Chapter 28

Black smoke surged into the sky, and the earth trembled.

In City A, every individual with supernatural abilities was alarmed. They rushed outside, either standing or sitting, their eyes fixed in the same direction.

In a world invisible to ordinary people, these ability users could clearly see countless hidden monsters within the city, all frantically heading toward the same destination.

…

At the Paranormal Incident Management Department,

Captain Li had been working tirelessly all day but still failed to track down the two escaped A-level malevolent spirits.

Frustrated, he reported to headquarters over the phone, “Yes, we suspect two A-level spirits are in hiding… Their whereabouts remain unknown.”

“We haven’t pinpointed their location yet. From what we know, these spirits tend to conceal themselves when injured, so they’re unlikely to cause widespread panic in the short term. We still have some time—”

The next second, his voice cut off mid-sentence.

On the other end of the line, the supervisor’s voice grew anxious. “Captain Li? Captain Li? Li Sheng!”

Frozen in place, Captain Li held the phone in stunned silence, staring out his office window. Rising into the sky was a dark column of smoke, accompanied by countless flying creatures.

With a sharp thud, a massive tentacle slammed against the wall across the street. Sticky, viscous liquid oozed down the surface as a flash of blue light flickered in the creature’s eye. The tentacle writhed through the air and disappeared.

Soon after, thunderous stomps followed. A towering, muscular beast charged past.

“Listen to the will of our master. The Great One summons us!”

“I hear it! I hear it!”

From dark corners all around City A, spirits emerged, excited and energized as if injected with adrenaline, surging in unison toward a single point.

Captain Li stared in disbelief, cold sweat dripping from his brow. He muttered under his breath, “This is bad…”

…

Meanwhile, at the Shen Family Residence,

A girl named Yue Yin gazed down at Shen Hao Ping from a height, her voice soft. “You’ve broken the rules of the game.”

She crouched before him, resting her chin on one hand, an expression of confusion on her face. “I was having so much fun. Why did you have to ruin my role in the game?”

Before returning home that evening, Yue Yin had been perfectly content.

All she wanted was to play her game happily. But someone had come along, disrupting her experience.

As an ordinary man, Shen Hao Ping couldn’t comprehend Yue Yin’s cryptic mutterings. However, the spirits outside the window, seemed to have lost their minds and gone completely crazy.

“Eat him! Eat him!”

“So hungry, so hungry! Why… why do I feel like crying?”

The spirits shared in their “mother’s” pain, their emotions growing increasingly volatile.

A B-level spirit tore the body of weaker spirit beside it, shoving half the creature into its mouth. Even as it devoured its kin, it wept. “It’s so unfair…”

“I’m so angry! I need to eat lots and lots of people.”

“Let’s start with the one inside. I think something’s off with me… After dinner, I should probably go sleep in the sewer.”

“Why am I even here? Just a second ago, I was gnawing on someone. Did he escape?”

The lower-level spirits muttered among themselves, puzzled and bewildered.

They were too weak to understand why they had gathered here, their instincts merely drawn to Yue Yin’s whispers, sensing the presence of something grand. They hoped they might benefit from coming here.

Only the powerful A-level spirits grasped the significance of the girl before them. But they were unwilling to tell other low-level spirits about Yue Yin’s greatness, opportunistically devouring any weak spirits that wandered too close.

At the wide-open entrance, swarms of monsters pressed forward. A few restless tentacles reached inside, attempting to drag Shen Hao Ping away, only to be slapped aside by ghostly shadows.

The entire villa was surrounded, its walls plastered with grotesque faces pressed against the glass windows.

These creatures twisted their bodies into impossible shapes, crouching outside with eager, frenzied expressions, like loyal dogs awaiting their master’s command.

Even from meters away, Shen Hao Ping could feel the weight of their gaze on him.

The monsters’ low, malicious chuckles echoed in his ears. Their stares burned with fervent hunger, and the malice in the air felt almost tangible.

Sweat streamed down Shen Hao Ping’s forehead as he looked at the sea of eerie faces pressed against the window. His throat tightened, and he couldn’t even swallow.

A deep chill swept over him as he backed into the wall, trembling, desperate to hide.

But soon, he realized there was nowhere left to retreat.

Drawing in a shaky breath, Shen Hao Ping tried to sound composed. “Yue Yin, you’re new to this ability thing. You might not know the Bureau’s rules, ability users aren’t allowed to harm ordinary people. If you act impulsively today, the Paranormal Incident Management Department won’t let you off.”

He attempted to bargain. “Just let me go, and I won’t tell anyone. You’ll still be my good daughter.”

Gradually, Shen Hao Ping began to calm down, even managing to reason with her. “You’re young. Even if you have some grudge or misunderstanding toward me, it’s not worth ruining your future. Zhang Sao and your mom have probably called the police already. You won’t get away.”

Despite his bravado, Shen Hao Ping felt a rising anxiety. He wasn’t sure if anyone had actually called the police, nor did he know how long it would take for them to arrive.

His only hope was to stall for time until the police or the Metaphysical Society intervened.

He thought back to how villains in movies always meet their end because they talk too much. If he just kept this up, he might survive.

And when that happened, he’d make sure to destroy this ungrateful little bitch!

