Volume One: Entering the City Chapter Fifty-Two: Turning the Mission, A Strange Dream

The door to Xu Anxuan’s hospital room was suddenly thrown open. Li Xinran turned her head and saw Lu Yi standing there, his clothes a little disheveled. She asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Yi shook his head. “I’ve discovered something, and I need you to come with me to confirm it.”

Li Xinran was taken aback. She glanced at Xu Anxuan. “Is it important?”

“Very important.” Lu Yi took a few steps forward, reached out and slipped a Lingxi Ring onto her left middle finger, then looked up at her. “This is for you.”

He had made this decision after careful consideration. First, his body had already been strengthened twice, and now he possessed black magic. Even if Li Xinran had bad intentions, he was confident he could handle it.

Secondly, in Lu Yi’s view, people’s attitudes toward him could be divided into three categories: friendly, neutral, and hostile. Most people were neutral unless interests clashed. Those who were friendly from the start were extremely rare—he certainly wasn’t blessed with the aura of a saint. For a relationship to grow stable between two neutral parties, one side had to show some sincerity, or trust, first.

Li Xinran, as far as Lu Yi could tell, bore him no ill will; she was someone worth winning over. That was why he finally chose to give her the ring.

“This is… golden equipment!” Li Xinran exclaimed as she read the item’s description. “Amazing! I don’t even meet the requirements to unlock its other abilities.”

Her cheeks flushed with excitement as she looked at Lu Yi. “This is too valuable, I can’t accept it.”

Lu Yi quickly stopped her from removing the ring and revealed his own Lingxi Ring. “They’re a pair—one for you, one for me. Who else would I give it to?”

Li Xinran touched the ring on her finger and murmured a quiet thank you.

At that moment, they both felt the ring undergo some kind of change.

Lu Yi checked the item’s attributes again and saw that a new ability had been activated: “Lingxi: When the two ring-bearers are within twenty meters of each other, both gain increased willpower, and their stamina and mental strength recover faster.”

Seeing Li Xinran’s delight, Lu Yi smiled. “Come on, you can admire it on the way.”

Before long, they reached their destination and stepped through the hospital’s main doors. Instantly, a prompt sounded in Lu Yi’s mind.

“You have entered a special zone. While you remain in this hospital, you will no longer face the previous dangers.”

Li Xinran had evidently heard the prompt as well. She stood there dazed for a moment, then grabbed Lu Yi’s arm, shaking it excitedly. “Lu Yi, this is great! The city just told us we’re safe—this must be a safe house!”

Watching her excitement, Lu Yi frowned. Although Li Xinran’s phone had been ruined during her near-drowning, there was no guarantee Dong Xingteng didn’t have other ways to monitor them. After all, Fang Hao had used several methods to surveil that neighborhood.

Suspecting there might still be eavesdropping devices nearby, Lu Yi spoke to Li Xinran via their team channel. “Don’t get excited. Think about why the city would inform us we’ve reached safety at this particular moment.

Remember when we were in danger before? There were no warnings. Now, it tells us we’re safe. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

Seeing how cautious Lu Yi was, Li Xinran recalled that she’d once had a bug placed on her. She gave him an apologetic look. “Is it really that strange? Maybe there are restrictions on this safe house—it could be you can enter but not leave, or maybe there’s a limit on how many people it can hold.”

Lu Yi wanted to share his suspicions with her, but he wasn’t certain himself what this possible mission line entailed.

Li Xinran nudged him with her elbow. “Give me your phone. I have to tell my friends.”

Lu Yi grabbed her arm. “Don’t rush. We don’t even know what the situation is yet. If we call everyone here and our judgment is wrong, what then? Let’s verify things for a while before we tell them.”

After a moment’s thought, Li Xinran agreed. “All right, we’ll do it your way.”

Lu Yi considered further and looked at her. “But since the city says this is a safe zone and nothing will attack us here, we should bring Xu Anxuan over. He’s still unconscious—if we leave him there, he could be killed without any resistance.”

