Chapter 36: Girl
“I was originally going to feed the child milk, then I discovered an extra strange shadow in the room. I was just about to remind that one can’t just enter casually, but then the other turned around…” The little nurse who had let out a voiceless scream in the night initially was now painfully recalling.
Yu Lianyun recorded what the little nurse said, then comforted her: “You’re just too tired. Go back and rest for a few days. Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to your leader for you. They approved the leave and it won’t be denied.”
The little nurse didn’t speak, just held her forehead with a bitter smile on the spot. What she saw tonight would become a nightmare haunting her for life.
Yu Lianyun came to the window and balcony where the strange female bird had broken in. When she stuck her head out beyond the floor, she clearly saw several claw marks on the building surface from top to bottom.
“Still can’t completely determine the source.” Yu Lianyun thought to herself. She hugged her arms and fell into contemplation. Based on what she could currently see, although she couldn’t completely rule out the strange bird being unrelated to Huo Gu, it was probably not from the same system.
Although the strange bird had attacked her and Li Jiahong, it hadn’t caused substantial harm to anyone. If the strange bird was a mutated creature from Huo Gu’s side, Li Jiahong’s wife Jiang Gu should have been the primary target, but the strange bird hadn’t attacked Jiang Gu. Instead, it had watched the child in the greenhouse?
A strange bird that likes children? Yu Lianyun thought. She decided to use this as a clue and have colleagues in the organization check the organization’s library and past information archives.
Just as Yu Lianyun retracted her head that she had stuck out, she suddenly discovered a pitch-black hand climbing up the wall. The hand’s owner was a deformed woman wearing a white tattered skirt, crawling on the wall like a humanoid spider.
“Yao Zhenzhen, what are you looking at?” Yu Lianyun asked puzzledly to the incarnation of blessing in front of her.
But Yao Zhenzhen didn’t answer. She just let out a hungry low roar, her eyes through the hair strands staring fixedly at a large tree directly opposite the balcony.
“Is there something wrong with this tree?” Yu Lianyun followed her gaze and also saw that tree.
From the height of this tree, it was already somewhat ancient, perhaps even older than the history of this hospital.
She went downstairs to under the tree and looked up. The branches were lush and leafy, with limited visible range.
Yu Lianyun was just about to circle around the tree when she discovered that Yao Zhenzhen had already climbed up the tree. The shadow under her feet danced magically again. That other incarnation of blessing that clung to her relentlessly, her father, had also followed Yao Zhenzhen and climbed up the branches.
“Up there?” Yu Lianyun suddenly realized. Then she looked embarrassed, because she had never climbed a tree before, and it was impossible for her to do something like Yao Zhenzhen and her father that defied Newtonian mechanics.
She looked around left and right, saw no one nearby, and got an idea.
Placing both hands on the tree, Yu Lianyun gritted her teeth and pushed hard. When she found it hard to push, she directly kicked with her foot, then even did a running flying kick.
After much effort, Yu Lianyun finally saw the tree swaying with effect, a few leaves drifting down.
Yu Lianyun was tired and dejectedly leaned on the tree to rest. But before she could rest a few seconds, she was startled by a cold, fishy-smelling mucus on the bark and immediately retreated several steps.
At this time, the sky hadn’t brightened yet. Yu Lianyun could only barely make out in the darkness that her hand was stained with some dark liquid, carrying a familiar smell amid the fishiness.
“Blood?” Yu Lianyun raised her eyebrows, took out her flashlight to illuminate the hand that had touched the unknown liquid, and found the liquid was yellow-green, pulling sticky threads between her fingers. When the light moved to the bark, large amounts of that yellow-green unknown mucus were continuously sliding down from high up in the tree.
Rustle!
Yu Lianyun heard movement from the treetop foliage, faintly hearing something continuously crashing through branches and falling from high up. She immediately retreated several steps, then saw a dark mass of meat break through the foliage and branches, crashing to the ground. A hole opened in the foliage, and the two incarnations of blessing high up stared wide-eyed, peering down and letting out low roars.
