```
The abandoned building, at the entrance, the guard room.
Zhang Sa and Li Si were inside shooting the breeze and occasionally stretching their wrists, sparring a bit to test each other's muscles.
This was the mundane daily routine of an investigator.
That's right,
Zhang Sa and Li Si were a pair... cough, partners in a team of investigators. Both were third-level investigators, but compared to greenhorns like Ke Yuan, they were more experienced.
They had joined forces to expel... four, three times Mysterious Evil.
Their battle achievements were remarkable.
Therefore, they were dispatched here to guard the abandoned construction site against Mysterious Evil.
The local Strangeness Investigation Bureau in Baijiang City had discovered it several months ago, but after comprehensive investigations, they concluded that...
This Mysterious Evil was so terrifying that it could not be opposed!
Yet, this abandoned building was located within the city, unlike some remote mountains and wild ridges where if something couldn't be dealt with, it might simply be ignored; here, that was not an option.
Even though the location was isolated, there would still be passersby. Should this terrifying Mysterious Evil have a whim, wanting to go out for a stroll, then problems would really escalate.
That was why they, the investigators, were stationed here, with multiple teams taking turns and occasionally having the support staff cover a shift.
Zhang Sa and Li Si had been on guard for almost a week now, bored to the point of growing feathers; apart from playing with their phones or wrestling, there was nothing else to do.
And leaving was not an option.
For meals, they had to order takeout, no wait, no delivery service reached this place, so they had to rely on their colleagues to bring them packed meals from afar.
"No idea where all these Mysterious Evil are popping up from, they seem to be getting more frequent."
"Ah, if only we could fight a Mysterious Evil. I just want to give it a taste of the Sandbag-size fist, punch the crap out of it! Knock it senseless!"
"Mysterious Evil doesn't have crap, does it?"
"That's not necessarily true. I once saw a manifested Mysterious Evil at the state bureau, and it was disgusting. Instead of saying Mysterious Evil doesn't have crap, it's rather that the whole thing is crap.
"During that time, I dreamed of crap every night."
"So it's a blessing and a curse that we can't see Mysterious Evil. If everyone could see those things, the world would have descended into chaos a long time ago, and it wouldn't maintain like it does now."
Zhang Sa said.
Li Si, having finished dozens of squats, continued, "Indeed, but it's very annoying for us investigators that we can't see them. Whether it's early warning or searching, it's extremely difficult, not to mention us who stand guard next to Mysterious Evil. You always fear that one day you'll wake up, open your eyes, and a hideous face with a gaping bloody maw will be right in front of you."
"No, no, it won't come to that. Haven't we made preparations?" Zhang Sa said, "Besides, this Mysterious Evil has become a hermit. It's been holed up here for months without taking a single step. It's pretty stable. If all Mysterious Evil were this reclusive, our jobs would be much easier."
He gave a thumbs up.
Stable!
Guarding here was just a precaution, like being on a vacation, although it was anything but relaxing.
Having finished his warm-up, Zhang Sa was slightly sweaty and really wanted to engage in a fierce pre-meal wrestling match with Li Si.
But then he noticed Li Si had frozen, with beads of sweat on his forehead.
What's going on?
Did the workout break his brain?
That's what Zhang Sa thought initially, until he heard the jingling of bells. His body jolted, and he quickly turned to look back towards the entrance of the abandoned building.
The hanging bell was slightly trembling.
Around the entrance, where special dust had been scattered in several circles, wisps of blue smoke were rising.
This situation signaled...
No need for signals!
Zhang Sa's pupils suddenly shrank as he saw at the entrance, in a spot where the dim sunlight couldn't reach, a massive shadow flickering in and out of view.
Not seeing clearly, but noticing a giant, gray-black outline.
Bloated, hideous!
```
He was moving, step by step, forward.
His color turned to one of great alarm, and he thought, "Mysterious Evil... normally can't be seen, right?"
The huge shadow moved out of the abandoned, lightless building, step by step, into the outside where the setting sun had not yet completely fallen and a dim twilight still enveloped the area.
Roar~!
Zhang Sa faintly heard a hiss, it was the Mysterious Evil hissing, and the world in his eyes gradually turned blood red; noisy and piercing sounds erupted near his ears.
He felt very irritated, and had an urge to tear apart something.
At that moment, the Buddha Beads on Zhang San's wrist began to emit a faint glow, before suddenly shattering.
The same happened with the ones in Li Si's hand.
The two investigators also snapped out of their trance, their eyes still somewhat bloodshot, and immediately turned their heads, their pupils filled with terror.
'The Mysterious Evil from the abandoned building, it came out?'
'It moved!'
'It even manifested!'
Zhang Sa and Li Si, both strong and muscular, with well-defined eight-pack abs, were hiding inside the security room, shivering, breathing heavily, and clamping their hands over each other's mouths tightly.
Only when the overwhelming terror that haunted their hearts had slightly subsided did Zhang Sa and Li Si slump to the ground, gasping for air, their bodies soaked through and through.
Another dozen seconds passed before Zhang Sa suddenly gasped and growled, "Quick, quick, quick, notify the Bureau, something big is happening!"
Baijiang City was in great crisis!
...
The street outside the abandoned building was desolate, devoid of people.
Yet if someone were on the street at this time, they would see a massive cloud of darkness slowly seeping out of the door of the abandoned building.
Faintly, one could hear the hissing sound.
Very faint.
It might feel like an illusion, yet it could stir the deepest irritations in one's heart.
But, in the world hidden beneath reality, visible only to those beyond the common sight, the monstrous entity 'Serpent Mother,' with its elongated body stretching more than ten meters, was slowly moving outwards.
The upper half of its body was made up of seven or eight huge snakes, their ends wound tightly together like cords, these snake heads baring their fangs and thrashing wildly.
Their skin was gray, like peeling, inconsistent patches of wall.
However, the lower half appeared extremely bloated, as if dragging a ball, which seemed to be the reason why the Serpent Mother was moving slowly.
As it moved, patches of gray fell from its body like flaking wall paint, and thick black-gray mist swirled around it; in this world, hidden beneath reality, its horrifying visage far surpassed its strangeness.
One glance and its appearance would be unforgettable.
Horror, loathing, penetrated deep into the marrow.
Pat-da—
At the end of the street, a girl's shopping bag fell to the ground, she seemed oblivious, simply staring at the terrifying figure at the end of the street, overwhelmed and fearful in her heart.
Her eyes, like pools of water, reflected the wide, desolate street.
At its end were seven or eight hissing, writhing snake heads.
The gray patches were particularly clear in her sight.
But it wasn't just that, reflections of staggeringly walking, rotting figures wandered aimlessly on this deserted street.
Suddenly,
An ugly body stretched its neck from one side, coiling around twice before extending toward the girl, its mouth splitting to the ears, exhaling a gray fog that seemed to spray onto the girl's cheeks.
A hoarse voice echoed in her ear.
"Do you... see me?"