old Dao then held the moss out to Tantan, the rat Old Miao kept, and Zhang Lang.

Zhang Lang was more or less all right, but Tantan trembled so badly that it squeezed out a few drops of urine, then tried to bolt.

Old Miao grabbed it in one hand. Tantan turned and bit the web of Old Miao’s hand hard, twice.

Old Miao hissed in pain and sucked in a breath, then stuffed the terrified rat back into his pocket.

Only then did he say, deeply worried, “Tantan is very scared. Whatever left traces here is extremely high-level.”

Comparing it to the way Tantan had tracked the Ghost-Shadow Vine pollen before, it was obvious that whatever had left this charcoal ash behind was not something to be trifled with.

Qin Ying’s heart sank. Was this thing something they could handle as they were now?

She turned to Zong Li and Zhang Lang. “Can we request backup?”

Zong Li’s face was ashen. “All the people we brought have escorted the Dream-Embracing Grass back to Headquarters.”

In other words, even if they called for reinforcements now, there would not be enough time.

Qin Ying pressed her fingers to the spot between her brows and asked again, “Can modern firearms cause effective damage to something like this?”

Zong Li shook his head woodenly. “There are currently no records of humans facing a Huodou head-on. We don’t know whether modern weapons will be of any use.”

Qin Ying had originally had a third question: whether Zong Li and Zhang Lang could handle the Huodou between the two of them.
After hearing Zong Li’s answer, and seeing Zhang Lang looking so utterly useless, she swallowed the question.

She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. As it turned out, the safest option right now was for her to bring the Fuzhu out of the Box.

Rain was still better than a city burning to the ground.

But that would only treat the symptom, not the root cause. If they did not find the Huodou, the danger would remain. They could not exactly make the Fuzhu stay here forever.

Just then, Old Dao and Wen Hao, who had been searching for tracks, made another discovery.

Old Dao pointed down a dark alley. “It went that way.”

The Old City was full of narrow lanes and ancient buildings. For a single destination, Gaode Maps could generate ninety different routes.

It was all thanks to Old Dao, a former military scout whose skills had not rusted after leaving the army, that they were able to keep tracking through the maze of open and hidden alleys.

As they walked, Qin Ying found the surroundings more and more familiar.

After they climbed over a low wall, the view before them suddenly opened up.

“A park?”

They had actually crossed through the ancient city and arrived at the water park in the south of the city.

The old moat had been preserved, and after a great deal of work, several ecological islets had been created. A sizable water park had been newly built around them.

Most nearby residents came here for evening walks or square dancing.

Old Dao found another tiny bit of black powder on the railing of a stone bridge. He rubbed it between his fingers, brought it to his nose, and sniffed. “That thing is hiding here?”

He often came to the waterside to play Chinese chess with people, so he knew exactly how large this park was. Just as he was starting to feel a headache coming on, Qin Ying pointed toward a small island in the middle of the lake. “Maybe it’s there.”

Hearing the certainty in her tone, Old Miao asked in surprise, “How do you know? Isn’t that lake island leased to someone who opened some kind of private club?”

The island was enclosed by high walls. Rumor had it that whatever went on inside was not exactly aboveboard.

On the long stone bridge leading in and out, two security guards and two pretty hostesses stood watch. Residents who wandered over would be politely asked to leave.

Qin Ying said calmly, “I snuck in when I was little.”

For a little troublemaker, places they were forbidden to enter held an irresistible attraction.

Qin Ying had been exactly that kind of troublemaker, one with a clever little brain. She had quietly pulled off something big and snuck inside to take a look.

“There’s a teahouse inside. Under the teahouse is a dogfighting ring.”

To be more precise, it was a beast-fighting arena.

No prostitution, no drugs. Just dogfighting, cockfighting, and human fighting!

“They run betting pools for beast fights in there.”

Combined with the Huodou’s story and attributes, it was entirely possible that the Huodou had been born on that lake island.

They headed in that direction and, sure enough, found more traces.

But investigating further would not be easy. On the stone bridge leading to the lake island, the security guards and the two tall, elegant hostesses politely turned away all non-members.

Forcing their way in in broad daylight was impossible. The Cultural Preservation Bureau was not a law enforcement agency like the police, either, so Old Miao and Zong Li each started making calls to find a way in.

Qin Ying took advantage of the lull to go home first.

Whether they could find the Huodou and deal with it was still unknown. Qin Ying had to keep the Fuzhu with her in case the worst happened.

She hurried home, opened the door, and went up to the second floor.

Han Lie heard the movement. Seeing Qin Ying return so quickly, he was delighted and clung to the rim of his bowl.

Before Qin Ying moved the Box, she touched his head with her index finger.

She placed the Box on the desk and opened it. Han Lie pattered after her to look.

When the Box opened, Qin Ying saw a spread of gray.

The crimson range of Golden Saddle Mountain had been overtaken by solidified lava.

A fine rain was falling inside the Box, and Qin Ying let out a breath of relief.

Rain meant the Fuzhu had not left the area around Golden Saddle Mountain.

Qin Ying looked around but did not see the Fuzhu.

She pressed her hand against the carved pattern on the side of the Box and tried calling, “Fuzhu?”

Her shadow fell across the gray ridge of Golden Saddle Mountain, and her voice carried a long way out.

Several minutes later, a deer cry came from the distance in response.

A small white dot on the ridge quickly moved toward her.

Soon, the cheerful little deer Fuzhu came bounding into Qin Ying’s view.

It raised its head toward the sky and bleated brightly.