Yu Lianyun was already used to the living habits of these two incarnations of blessing and didn’t pay attention, but when her flashlight clearly illuminated the mass of meat, she instantly felt her scalp about to flip open.
It was a humanoid but absolutely inhuman monster corpse, shaped like a hairless harmful beast with near-human skin, more like a silverback gorilla, with a near-human face, fangs crowding the mouth, limbs especially a pair of arms thick and ferocious, lower limbs short, and the back covered in strange fleshy tumors.
On this blue-faced fanged monster corpse, Yu Lianyun could clearly see the fatal wounds were at the chest and back heart. The front chest was torn by sharp claws, and the back heart was directly pierced through by something like a raptor with one claw. But among currently known natural creatures born on Earth, there were no raptors with such large claws. Yu Lianyun naturally imagined that the one that killed this harmful beast was that humanoid strange female bird that had attacked her before.
“Not eating it, just killing it.” Yu Lianyun thought to herself, then suddenly remembered Li Jiahong’s wife.
Didn’t Jiang Gu say she could sense the peeping from anomaly creatures like Huo Gu?
So, was this the creature from Huo Gu’s line that she and Li Jiahong were looking for?
Thinking that Li Jiahong had mentioned Jiang Gu was afraid of red eyes, Yu Lianyun squatted down, endured the disgust, and peeled open the eyelids of this humanoid harmful beast with her hand. Upon flipping open, sure enough, it was a dilated deep red pupil.
Seeing this, Yu Lianyun immediately felt she had grasped the truth.
If she guessed correctly, the strange female bird she and Li Jiahong had seen before was related to the feather Li Jiahong got from Boss Lin. Perhaps just like her relationship with the two incarnations of blessing, that feather could summon that strange bird, and the strange bird would temporarily guard the feather’s holder.
The reason Jiang Gu hadn’t sensed peeping from Huo Gu’s line these days wasn’t because the feather comforted her tense spirit, but because the strange bird summoned by the feather had killed the monster secretly peeping at her.
Rustle rustle…
Suddenly, the treetop swayed wildly. Yu Lianyun’s heart trembled, sensing danger from above. Without hesitation, she threw herself away, jumping out of the tree’s shadow range.
Thud thud thud—
After a series of dull falling sounds subsided, Yu Lianyun turned back and couldn’t help clenching her fist, her whole body trembling.
One, two, three, four… twelve!
Exactly twelve harmful beast corpses with completely different features and forms had all been hidden on this tree, now brought down by Yao Zhenzhen and her father.
“Can’t handle it, I can’t deal with it alone.” Yu Lianyun saw there were still about two hours until sunrise, scalp tightening, and quickly called the organization for people to come help process the anomaly creature corpses at the scene.
Then, in the time before sunrise, the new mystic investigator Yu Lianyun was busy for a long time handling the anomaly creature corpses…
Discovery of twelve anomaly creature corpses, the strange big bird witnessed by more than one person, involving a nationwide multiple-person serial disappearance case… Any one of these messages alone would be enough to mobilize a main force team from the Mysterious Group and all members of the local Mysterious Group branch.
Thus, four hours later, Yu Lianyun saw her two teammates with grim facial expressions.
“As expected, we still can’t let you act alone for now.” Li Yingqi hugged her arms and shook her head with a sigh. Compared to more than a month ago, her appearance had undergone a significant obvious change. A few wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes, making her look more mature, with less lively fairy spirit and more mature charm.
He Jia’an also had some changes. He had shaved his hair clean, was holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth, rubbed his shiny bald head, and said: “As expected of our Tiger Group’s detection radar. With someone with such high inspiration like you, what anomaly event can’t we discover?”
Yu Lianyun gave a dry laugh a few times. This wasn’t voluntary on her part. If she hadn’t suddenly discovered so many anomaly creature corpses, she actually wanted to secretly handle the Huo Gu incident alone. After all, it involved that mysterious and powerful Boss Lin. Unfortunately, her plans fell through.
“No more joking. Tell us about your investigation findings here.” He Jia’an saw Yu Lianyun’s embarrassed expression and stopped teasing.
