Chapter 222: The Big Brother Wearing An Evil Spirit Mask Descends From The Heavens! Mission Evaluation: Ss! Proof Of Walking!
Silence.
The surroundings suddenly became so quiet that Chisa could hear her own breathing with absolute clarity.
The original crying, the ringing, the sounds of the phone – all those noisy, fear-inducing sounds disappeared, yet it made Chisa’s small heart skip a beat.
This wasn’t right, it was very not right.
Chisa didn’t tell Tamamo about the current situation.
Because it was meaningless, it would only make Elder Sister and the Eldest Brother who was coming to save everyone more anxious.
Elder Sister had said to stay away from unsettling places as much as possible.
Chisa patted her chest with her small hands; she felt like she was about to suffocate.
We… we have to move into the mall.
Because going outside was definitely not an option.
Chisa thought of the countless unfamiliar people outside the mall and the shelter, with no protection, paralyzed by fear.
Her upbringing had taught her that everyone should be harmonious and friendly, helping each other, so she had to help them.
Even just shouting out a piece of crucial information could save many lives in an unseen way.
But in the end, the girl tightly clenched her small hands on her chest.
“Chisa… is powerless.”
—It’s okay even if I’m called a selfish bad kid!
—Chisa, right now, just wants to protect her family well!
Chisa pinched her stiff cheeks and then crouched down towards her two younger brothers, who had just started elementary school, showing them a bright, cheerful smile.
She pointed towards the path leading directly into the mall from the shelter: “Yang Yi, Yang Er, can you take Mom inside? It’ll be cooler with air conditioning.”
“Oh, oh.”
The two boys, who didn’t understand what was happening but had calmed down emotionally, nodded as if they understood.
They walked around the woman who had fainted on the mat for a while before, with Chisa guiding them hand-in-hand, each took an arm.
Yang Er, the younger one, looked at Chisa, who was still standing where she was, and quietly asked,
“Elder Sister, aren’t you coming?”
“I’ll be right there!”
Chisa, her heart in turmoil, smiled and made a heart shape with her hands, then continued to be caught in a difficult decision.
She lowered her head and looked at the burly Special Affairs Office agent, who was at least three times her weight.
—This uncle had saved their family just now, but he was too heavy; Chisa felt she absolutely couldn’t drag him.
She could only leave the uncle here.
Chisa swallowed the air in her throat, which felt almost tangible.
The girl bent down, grabbed her father’s arms with both hands, and exerted the greatest strength she had ever used in her life to drag her father, who weighed a full 160 jin.
“Hoo… hoo…”
Before she had even dragged him half the distance, Chisa felt like a fire was burning in her chest.
She hadn’t been this tired even when the physical education teacher made them run 200 meters.
Fortunately, as they neared the pillars of the mall, her two younger brothers came running, and the three of them, working together, finally managed to drag her father behind the large pillar on the first floor of the mall.
Then, Chisa found a clothing store to hide in—all those clothes must provide some cover.
After completing everything, Chisa, with powerless arms, sat down with a plop, gasping for breath as she listened to the uneasy whispers in the mall.
At this moment, these sounds instead brought Chisa a sense of unexpected security.
After resting for two minutes, Chisa looked towards the original location of the shelter with a complex gaze.
It was no good after all.
The girl struggled to stand up from the ground, feeling that she really couldn’t just abandon that uncle irresponsibly.
“You two sit here and play for a while, don’t run around or talk too much, okay?” Chisa patted her younger brothers’ heads. “Elder Sister will move that uncle in too.”
“We want to help!”
Yang Yi immediately raised his hand.
Yang Er looked at his brother and said without hesitation, “Then we want to too!”
Chisa firmly shook her head, made a bicep curl gesture at them, showing strength but unable to demonstrate anything: “This small matter is enough for Elder Sister alone! Do you understand!”
—If my younger brothers got hurt because they went out with me, I would truly regret it for the rest of my life.
Without further ado, Chisa immediately tiptoed back into the shelter.
“Gulp…”
This time, just walking to this spot, Chisa felt an invisible hand grasp her neck.
