7:00 PM, at the dinner table.
Grandma looked around the table at her family and announced in a rather good mood,
"Yuanqing, your uncle will be back tomorrow afternoon. Yuanjun, remember to pick him up. Yu'er, come home early after work."
Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er each ate a drumstick. Chen Yuanjun drank the chicken soup with a calm expression.
Seeing this, Grandma slapped her chopsticks down and glared. "Did you hear me?"
"Mm."
"Yeah."
"Got it."
Grandma was speechless.
It had been almost two months since Zhang Yuanqing's uncle and aunt had gone overseas for a vacation. His uncle had been fooling around, and his aunt had never been involved in any housework. It was no different from having them at home.
'So be it. It's not like it's something to celebrate. Only Grandma would be happy to have her son back.'
Jiang Yu'er nibbled on a chicken drumstick and said, "Then why isn't the scum of the family touring for a few more months? Without the two of them around, the house is especially quiet."
Chen Yuanjun glanced at his aunt and said, "Don't say that. The scum of the family is still my father."
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at his cousin and said, "Don't say that. The family scum is still my uncle."
Seeing that Grandma was furious and stood up to tear her unfilial descendants apart, Jiang Yu'er hurriedly comforted her and threw out a topic that her mother would definitely be interested in.
"Mom, our hospital is haunted."
Haunted? Zhang Yuanqing immediately pricked up his ears.
Grandma, as expected, ignored her son's matter and asked hurriedly: "What? Why is it haunted all of a sudden? Quickly tell me."
"It's from Big Sister Zhou from our department. When she was on duty at night, she heard the laughter of children in the office. She went in to check and the laughter stopped. Then she went to the toilet and saw a baby lying on her shoulder in the mirror. It almost scared her to death."
Aunt said plausibly, "It's not just Big Sister Zhou. The other colleagues on the night shift also said that they would occasionally hear the laughter of children in the middle of the night. Everyone said that it must be one of the children who got an abortion and lingered in the hospital."
His grandmother listened with interest and commented, "How strange. I think that's most likely the case. When you're on night duty later, let Yuanqing accompany you. Anything else?"
"Yes, yes…"
Grandma's gossipy genes were not passed on to Mom, and it was all inherited by Aunt… As Zhang Yuanqing listened to the mother and daughter's gossip, the interest in his heart slowly extinguished.
As a Night Wanderer, he knew that this was a rumor and not true.
First of all, spirit bodies couldn't make sounds, because they didn't have physical bodies, let alone vocal cords unless the power of the spirit body acted directly on the human spirit.
However, with the baby's will and mental strength, it was impossible for it to have a spirit body after death.
Finally, ordinary people could not see spirit bodies with the naked eye. Those who did not have long to live and had heavy Yin energy might interact with spirit bodies, so it was reasonable for them to have occasional encounters.
Saying that many people heard the baby's laughter was nonsense.
"Aunt, be careful. Don't bring the dead children from the hospital home," Zhang Yuanqing said softly.
Jiang Yu'er's oval face stiffened. "Mom, he scared me again!"
Then, Grandma halfheartedly scolded her grandson.
....
After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing quietly left the house and took a taxi to the nearest tertiary hospital.
He wanted to go to the hospital to ferry the souls and increase his experience points.
The "Spirit Devouring" skill of the Night Wanderer was the best way to level up. It was unknown when the next Spirit Realm would be activated, so it was necessary to increase his strength before entering the Spirit Realm.
Even at Level 1, the difference in combat power between 99% and 1% was like the difference between heaven and earth.
The hospital was a good place for the Night Wanderer to increase his experience points. Birth, old age, illness, and death were all in the hospital. Of course, the crematorium was also very good. However, the crematoriums in Songhai were all in the suburbs and were rare in the city.
Sitting in the car, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly remembered what Guan Ya had said today.
"Why is it that the Night Wanderers of the Supreme Solitary Sect are warier of devouring spirits? Is it an industry rule that they think it's immoral? Or is there another reason?"