Yu Lianyun breathed a long sigh of relief as if granted amnesty, then informed He Jia’an and Li Yingqi of her investigation progress.
“Let’s go, go meet that Mr. Li.” After listening, He Jia’an didn’t give his opinion. Instead, he took the cigarette from his mouth, put it back in the cigarette pack in his pocket, pocketed his hands, and led the two female team members into the inpatient department building.
Arriving at the hospital room where Li Jiahong and his wife were, Jiang Gu had already fallen asleep. Li Jiahong saw the several men in black who knocked and entered, immediately seeming to understand their intent. He made an apologetic hushing gesture, then signaled everyone to talk outside.
He Jia’an smiled and nodded, but also made a gesture indicating to wait a moment.
He took Yu Lianyun and Li Yingqi to the balcony of this hospital room. Li Jiahong puzzledly followed.
After arriving at the balcony, everyone immediately spotted the holes and cracks in the balcony wall. It wasn’t hard to see these were also traces left by the strange female bird, meaning that strange female bird had appeared in this hospital room before.
“No wonder she was so frightened.” Li Jiahong saw this, his facial expression heavy, feeling deep self-blame in his heart.
But Yu Lianyun looked puzzled and said: “Strange, why has that strange bird never harmed anyone except me, Mr. Li, and the monsters dispatched by Huo Gu.”
“Monsters dispatched by Huo Gu?” Li Jiahong’s pupils shrank, and he hurriedly asked in a low voice what was going on.
Yu Lianyun told Li Jiahong about her discovery on the tree in the backyard of the inpatient department.
Li Jiahong’s expression was immediately stunned, murmuring lowly to himself: “So what I saw wasn’t a dream after all…”
“We’ll talk somewhere else later.” He Jia’an heard Li Jiahong’s words but didn’t ask anything, just said looking back.
Then, Yu Lianyun and Li Jiahong went to the rooftop again.
The two returning to the rooftop saw the thick steel plate door on the top floor easily torn apart, full of holes everywhere. Their hearts chilled too, glad they had run fast enough last night.
He Jia’an and Li Yingqi incidentally investigated the rooftop, then turned back to ask Li Jiahong a few questions.
The questions were all simple, but what puzzled Li Jiahong was that the center of He Jia’an’s questions was all on his wife, not himself, which Li Jiahong couldn’t understand.
“Why always ask about my wife’s matters? Do you have some suspicion?” Li Jiahong asked seriously. Involving his wife, his attitude became somewhat firm at this time.
“Indeed some doubts.” He Jia’an put the cigarette back in his mouth but still didn’t light it. “I think your wife held back some things from you regarding her involvement in the mysterious society back then.”
Li Jiahong furrowed his brows tightly and didn’t refute. It seemed he had sensed this too.
“Regarding the Huo Gu summoning ritual that circulated back then, I happen to know a little myself.” He Jia’an bit the cigarette butt and said slowly. “The so-called summoning ritual is actually an exchange contract with Huo Gu. Make a wish to Huo Gu, Huo Gu fulfills the summoner’s wish, then Huo Gu takes their child born afterward.”
“Mr. Li, I believe you’re actually quite curious yourself about what wish your wife made back then, right?” He Jia’an said.
Li Jiahong fell silent. Of course he was curious, but he had always avoided this question. Or rather, he himself already had a clear answer, but he didn’t want to delve into it, because that might break the current harmony.
He Jia’an seemed to read Li Jiahong’s heart too. He smiled and said: “Is that so? Looks like you’ve already guessed some answer.”
Then, he changed the question: “What do you think of that strange bird last night?”
Facing He Jia’an’s question, Li Yingqi and Yu Lianyun both looked at He Jia’an in some surprise. Wasn’t the answer obvious?
But Li Jiahong surprisingly gave an answer beyond the two’s expectations: “I don’t think she is evil.”
“She wanted to kill you yesterday.” Yu Lianyun emphasized.
Li Jiahong was silent for a long time before answering: “No special reason, just intuition.”