The uncle in the black clothes was still lying on the ground, unconscious.
Chisa, trembling all over, cradled the agent’s arm, which was as thick as her thigh, in her armpit and used all her might to drag him for only a dozen centimeters.
And Chisa was already out of breath.
“If Elder Sister knew I did this, she’d definitely scold me to death…”
She didn’t dare to look at the street outside, which had already been swallowed by the viscous darkness, and only lowered her head, stubbornly struggling with the unconscious Special Affairs Office agent.
After several minutes, Chisa, exhausted, finally dragged the agent to the previous pillar.
“I can only… go this far…”
The girl, whose breathing sounded like a bellows, used her hands to support her knees to keep herself from falling.
She didn’t dare to linger and immediately lifted her lactic-acid-filled legs to walk into the clothing store, letting out a heavy sigh of relief when she saw her unharmed younger brothers.
“Yang Yi, Yang Er, well done…”
Chisa was about to encourage her younger brothers when she suddenly realized.
When did the mall become so quiet?
And, even quieter than before.
It was so quiet, it made one afraid to breathe.
The girl’s smile froze along with her body.
Silently moving behind a large XL-sized piece of clothing, Chisa cautiously peeked out.
Then, in the center of the mall’s first floor, she saw an old-fashioned telephone booth, covered in dust, rust, and oil stains.
It was even less than fifty meters away from her!
In an instant, Chisa’s heart turned cold.
She looked back somewhat dazed, her gaze falling on her two younger brothers, who were looking at her with unwavering trust, and she suddenly felt like crying.
Chisa wondered if it would have been the right choice not to enter the mall in the first place, but to escape outside.
“Elder Sister…”
Yang Yi was about to speak when Chisa covered his mouth with her hand and made a shushing gesture.
“Yang Yi, Yang Er.”
Chisa spoke in a whisper, as if using her breath: “When you see Elder Sister run out, take Dad and Mom and run towards the other side, okay?”
Hearing this, the two children’s tears were about to well up.
“Yang Yi, don’t separate from Elder Sister.”
“Yang Er, don’t either.”
Chisa thought to herself that Elder Sister didn’t want to be separated from them either, but that telephone booth had followed them here. If she didn’t go out to lure it away, then when it found them, everyone, without exception, would be doomed.
How sad would Tamamo-neechan be?
If it was just her alone, then when Tamamo-neechan cried, at least many people would comfort her.
It would be lively.
This ending wasn’t too bad, was it?
“Be good, if Yang Yi and Yang Er do as Elder Sister says, I’ll secretly bring you soft candies every day during summer vacation, okay?”
Chisa said to her younger brothers with a smile, immediately capturing their attention.
“Then Elder Sister, pinky swear, no take-backs.”
Yang Yi immediately stopped crying and, with considerable experience, extended his little finger.
Yang Er followed suit, nodding as if he understood.
Chisa dared not delay any longer, so she immediately pinky-swore with her younger brothers, and heard Yang Yi say in a very low whisper,
“Whoever lies has to swallow a thousand needles…”
Chisa had pricked her finger with a needle once, so she thought swallowing a thousand needles must hurt a lot.
She really wished she had the chance to go back on her word…
Chisa stood in place, counted down from three in her mind, and then darted out of the clothing store in a single bound.
At the same time, she yelled out, imitating a telephone’s busy signal,
“Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!”
After running for more than ten steps, Chisa closed her eyes and roared at the sky: “If you don’t want to die, everyone run! Stay as far away from this telephone booth as possible!”
She didn’t know how many people in the mall could hear her words.
In this way, the situation would become chaotic, and she wouldn’t be easily noticed…
With a sliver of hope, Chisa looked back.
Then, she saw the black telephone booth, which had moved at some unknown time, now only thirty meters away from her.
Chisa dared not look any further.
She could only run forward with all her might, jumping over obstacles in her path, climbing over tall stairs, and getting up to continue running even if tripped by shelves, gritting her teeth.
Chisa thought she had never run so fast in her life, not even when the teacher said the person who came in first would get snacks… was she about to break a world record?
