Yuzhou, Lincheng, outskirts, eight in the evening.
Outside a somewhat remote church, caution tape had already been set up. A few police officers were lounging in the shade of the trees, occasionally glancing up toward the church.
Naturally, they couldn’t see anything.
They sighed and turned to gossiping about the rumors circulating in the bureau these days.
A restless atmosphere began to spread.
Only the figure draped in a black cloak inside the church remained unaffected. His strikingly tall and upright stature and the solemn aura around him seemed to freeze even the blood-curdling scent in the air.
What was surprising was that a small white cat was lying on his shoulder, its little nose twitching slightly.
“Sorry, Senior Brother, I’m late.”
A girl wearing a sunhat got out of a taxi, holding two cups of milk tea.
The little white cat’s ears twitched. It lifted its head to glance at her, then lazily slumped back down.
The two police officers tried to step forward to stop her, but after seeing the identification she brandished, they wisely made way.
The girl acted completely at ease. She crossed the caution tape without a second thought and came up beside the man.
“Sorry, traffic was heavy. I heard there was a car accident. A runaway truck crashed into a nearby recycling station.”
She described the scene with great enthusiasm.
“So yeah, fatigued driving is a no-go. It hurts others and yourself. That truck’s front end was crushed flat, and the driver was barely recognizable.”
The young man showed no interest in her story. He merely gave her a cool glance. “Mingxi, the impression you’re giving me isn’t that you came to participate in an investigation, but rather that you came to play.”
“Wow, Senior Brother, don’t be so serious.” She raised the milk tea in her hands. “Half the reason I was late was to bring you this, you know.”
‘Actually, I just wanted one myself.’
Of course, the young man saw through her intention. He put on a stern expression. “First, this is a crime scene. Remain serious. Second, during a mission, use the operation team’s formal address.”
“Sorry, Captain Xincheng.” She pouted, putting on a look of grievance. “I’ve been cooped up in the academy for so long, and this is my first time out on a mission. Can’t you cut me a little slack?”
Lin Xincheng let out a helpless sigh.
“Mingxi, do you realize that if the sealed Abyssal Rift over in Haizhou hadn’t run into problems, causing the deployment from Yuzhou to be temporarily reassigned there, this mission wouldn’t have fallen to us at all?”
“Then we’re pretty lucky.”
Lin Xincheng: “…”
“Hey, doesn’t this mean I have complete faith in Senior Brother’s ability?” Ruan Mingxi blinked. “You’ll definitely solve the problem, right? Senior Brother is already on the verge of reaching the Third Order. Plenty of old members on the operation teams haven’t even crossed that threshold.”
“Mingxi, if it weren’t absolutely necessary, the Governance Bureau wouldn’t let students like us who haven’t graduated yet take direct responsibility for a mission. This means we’re already stretched thin and there’s no one left to support us.”
“It also shows how much the Governance Bureau trusts Senior Brother.”
“Forgot what I just said?”
“Stay serious! And at the scene, address me as Captain Xincheng!” she answered promptly.
Lin Xincheng: “…”
“Oh, right, right, Senior Brother,” Ruan Mingxi said as she took off her hat, letting her wine-red hair cascade down. Her face lit up with a bright, excited smile. “I found out about this mission a while ago, so I made a point to study trace evidence and gait analysis.”
Her expression clearly said, ‘Time to show off what I’ve learned!’
She put on protective gloves and bent down to examine the traces. First, she went to the church threshold, crouched, and brushed the dust.
“Right here, about half an hour ago, someone entered the scene.”
“Hm?” Lin Xincheng raised an eyebrow.
“Looks like it was a man,” Ruan Mingxi said as she leaned in to study the dust on the ground. “Around 6’1″, in his early twenties. Huh… And there’s cat hair here too.”
She frowned. “Did the suspect bring a cat inside? What kind of weird habit is that… What was he trying to do?”
“Is it a Huali Cat?” A faint curve appeared at the corner of Lin Xincheng’s lips.
Ruan Mingxi whipped around in shock.
“How did you figure that out?”
What greeted her wasn’t an answer, but a perfectly aimed flick to the center of her forehead.
“Ow, that hurts!” Ruan Mingxi covered her head and cried out. “What did you do that for, Senior Brother?”
