Suddenly, a captivating and dignified female voice, brimming with charm and grace, entered everyone's minds, cutting off their wild thoughts.
Even ordinary people living and strolling within several hundred meters of the area heard it:
"This seat has come merely to retrieve my own belongings. I advise you all to pursue me no further. Otherwise, do not blame this seat for being impolite."
Everyone's faces filled with shock. The air instantly fell silent, as if entering a vacuum.
They had never imagined that the greatest mystery of Yongan City, the suspected source of the anomalies, was actually communicating with humans?!
...
Slap.
Wang Miaoyin was forcibly pressed down by Lin Binbin, kneeling on one knee alongside him, though he did not stop her from casting a complicated gaze toward the figure of Lord Bai Zhi.
"With Lord Bai Zhi here, your worthless little life can be considered saved," Lin Binbin said coldly.
Lin Binbin had followed Lord Bai Zhi all the way to the Southern District for precisely one reason—Wang Miaoyin!
More precisely, for the spiritual essence within Wang Miaoyin's body!
"That voice...?"
"Nyx?! That spider is actually speaking?"
"How is that possible? Could it be an illusion?"
The voice that had just bored into everyone's hearts and minds was none other than a new ability the demon spider had comprehended after awakening the talent 'Mysterious Forbidden Domain' to 10%—it could now transmit its divine sense through telepathy to all humans within the range of its 'psychic power.'
The awakening progress of the talent 'Mysterious Forbidden Domain' did not seem to be affected by Vitality, nor did it necessarily require harvesting spiritual essence to advance. As long as Bai Jie repeatedly used and mastered 'psychic power,' its progress would increase.
Just as everyone processed what had happened, at a loss for what to do, another cold yet magnetically rich male voice echoed through the night sky:
"At last, I've found you, Nyx."
"I was painstakingly searching for your traces, yet here you are, showing yourself uninvited."
Everyone followed the voice and saw a tall, strikingly handsome man in formal attire step into view.
"So you are the master behind that masked man. Then, should I address you as Nyx... or Bai Zhi?"
The man's magnetic voice stood out vividly in the night sky.
"Oh? A human who actually knows of me."
Though the words carried that tone, the spider's soul-stirring voice betrayed not a shred of surprise.
In truth, it had long since discovered this man in formal wear lurking in the shadows just like itself—which was precisely why it hadn't immediately left after receiving Lin Binbin and Wang Miaoyin, but instead issued a warning.
"Naturally," the man in formal wear smiled.
"Even within the circles of the Federation's 'New Humans,' your existence is known to all, unheard of by none. Since you've made no request otherwise, I shall temporarily address you as 'Lady Bai Zhi,' how about that?"
"...."
Lady Bai Zhi?
You think you're being chivalrous, do you?!
The demon spider instantly felt its composure crack.
"So, do you intend to stop me?"
After forcibly calming itself, the demon spider asked, its tone laced with a hint of mockery and disdain.
"Not at all. I merely wish to test your methods, that is all. That woman holds no interest for me; she is not my mission objective."
You are.
The man in formal wear's implication was likely that he, Jianxin, and the other two each had different objectives, and he had come to Yongan City specifically to deal with 'Nyx'.
"A brave human. I've taken some interest in you. What is your name?"
"My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. Lady Bai Zhi, you may call me 'Gui Yu.' I serve with the Federal Secret Keeping Bureau, A-Rank Secret Keeper."
A-Rank?
Bai Jie had heard Yang Shining mention the power divisions within the Secret Keeping Bureau before... A-Rank already belonged to the second tier of powerhouses among the Secret Keepers.
Off in the distance, hearing Gui Yu speak so openly with the demon spider, Director Xia's face went dark. "Is this how Secret Keeping Bureau agents operate? Secret Keepers? So loud, is he afraid no one will overhear?"
Fu Yang thought for a moment and said, "The Secret Keeping Bureau should have corresponding measures in place—they'll perform memory erasure on ordinary people within range who've glimpsed the secrets."
"Also, what exactly did Nyx say to Gui Yu? Just now, it seemed Nyx was only transmitting to Gui Yu on a private line?"
"Correct. But more than that, I'm worried about whether we'll have our related memories erased afterward, just as you mentioned."
"..." Fu Yang's face stiffened.
When Zichen and Li Wang saw Gui Yu appear, they cast questioning glances toward Jianxin.
Jianxin's expression had already relaxed. He said calmly, "The Secret Keeping Bureau long ago prepared a risk contingency plan for Nyx's appearance. That plan is Gui Yu, the A-Rank Secret Keeper. If Nyx hadn't come out, Gui Yu wouldn't have appeared either."
"A-Rank? I've never seen an A-Rank Secret Keeper before..." Zichen murmured, turning to look at the composed and confident Gui Yu, who seemed to radiate an invisible self-assurance.
"But... even if he's an A-Rank Secret Keeper, can he actually handle Nyx?" Li Wang hesitated.
...
"Gui Yu, do you truly intend to offend this seat?" The demon spider transmitted, and this time, everyone could hear.
Gui Yu nodded, his expression solemn. "I am fully aware that raising a hand against Lady Bai Zhi requires not only courage, but also the readiness to pay the price."
The demon spider sneered inwardly.
Snap!
Gui Yu snapped his fingers.
In the next moment, the air turned abruptly cold. One after another, translucent, sinister forms coalesced out of thin air, drifting, then swarming like carp spotting food, surging across the void toward the two humans and one spider at the center.
"Insignificant tricks." Seeing this, the demon spider was unimpressed.
"What are those? Ghosts?" Zichen asked.
"Yes and no. Those forms are condensed by Gui Yu from extracting 'yin energy particles' in the air—called yin spirits, roughly equivalent to the ghosts you're imagining."
Facing the incoming swarm of yin spirits, Bai Jie merely willed a thought.
"Expand."
A hemispherical electric net enshrouded a 10-meter radius around the two humans and the spider.
Bzzzt... bzzzzt...
Even yin energy particles could be interfered with by the blue-violet light net of ultra-high temperature and voltage. Those yin spirits, just as they drew near but before they could even touch, were blasted into fragments by the wildly dancing arcs of electricity extending from the net!
Gui Yu's expression remained unchanged. His palm suddenly clenched, his gaze sharpening.
In the next second, five yin spirit forms materialized right inside the electric net, directly before Bai Jie's eyes!
"Enough!"
That noble voice suddenly resounded within everyone's hearts.
"Gui Yu, if this is all you've got, then I don't mind taking your head right off your shoulders!"
Hum!
The five yin spirits each held a translucent blade, thrusting sharply and hacking down toward the spider, the blades about to strike the spider's head.
Clang! A deafening crash!
It was as if the five blades had struck something of indestructible hardness.
Everyone looked closely and saw a pitch-black warhorse standing proudly before the demon spider, blocking the five yin spirits' attacks.
The warhorse seemed to hail from hell itself, its entire body swirling with crimson flames, its eyes burning blood-red, exuding a cursed and demonic aura.
[Target]: Nightmare Beast (Half-Demonic-Evil Body)
[Vitality]: 108
[Body Length]: 5m
[Status]: Stable
Pah!
The electric net collapsed. A flash of blue-violet light flickered.
When they looked again, the demon spider, Lin Binbin, and Wang Miaoyin had vanished—leaving only the towering Nightmare Beast, overlooking all below.