Blurred and chaotic thoughts arose with her increasingly difficult breaths, and then quickly vanished.
Until Chisa tripped again, and as she prepared to get up, she saw that the old telephone booth had stopped in front of her.
She couldn’t run anymore.
Chisa opened her mouth, no longer making any futile efforts.
She struggled to stand up, walked to the front of the black telephone booth, and pulled open its rust-covered door handle with her hand.
She walked inside.
Perfectly following the rules of how the supernatural phenomenon occurred.
Chisa stood inside the dark, damp telephone booth, her body trembling uncontrollably.
—She remembered, she seemed to remember, Elder Sister had said that if she made a phone call, it could buy some time.
These were the rules of the black telephone booth supernatural phenomenon.
Ring, ring.
A sharp, piercing ring sounded inside the telephone booth, as if urging Chisa to quickly pick it up and make a call.
The girl placed her hand on the exquisite telephone dial, and the inside of the telephone booth suddenly became quiet.
Now, who should she call?
After Chisa hesitated for two seconds, the ringing, like a death knell, sounded again.
It probably didn’t matter who she called.
The key was…
The girl randomly turned a number with her trembling finger, then picked up the exquisite red telephone and shakily held it to her ear.
Just as a chilling, soul-snatching cry was about to erupt from the phone, Chisa tightly closed her eyes and, preempting it, recited the “life-saving spell” her Elder Sister had told her,
“The location of the Special Affairs Office’s countermeasure room is ■■■■■■■■■!”
The crying suddenly disappeared.
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”
In the next instant, a screech and scream that almost deafened Chisa came from the other end of the phone, making her fearfully drop the receiver.
But soon, Chisa realized she was unharmed.
It was the telephone booth that was in trouble.
It worked, it really worked! Elder Sister didn’t lie to me! Elder Sister never lied to me!
Chisa was so excited she almost jumped up in the telephone booth.
But only after she twisted the door handle several times with force to no avail did Chisa realize the screaming from inside the telephone booth had disappeared.
In its place was a venomous and cruel curse,
“Die… die die die die die die!”
The word “die” was transmitted from the speaker of the telephone, which was swinging in mid-air.
With each word she heard, Chisa felt her body weaken, her consciousness blur, and everything in the world seemed to be about to become unrelated to her.
The girl tilted her head up, her eyes gradually dimming, and she muttered blankly:
“I don’t want to die…”
Crackle!
Amidst the daze and darkness, Chisa felt a delicate hand roughly pry open her mouth and stuff something like a sugar bean inside.
Then her body revived, and her consciousness returned.
The world became clear again.
Deeper than before.
Chisa stared blankly at the hand that landed on her cheek, and then, through the shattered glass window of the telephone booth, she saw the man standing outside, wearing a frightening ogre mask.
The girl heard him complain with slight displeasure,
“You ran so far, no wonder I couldn’t find you after the signal cut off.”
Chisa replied blankly, “So it really was wrong for me to run in here.”
“No.”
The man shook his head, carefully withdrew his hand, and forcefully tore the telephone booth, which had almost cost her her life, into two pieces of garbage.
After doing this, Chisa felt another hand pat her head. She saw him look down, meet her eyes, and say to her with utmost solemnity,
“Chisa-chan, you did very well. No one could have done better than you.”
Shangshan Che said, “If it weren’t for you, then you and your family wouldn’t have waited for me to come, and I would have no face to go back and see Tamamo.”
Chisa’s eyes suddenly widened, “You are the great brother my sister spoke of who is very powerful…!”
“Yes, I am.”
Shangshan Che calmly assured her, “So, it’s alright now.”
Chisa first showed uncontrollable joy and relief, then anxiously spoke,
“Big brother, we still have my little brother, and father, mother, and uncle…”
“Little Jia.”
Shangshan Che spoke.
From the far end of the mall, a clear blade song, signaling the completion of the mission, echoed.
Upon hearing this, Shangshan Che smiled at Chisa, “Don’t worry, they are safe too.”
Although Chisa didn’t know how he knew from so far away, her heart told her that this somewhat terrifying big brother could be trusted.