Thinking of this, he took out his phone and logged into the official Spirit Realm Walker forum to search for relevant information.
The search results showed: No relevant entry was found.
.....
In the suburbs, the night began to fall.
In the dirty living room of a cheap rental house in some industrial park, Ou Xiangrong carried a large pot of freshly cooked instant noodles to the table filled with beer cans.
With a casual sweep of his hand, he swept the beer cans and other debris to the floor with a crashing sound, clearing the space for a large basin. Then he took a can of beer from the refrigerator.
He ate his noodles and drank his alcohol.
The noodles that had just been cooked were extremely hot, but they could not burn his tough oral cells.
Ou Xiangrong's expression was sometimes fierce, sometimes cold, sometimes hateful… like a psychopath on the verge of an attack.
Suddenly, his ears twitched and he stopped eating. His expression immediately became ferocious.
Ou Xiangrong rose slowly, drew the willow blade from its sheath at the small of his back, and leaned lightly and silently toward the door.
Clunk!
As he approached the entryway, the door was violently kicked open. Immediately after, a blazing light lit up and a ball of fire crashed towards him.
The fiery wind blew against his face. Ou Xiangrong stopped in his tracks and swung his right arm that was holding the blade. The snow-white blade light slashed at the fireball. With a bang, the entire house was filled with colorful flames.
In the sudden light of the fire, a figure covered in flames darted into and out of the rental house. His knees bounced as he slammed into Ou Xiangrong like a rocket.
Ou Xiangrong was even more savage than he was. He leaned to one side and slammed his shoulder forward.
Bang!
The figure flew backward and slammed into the wall of the stairwell, shaking it.
Ou Xiangrong, whose right hand and shoulder were covered in burn marks, endured the pain and turned to rush to the window. He did not dare take the stairs. The corridors of the old residential building were cramped. If he was surrounded, he would die.
Over the sound of shattering glass, Ou Xiangrong leaped from the third floor.
Bang! Bang!
Ou Xiangrong, who had just broken through the window, heard two shots. He knocked away the one aimed at his head with the willow blade, but could not stop the bullet aimed at his chest.
The bullet's powerful kinetic energy penetrated the skin and got stuck in tough muscle.
Following the sound of the gunshot, he saw a tall mixed-blood woman standing in the shadows by the green belt. She wore an office skirt and white blouse, and her long hair blew in the wind. She was an ice-cold beauty.
She held a silver pistol in each hand. Two holsters were strapped to her long legs encased in black silk.
Bang, bang, bang… The mixed-blood beauty calmly fired. Her marksmanship was precise as if she could predict the trajectory of his fall.
After being shot several times, Ou Xiangrong finally landed. He suddenly looked at the mixed-blood woman, and two blood-colored and distorted runes appeared in his pupils.
The next moment, the woman's expression froze. She turned the gun and aimed it between her eyes.
Bang!
The muzzle spat flames. The bullet failed to shatter the woman's smooth forehead and was blocked by a pair of rough palms.
A laborer in a miner's hat had appeared beside her. His dark face was grave. He said: "Bewitching Demon?"
"Level 3 Bewitching Demon."
In the darkness, a man with a cane walked over. He was wearing a black formal suit with a black vest and a white shirt. His greasy hair was combed neatly.
"Tell the younger ones to set up a perimeter outside the compound and stay away from here."
Another voice came. A man in a black leather jacket walked out of the corridor. He was thin and powerful and had a fierce aura.
Ou Xiangrong held his blade and looked around with a dark expression.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Then, in the distance, they heard the rumble of a motorcycle. Snow-white lights pierced the darkness as a motorcycle roared toward them. The woman on the bike was dressed in a white racing suit. She was bent over, holding a three-foot-long black saber. She led the charge.
The next moment, gunshots rang out again, blocking Ou Xiangrong's retreat. The flaming figure jumped down from the window and attacked from the side.