Shen Hao Ping suppressed his anger, unaware that Yue Yin had already seen through his scheme.

She remained calm, even offering him a comforting smile. “Don’t worry. The Paranormal Incident Management Department and Metaphysical Society will come.”

With so many spirits gathered outside, the commotion was impossible to ignore—unless Captain Li and his team were all dead.

Yue Yin crouched, her eyes curving into a playful smile. “By my count, they should be arriving any minute now.”

Above him, the ghostly shadow slowly descended, expanding and engulfing the room in darkness.

The spirit’s thin, distorted body stretched unnaturally, its crooked neck bending down from the ceiling like a snake slithering through the air.

It extended a grotesquely long tongue and giggled, reaching toward Shen Hao Ping with razor-sharp claws aimed at his throat.

Shen Hao Ping’s eyes widened in terror, cold sweat pouring down his face. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

“Yue Yin… I’ve always treated you like my own daughter. You can’t do this to me…”

His nerves were on the verge of snapping, his sanity barely holding together.

“I know I was wrong. Please… spare me. We’ll change your surname, yes! Tomorrow, we’ll go and make it official. You’ll have the Shen name, and all my assets will be yours…”

When Yue Yin raised an eyebrow at the mention of his wealth, Shen Hao Ping noticed and quickly added, “The company shares, the house—whatever you want, it’s all yours!”

He anxiously awaited her response, clinging to the hope that he had persuaded her.

For a moment, it seemed like Yue Yin smiled.

She crouched before him, her tone innocent and her gaze almost childlike in its clarity. “But I don’t want money.”

Did you think I was after money?

No. I want your suffering.

Yue Yin gazed at the terrified Shen Hao Ping with a faint, enigmatic smile. “This is only the beginning—make sure you hold on.”

She smiled gently, then glanced upwards toward the ghostly shadow looming above.

At her signal, the ghostly entity extended its sharp claws. Under Shen Hao Ping’s horrified stare, the claws punctured his thigh, as if exploring with morbid curiosity.

Yue Yin gave a faint smile and whispered softly, “All I want is your pain.”

The monster’s claw, like a dagger, sank deep into Shen Hao Ping’s flesh, sending bright-red blood splattering everywhere.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Shen Hao Ping screamed, clutching his leg and writhing on the floor in agony.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for this! The Metaphysical Society and the Paranormal Incident Management Department won’t let you get away with this!”

Realizing that begging and pity wouldn’t save him, Shen Hao Ping’s fear peaked, and he finally exploded with rage.

His face twisted with hatred and terror. “You bitch! You and your mother are both scum!”

“Ungrateful filth! You think you can kill me? If you kill me, you’ll be finished too!”

No matter what he said, Yue Yin remained unaffected, quietly watching him with an air of detachment.

The ghostly shadow gripped Shen Hao Ping by the neck and lifted him into the air. A wave of suffocation overtook him as he clawed at the creature’s hand, his face reddening as he struggled for breath.

Yue Yin calmly observed his breakdown from above. Her voice was soft, almost tender: “You may not know who I am yet, but that’s okay.”

“I don’t want your money. And I won’t let you die. Why would I let you die?”

The Thousand-Faced Moon rarely resorted to straightforward killing. She preferred to wander through the cosmic void, stealing the heads of lost souls and trapping them in her gray mire.

Their tormented wails were a source of pleasure, and the souls she took would never find release, eventually becoming accomplices to her madness.

“All I want is your pain—endless, agonizing pain, and eternal despair. Once despair numbs you completely, I’ll take your soul and your head.”

You will suffer forever in the sea of gray sludge until you become one of us.

The monsters outside erupted in excited shouts, thrashing about wildly as they tried to claw their way inside the villa.

Just then, human voices echoed from outside, and blinding lights cut through the night. Yue Yin glanced out the window, her expression indifferent.

A familiar voice rang out: “Forbidden Item A89 has arrived!” A group of ability users activated their domains, sealing off the entire area.

Yue Yin checked the time, confirming her expectation that Captain Li and his team had finally arrived.

But contrary to what she had anticipated, they did not storm into the villa to subdue the evil entities right away.

Xiaojun and the others stood outside, frozen in disbelief as they stared at the scene before them.

“What… are those things?”

The villa swarmed with malevolent entities. C-rank monsters were being casually devoured by stronger ones. Among them were several A-rank entities, including the metallic dice monster they had been hunting.

A-rank entities were rare—each one could throw a city into chaos, requiring tremendous effort from ability users to deal with. Yet here, in this villa, they were gathered like cabbages at a wholesale market.

Yu Yu gaped in shock. “Captain, we found the metal dice A-rank monster…”

Everyone fell silent, and Xiaojun thought to himself, Thanks for stating the obvious.

The good news: one of the escaped A-rank monsters had been found.
The bad news: several more had shown up.

The group stared at the massive tentacles and limbs squirming inside the villa, feeling the overwhelming pressure from the A-rank entities. No one dared to speak.

Captain Li wiped his face and muttered, “Damn, you live long enough, you really do see everything.”

After a long pause, Xiaojun whispered, “Might as well call it a day, Captain. Feels like humanity’s about to be done for.”