The girl said no more, only quietly stating, “Then Chisa will listen to everything big brother says.”
Hearing this, Shangshan Che couldn’t help but laugh.
It’s good that this child is sensible, unlike Little Jia who causes trouble all day…
“Next, I’ll get you out of here first.”
Shangshan Che hesitated, then instead of grabbing Chisa by the nape of her neck like he did with Tamamo, he bent down to pick the girl up and then wrapped her in layers of Qi Barrier.
A few seconds later, Shangshan Che met up with Kaga Kiyomitsu and found Tamamo’s family, who had not suffered any substantial damage, and the Agent beginning with the designation A.
Two minutes later, Shangshan Che used his Qi Barrier to carry everyone away from the area shrouded by the still-unsealed Haunted House.
Along the way, though Chisa was very worried about the strangers she had seen, she kept her mouth tightly shut, not saying another word to Shangshan Che.
She knew that surviving was already lucky, and she had no right to ask for more.
At the edge of the Haunted House, Shangshan Che gently released Chisa and Tamamo’s family from his Qi Barrier.
“Big brother…”
Before Chisa or Tamamo, who was running towards him, could thank him, Shangshan Che immediately turned and delved back into the Haunted House, disappearing from their sight.
Time waits for no one.
While entering and exiting the edge of the Haunted House, Shangshan Che had already clearly felt a sense of viscosity.
This “viscosity” was the mark of the Supernatural Phenomenon taking another step towards Four-Star.
Once the Haunted House could no longer be entered or exited, and it was finally absorbed into the main body of the Supernatural Phenomenon, the Promotion would be considered complete.
Whoosh.
The wind whistled past his ears, and Shangshan Che did not bother to clear the scattered Clone Telephone Booths below that had not yet been turned to charcoal by the first round of Lightning Strikes.
At this point, whether these clones lived or died was inconsequential.
With the burden of protecting ordinary people gone, Shangshan Che returned to the vicinity of the mall in just over a minute this time.
He glanced at his Mobile Phone, reconfirming the characteristics of the main Telephone Booth.
He activated his Eye of Interpretation and expanded his perception radius.
Thus, in just over ten seconds, Shangshan Che found it.
—He found the Black Phone Booth hidden in the deepest part of an Alley, concealed within endless Darkness, emitting almost no Qi, believing itself to be perfectly hidden.
No need for more words.
Silver Light bloomed on the back of his right hand, and over ten Plain Spears wrapped in Qi Barrier and dark purple Lightning hovered in mid-air, the light surrounding their bodies growing more intense.
In the next breath, all the Plain Spears descended upon the main body of the Black Phone Booth without distinction!
Swish, swish, swish!
Boom, boom, boom!
Puffs and plumes of dazzling Lightning erupted from the ground one after another, intertwining and converging, unleashing an aura of Destruction.
Shangshan Che stood in mid-air, holding Kaga Kiyomitsu, his eyes lowered, clearly reflecting the location of the Black Phone Booth in his Clear Mirror.
A slight shift in his thoughts.
Colorless Sword Light suddenly appeared from the void, causing the Black Phone Booth, whose outer shell was slightly scorched, to freeze abruptly in another alley, its upper right quadrant cleaved off without warning.
Natural Reason School Secret Technique – Darkness Sword – Concealment!
The Haunted House, which had originally turned pitch black, trembled slightly and turned white several times after this strike.
This proved that the Black Phone Booth had suffered heavy damage under this Darkness Sword and had its Promotion Progress interrupted.
But Shangshan Che was not happy; instead, he frowned deeply.
Because it was too easy.
He had only used two moves with all his might, and the nearly Ghost God level Black Phone Booth actually endured it, allowing him to act?
Ootama Hoshi would never have done such a thing.
“Die, die, die, die, die…”
In the brief moment Shangshan Che was lost in thought, countless death pronouncements suddenly echoed in his ears.
Rumble!
Blazing Qi erupted from Shangshan Che’s Sea of Qi like it was free, its complex aura instantly dispersing the accumulating Curse.
What followed were cries, a piercing wail that could make everyone within the Haunted House cover their faces and weep.