Lin Xincheng retracted his hand calmly.
“You might as well just state my ID number.”
Ruan Mingxi was dizzy, and even the Huali Cat lying on his shoulder looked like it saw double.
“That was way too hard,” she grumbled. “Hitting a cute girl like me so ruthlessly. If you keep this up, what girl would ever like you? Aren’t you afraid of ending up alone for life?”
“Don’t you worry about that.” Lin Xincheng’s gaze shifted past her to the Three-Faced Deity statue behind the church.
Things seemed even more troublesome than originally estimated. It even involved those Holy Advent Sect types.
His Perception could sense that the statue’s spirituality had already disappeared. It was just an ordinary statue now.
But judging from the traces left behind, a sacrifice had just taken place here not long ago.
Was he too late?
No… Maybe it could still be salvaged.
“Puer.” He called softly.
“Meow~” The white Huali Cat on his shoulder responded. It jumped to the ground, lowered its head to sniff the air, and paced around the area.
After a moment, the white cat raised its head, its pupils contracting. It actually showed a human-like serious expression.
“Meow. Meow!” Puer called twice, the tones varying in length and cadence, as if reporting something.
Ruan Mingxi poked her head over. “What’s Puer saying?”
“This place was a base for Blood Descendants.”
Ruan Mingxi was taken aback. “Vampires?”
“Yeah.”
“How many, roughly?”
“At least twenty or thirty.”
“Tsk…” Even she couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath. “That many?”
Lin Xincheng’s gaze turned icy.
“You’ve heard the saying too, right? When you find one cockroach in your house, it means…”
Ruan Mingxi subconsciously finished the thought. “There are already a lot more nests hidden where you can’t see them.”
She suddenly shivered and looked around, feeling like vampires were lurking everywhere.
“Senior Brother,” she raised her hand weakly. “Can I apply to withdraw from this mission?”
“Sure. Approved.” The young man didn’t even turn around.
“Huh? Why are you so quick about it? Don’t you want to convince me to stay at all?”
“Moving alone is easier.”
“So you’re saying I’m just dead weight?” Ruan Mingxi put her hands on her hips. “Then I’m definitely not quitting. I’m staying to drag you down.”
“Your abilities are very valuable. If you put your mind to it, you can definitely contribute.”
Her face instantly changed again. She grinned. “Senior Brother can say nice things once in a while, huh. I’ll take that as you wanting me to stay.”
Lin Xincheng’s expression turned serious. “We don’t have much time. We need to hurry.”
“Hurry? How?”
“In a small place like Lincheng, a whole nest of Blood Descendants appears. What do you think the reason is?”
“Someone spreading Blood Plague?”
Lin Xincheng repeated in a low voice. “Blood Plague… Its manifestation is Blood Thirst Syndrome.”
His mind quickly conjured up the information on Blood Plague.
The so-called Blood Plague was a disease developed by a certain branch of the Blood Clan that had fallen into heresy to infect ordinary humans. It spread through direct blood contact with Blood Descendants.
Infected individuals gradually lose their humanity, dominated by a craving for blood.
The disease has multiple stages. In the early stage, the infected can barely survive by eating fresh poultry and livestock. In the middle stage, rationality gradually fades, and the body is driven by hunger, while also gaining abnormal physical enhancements. Once the late stage arrives, the infected completely feed on human blood and flesh, their organs mutate, and conventional physical means can no longer harm them.
Even if they suffer wounds that would be instantly fatal to ordinary people, they can quickly recover by devouring flesh and blood.
Ultimately, the infected develop into new Blood Clan members, capable of continuing to spread the Blood Plague.
He began recalling the early symptoms of Blood Thirst Syndrome: unstable thoughts, frequent hallucinations, domination by desire.
If deprived of flesh and blood for a long time, the infected become pale and gaunt, with bulging, bloodshot eyes. Meanwhile, due to organ mutation, the body develops abnormal curvatures.
A flash of inspiration struck Lin Xincheng.
The words Ruan Mingxi had said when she arrived at the scene, combined with the news he’d heard earlier, suddenly clicked into place.
—The driver, Xiang Tao. His body disappeared on the way to the funeral home.
His expression shifted dramatically, and his speech turned urgent.
“Mingxi, take me to the scene of the accident.”
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