Tang Guoqiang, who was wearing a miner's hat, pressed his hands against the ground. The concrete cracked, and a pair of hands made of mud grabbed Ou Xiangrong's feet.
Ou Xiangrong calmly swung the willow blade, knocking away the angled bullets, the warheads striking the blade with blinding sparks.
Immediately after, the muscles in his legs expanded, shattering the hands condensed from the soil. He rolled forward, just in time to avoid the flaming man pouncing down from the third floor.
Thud, thud, thud…
After rolling, he ran to meet the woman on the motorcycle.
In the night, the two of them passed each other. The sharp willow blade cut into the woman's chest, but there was no sensation of cutting something solid. The woman on the motorcycle turned to water the moment the blade struck her.
Her long blade sliced across Ou Xiangrong's chest and abdomen.
Ou Xiangrong's chest split open, and great gouts of blood gushed out.
Ignoring his injuries, he fled out of the neighborhood.
At this moment, a beautiful woman in a cheongsam jumped out of the window on the second floor. Her snow-white feet were bare as she ran on the wall as if it were flat ground.
With a leap, she landed in front of Ou Xiangrong. With a shout, she spun and her cheongsam flew. Her strong and long legs whistled like a whip as she ruthlessly hit him.
The latter shot away like a cannonball, shattering the wall of the residential building and slowly withering to the ground.
"How dare you kill an Official Spirit Realm Walker under my jurisdiction?"
At this moment, Li Dongze, who had been watching the show from the beginning to the end, slowly walked over with his cane. His expression was serious, and he was as calm as a big shot behind the scenes.
"I'll personally send you on your way next."
"Sigh…" A loud sigh echoed around him. Ou Xiangrong slowly stood up. His eyes were as red as blood, filled with madness and violence. A powerful evil force awakened in him.
His voice cracked. "You're all going to die."
Li Dongze took two silent steps back. "Brothers, that was a joke. I'm never one to take credit for anything."
.....
In the taxi, Zhang Yuanqing did not find any relevant information. He returned to the front page of the forum and instinctively refreshed the page.
Then he saw a post pinned to the top in red.
#Warrant! Level 3 Bewitching Demon Ou Xiangrong!
The post hadn't been there a few minutes ago.
Zhang Yuanqing counted the posts:
"Ou Xiangrong, Level 3 Bewitching Demon, killed the Five Elements Alliance's White Tiger Soldier Scout Zhao Yingjun on April 18. On the night of April 19, at 19:05, he escaped from the encirclement of the Spirit Realm team in Kangyang District."
"This person possesses some kind of terrifying evil power and is not an ordinary Bewitching Demon. He has been severely injured by the Spirit Realm team in the Kangyang District and his whereabouts are currently unknown. Note that Ou Xiangrong is on the verge of losing control. Once you find the target, kill him immediately."
"Those who provide clues will be rewarded with $10,000. Those who kill will be rewarded with $20,000."
Less than three minutes after the post was posted, the comments below had already exceeded a hundred.
They were all criticizing Kangyang District's Spirit Realm team for being incompetent and letting a half-mad Bewitching Demon escape.
"Are you kidding me? This kind of dangerous person can lose control at any time. Are the teams in Kangyang District useless?"
"Once he loses control and kills someone, he will be wanted by the Spirit Realm. By the time we arrive, there will probably be a bloodbath. We will be laughed at by all the Spirit Realm Walkers in the country. They will laugh at us for not being able to guard against them and not doing anything with a high salary."
"They're finished."
Ou Xiangrong had escaped? Had the chief locked onto the target so quickly and launched an arrest?
For a moment, Zhang Yuanqing did not know if he should praise the efficiency of the team leader and the others, or complain about how they had let this time bomb escape.
"Since we've already fought, Ou Xiangrong's blood and even flesh will definitely be left at the scene. We should be able to find him with the red dancing shoes…"
Zhang Yuanqing immediately thought of his rule-type tool.
...