Li Xinran nodded enthusiastically. She was all for this plan; Xu Anxuan was her friend, and it was better for him to be treated somewhere safe. As for the possibility of a trap, she thought Lu Yi was overthinking it, but since he insisted, waiting a little while seemed harmless.

Having reached an agreement, the two of them hurried back to the previous hospital to arrange Xu Anxuan’s transfer.

That night, while Li Xinran tended to Xu Anxuan, Lu Yi glanced at her back and lay down on a folding bed, drifting quickly into sleep.

In a daze, Lu Yi found himself in a vaguely familiar house. He looked around: a warm lamp, slightly wrinkled bedsheets, a closed bathroom door with the faint sound of running water behind it, books left open on the nightstand, a tightly shut window and another door.

Lu Yi started. Wasn’t this the scene from the story summary? As he stood there, surprised, the water in the bathroom abruptly stopped. He turned to see a pool of black blood seeping quietly from under the bathroom door.

He crept toward the bathroom. Just then, two black, blood-soaked arms burst through the door, grabbing his shoulders. A humanoid monster smashed open the bathroom door and tackled Lu Yi to the floor.

“Why? Why are you all still alive? You promised, didn’t you?” The monster clawed at him, its words full of hidden meaning.

Lu Yi was startled by the implications, but the creature gave him no time to think; its hands clamped around his throat.

Struggling for breath, Lu Yi kicked at the door, trying to dislodge the monster, but it felt impossibly heavy—no matter how hard he fought, it didn’t budge.

Soon he was gasping for air. As the monster’s claws tore at him, a hole broke open in the fragile door, revealing its face.

It was the very man from the story’s introduction. Lu Yi’s eyes widened—the dead had come to him in person. But there was no time to wonder why.

He drew his Demon Hunter and stabbed it into the creature’s face. The blade pierced effortlessly, and the monster let out an agonized wail.

It released Lu Yi and collapsed, thrashing in an attempt to pull out the blade. But its struggles were futile; it soon went still, then twisted and vanished before Lu Yi’s eyes.

Coughing, Lu Yi picked up the Demon Hunter and walked over to the bedside lamp, staring at the open book. Now he understood.

This was no novel—it was a black magic tome.

As he reached for the book, an enraged voice filled the room. “I’ll be back. I’ll settle accounts with each of you.”

After the voice faded, Lu Yi was overcome by a sense of weightlessness—the space collapsed.

He shot awake, glancing at the time. Deep night. The moon hung high, its silver light bathing everything in peace, as if the terror had been nothing but a nightmare.

Lu Yi wiped cold sweat from his brow. What was that dream? The sweat had soaked his clothes, making them cling unpleasantly. He went to the bathroom to clean up.

But as he caught sight of his reflection, he froze. There was a black mark around his neck, exactly where the monster had grabbed him in the dream.

He quietly examined himself in the mirror, running his fingers over the mark. Black residue clung to his hand—small, grainy particles, like the ashes left after a fire.

Was this the crisis from another storyline? Remembering Li Xinran sleeping nearby, he hurried over. She woke easily and, after checking herself, was relieved to find nothing amiss.

Lu Yi finally let out a deep breath.

Meanwhile, as Lu Yi endured this strange nightmare, elsewhere in a shopping mall—

“Xiao Wen, run!” Xu Fang shouted as she ran.

“I know!” Xiao Wen panted, but then a gleam of malice flashed in her eyes. She suddenly lunged, ramming into Xu Fang’s back. Had she succeeded, Xu Fang would have fallen to her death.

But as Xiao Wen was about to strike, a left hand landed on her shoulder—not forcefully, but enough to halt her in her tracks. Before she could react, a right hand grabbed Xu Fang. Xiao Wen turned in shock and saw that it was Fang Hao.

Fang Hao smiled gently. “What are you two doing here so late? Come with me.”

Xiao Wen was surprised, not understanding how he’d gotten up here.

By now, the mall was calm. With danger gone, Xiao Wen saw no reason to linger. The group quickly headed downstairs.

Just then, the seasoned veterans arrived. Seeing all three unharmed, the members of the Emperor Ao team looked at Fang Hao in surprise; only Wild Blade seemed to sense something, letting out a cold, mocking laugh.