“Waaah… Waaah…”
The main body of the Black Phone Booth remained motionless, standing in plain sight before Shangshan Che.
Only the cries grew more intense, and coupled with the funeral-like ringing, Shangshan Che’s nose couldn’t help but sting.
“Enough, slaying this Supernatural Phenomenon is the primary objective.”
Qi Barrier surged towards the sky once more, instantly increasing Shangshan Che’s speed to an almost unimaginable degree.
The strength of his Physical Body, the Willpower of Kaga Kiyomitsu, the pain of Ai Bieli and illness, the Qi Barrier within him, the Qi Barrier in his Sea of Qi, and all the Spiritual Power he could gather were concentrated into this single strike.
He poured everything, disregarding the cost, to eliminate the unsettling factor in the most efficient way possible.
The White Hannya holding the blade descended from the heavens.
The black and white sword light rotated at an almost perfect angle, bisecting everything.
And from this perfectly straight cut, endless dark purple Lightning imbued with the aura of Destruction surged towards the ground, the sky, and every street.
【You have killed the weakened, failed-to-promote Black Phone Booth, a Three-and-a-half Star, and obtained 990 Soul Ash!
【You have slain the weakened, failed-to-promote Black Phone Booth using Kaga Kiyomitsu, and the Quality of Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting has been moderately increased!
【Your skill, Natural Reason School Proficiency has increased by 30!
【Your skill, Five Thunder Technique: Qi Cultivation Proficiency has increased by 200!
【Your skill, Spirit Control Technique: Qi Proficiency has increased by 100!
【Your Emergency Limited-Time Mission is now available for settlement!
After the Lightning, which was bright enough to temporarily blind anyone looking in its direction, dissipated, the pitch-black Haunted House, covering an area of several kilometers, slowly became transparent and dissolved.
Behind the crooked, scorched iron frame, Shangshan Che slowly sheathed Kaga Kiyomitsu.
There was no extra smile beneath his Mask.
Because all of this was too easy, so easy that he only needed to exert his full strength to obliterate the Supernatural Phenomenon that was about to transcend its life tier and become a true Ghost God.
He didn’t even need to activate his usual trump card, “Anger.”
In the past, he would have dismissed such a thing as absurd.
Shangshan Che silently gazed at the title of the Emergency Limited-Time Mission.
The Demon Guide Association’s probe…
This mission title certainly wasn’t wrong.
Shangshan Che turned back, looking down at the pile of scorched phone booth frames, and used his Thought to settle the mission.
【You have proactively chosen to settle the Emergency Limited-Time Mission – “The Demon Guide Association’s Probe”!
【Checking mission completion…
【You have prevented the Supernatural Phenomenon “Weakened Black Phone Booth” from promoting to Four-Star and personally killed it, receiving a base evaluation of S!
【You have rescued all five of Tamamo’s family members from the disaster zone, ensured their survival, and that they did not suffer serious injuries, base evaluation S → SS-!
【Settlement complete!
【Your Emergency Limited-Time Mission: The Demon Guide Association’s Probe final evaluation is: SS-!
【Distributing rewards…
【You have obtained the Ancient Rotary Phone – Special Item!
【You have obtained the Proof of Walking – Special Item!
The rewards were two Special Items, the latter also related to walking identity, which seemed decent.
But he would set aside things that could be seen in an hour.
He opened his Eye of Interpretation.
Shangshan Che stared at a wisp of black energy within the frames that had not dissipated for a long time and said indifferently, “By hiding within, you thought I wouldn’t see it?”
As his words fell, the wisp of black energy slowly rose, transforming into a somewhat distorted smoky skull.
The skull seemed to be remotely controlled, so its eye sockets were empty, and it spoke dryly,
“My guess was indeed correct… Lightning Magic, Knives, Masks, attire, and your techniques… these characteristics, without exception, indicate that you are…”
The skull paused, its gaze turning cold,
“The Great Onmyoji, Che.”
Requesting Monthly Votes at the end of the month!
Brothers, please give some monthly votes, this is really important to me orZ