……
Li Jiahong felt very surprised because the Mysterious Group people let him go after just asking a few questions. Although he was always honest, he didn’t think the Mysterious Group would completely believe him.
Perhaps the Mysterious Group people had other plans, Li Jiahong guessed.
Returning to his wife’s side, she had woken up. The ruddy-complexioned her suddenly said sincerely: “I want to be discharged.”
“But your body isn’t fully recovered.” Li Jiahong wanted to refuse immediately.
But his wife’s attending doctor then entered the hospital room and handed him the report of his wife’s healthy body. The doctor couldn’t help exclaiming: “This really is a miracle.”
It was indeed a miracle. Li Jiahong had seen many miracles these days, so much so that after calming down at this moment, he sensed a eerie and uneasy aura from it.
In the end, Li Jiahong couldn’t resist his wife’s pleas and agreed to handle the discharge.
When taking his wife to leave the hospital, midway, Li Jiahong even saw He Jia’an and the others standing in a corner of the hospital from afar. They seemed to see him and his wife too, waving goodbye from afar, with no intention of stopping them from leaving.
Li Jiahong brought his wife back to his parents’ home. The expenses spent on searching for his son and treatment over these years had exhausted the wealth he accumulated in his youth, including the warm home he shared with his wife and child. He couldn’t bear to squeeze into his cold rental room under ten square meters with his wife, so he had to shamelessly request his parents to take them in.
Fortunately, his parents were understanding and agreed without thinking, even cleaning up a room for them early before they moved in and preparing a sumptuous lunch to welcome them.
That meal was incomparably satisfying and nostalgic.
After lunch, Li Jiahong thought it over and still decided to make a special phone call to Xue Hanlei. Not just because she had met him yesterday, but also because she was investigating Huo Gu like him. He believed that as long as the Mysterious Group people followed up, they might find Xue Hanlei.
In his impression, Xue Hanlei was still a relatively vulnerable woman. Out of some inexplicable camaraderie, Li Jiahong wanted to give her a reminder.
The call connected quickly, but the voice on the other end surprised Li Jiahong.
“Hello, hi, who are you looking for?” A cute childish girl’s voice came from the phone’s speaker.
Li Jiahong was just about to answer when he soon heard Xue Hanlei’s voice from the phone, her words full of doting toward the girl who answered the phone.
“Ningning, whose call is it?”
“Don’t know, the caller name is… Li Jia… Li Jia Bird!”
“…That character is pronounced Hong. Come, give the phone to Mom.”
“Okay!”
Li Jiahong couldn’t help laughing. Hearing a burst of barefoot running sounds, the person on the line became Xue Hanlei. “Hello, Brother Jiahong?”
“It’s me.” Li Jiahong smiled. He soon heard background noise from the phone.
“Wow, Mom bought so many candles, eh, and so many pigments too. There are even pretty stones!”
“Don’t touch those things, careful not to get dirty!” Xue Hanlei seemed somewhat nervous at this time, scolding the girl in a low voice. The girl then let out a subdued compliant “oh.”
“Sorry, made you laugh. My remarried partner’s daughter, will be four years old the day after tomorrow.” Xue Hanlei said.
“No, quite a cute child.” Li Jiahong said smiling. He actually felt somewhat surprised too, because he didn’t know Xue Hanlei had remarried.
“Do you have something?”
Li Jiahong then told her that the Mysterious Group might come looking for her. However, Li Jiahong didn’t expect the reaction on the other end to be so strong after hearing the message.
A clanging sound was heard—it was the sound of the phone dropping.
Then, a somewhat panicked voice from Xue Hanlei came from the other end: “I… I got it. Thanks for telling me this.”
With that, Xue Hanlei hurriedly hung up.
Li Jiahong looked puzzled at the hung-up screen on the phone, but he didn’t pay too much attention. Perhaps they were really busy there.
Candles, pigments… repainting the walls at home? Li Jiahong thought, but inexplicably, a sentence Xue Hanlei said yesterday surfaced in his mind.
“How soon is soon?”
Came late, first day back at work after holiday, work piled up like a mountain. Begging for collections, tickets, etc.~~