Fang Hao glanced at Wild Blade, then surveyed the veterans. No newcomers were with them, and the burly member of the Emperor Ao team was injured.

Xu Fang noticed and asked in astonishment, “Did the Reaper attack you?”

Xia Rong’s face was pale; she simply nodded.

Now that thing had begun attacking the seasoned veterans, Fang Hao immediately seized on the key point, frowning.

Things had reached a critical juncture. Fang Hao decided it was time to share his own view. He turned to Emperor Ao. “I think we should kill Xie Ruida.”

“Kill Xie Ruida? Are you serious?” Xia Rong stared at him in disbelief.

Fang Hao chuckled and looked around. “I’m completely serious. I’ve thought this through carefully.”

Emperor Ao gripped his magic book tightly, scrutinizing Fang Hao. “Explain your reasoning.”

“It’s simple. We were misled by the prologue. We thought the mission was ‘Death Has Come,’ but in fact, something is imitating the story to deceive us. Xie Ruida’s purpose is to strengthen that thing’s attacks.”

“That’s just your theory—there’s no concrete evidence. If you’re wrong, if we make a mistake, the consequences could be catastrophic. Do you understand, Fang Hao?” Emperor Ao’s gaze was grave.

Fang Hao nodded, his eyes blazing. “That’s why I’ve prepared a plan to test my hypothesis.” He whispered his plan to the veterans, then smiled. “If we do this, we’ll have an answer as soon as tomorrow.”

The veterans regarded him intently. Meeting their eyes, Fang Hao laughed. “Now that it’s targeting you, how confident are you that you’ll survive, if you just let things go on?”

Emperor Ao and Wild Blade exchanged glances. “Fine. We’ll do as you say.”

With nothing more to discuss that night, everyone went their separate ways.

Fang Hao soon returned to his lodging, took out the camera he’d worn that day, and brought up the photo that had so shocked him.

Though the firelight in the picture made it hard to make out details, the key points were clear.

It was a group photo: not just Fang Hao and Lu Yi’s group of six, but also a man at the very center, whom everyone recognized—a man who, according to the prologue, had died in that accident: Andiel.

Fang Hao pulled up another file: a bank statement. It showed Xie Zhenpeng’s account transferring money to someone of unknown identity.

After Lu Yi mentioned the Demon Hunter, Fang Hao had investigated, contacting some witch allies. They confirmed that the account had once belonged to an evil sorcerer.

Now everything was clear.

At that time, Xie Zhenpeng was the city’s most powerful magnate, holding immense wealth. Dong Xingteng was still an obscure small fry. Fang Hao, Lu Yi, and the others were even less significant. But they met Andiel, a black sorcerer with summoning powers, and asked him for strength. Andiel obliged, summoning malicious spirits akin to ancient child ghosts.

With these entities, Fang Hao and the others rose to prominence in various situations. These events produced the eerie photos Fang Hao had found, and led to the strange fates of Xu Yuanbin, Lu Yi, and the rest.

With this power, they eventually toppled Xie Zhenpeng and his company. To cover up their involvement and ensure prosperous lives, they made a pact to bury their past.

Fang Hao also discovered that their accumulated wealth was far greater than he’d realized.

But how could Xie Zhenpeng let it go? Disgraced, he sought revenge, eventually meeting the black sorcerer through unknown means and summoning the evil entity now wreaking havoc. That entity used coincidence to kill Andiel—the very scene depicted in the story’s prologue.

Xie Zhenpeng paid for this summoning with his life, and the evil spirit remained in the world, never returning to its origin.

Now, this spirit was acting again, seeking to fulfill the former contract by killing Fang Hao and everyone connected to the Xie Zhenpeng affair. But it was no longer satisfied with just that; it now targeted all the bus crash survivors.

As for Xie Ruida—the protagonist—because of his relationship with Xie Zhenpeng, he inherited the contract, acting as the intermediary.

Fang Hao smiled. Seeking powerful allies had always been just a tactic, not the path to survival. Dong Xingteng’s fate had been sealed that very day. Since that was so, it was best to make full use of him, to correct a situation that had already begun to go awry.