Chen Ling's pupils suddenly constricted!
However, when he blinked, the blood-red characters on the ground instantly vanished, as if they had never existed.
A hallucination?
Chen Ling stood rooted to the spot, those few words seemed to have drilled into his mind, impossible to forget.
"We are watching you."
Chen Ling abruptly turned his head!
In the empty living room, invisible crimson eyes seemed to be observing him, the feeling of being stared at was exactly like in his nightmare.
He stood stiff as a statue for a long time, then began to force himself to breathe deeply.
"Maybe I was too tired from staying up late for the Enforcer exam these past few days, my mind was too tense…"
"But this was something the ※_8_⛬ of this body did, it shouldn't have anything to do with me… Could it be that there was a problem when the two souls merged, damaging my spirit?"
"I heard that severe schizophrenia can indeed cause hallucinations that are difficult to distinguish…"
Chen Ling temporarily suppressed the fear in his heart, trying to explain all of this with science. A strong sense of hunger surged into his mind.
He casually took a grilled sausage from the cutting board and swallowed it in a few bites, only then did he somewhat recover.
"Perhaps, I need a psychiatrist."
Startled, Chen Ling didn't even bother to wash his face. He hurriedly put on a black cotton overcoat and pushed the door open.
Even so, the cold air that rushed in from behind the door made Chen Ling shiver.
This was Chen Ling's first formal contact with this world after regaining consciousness. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to face all unknowns and difficulties.
However, when he inadvertently looked up at the sky, a "Holy crap!" still burst out involuntarily.
The light of early morning scattered from the east, and dreamlike blue ribbons floated above the small town, seemingly close at hand yet impossibly distant.
Aurora.
Aurora in the daytime.
Chen Ling stood at his doorstep, staring blankly at the sky full of Aurora for a long time, muttering to himself:
"What the hell is this world…?"
…
"Damn it, why is this road so hard to walk?"
"The weather's too cold, and it just rained heavily last night. The mountain roads are all frozen. Be careful."
"We've been dragging our feet all the way, it's already daylight." The man wiped the sweat from his forehead. "How much further do we have?"
"That Chuwu is just ahead… We should be there soon."
Two stumbling figures climbed over the mountain peak and finally saw the numerous mounds in the distance. These mounds were new and old, most of them without inscriptions, just a wooden plaque or an item belonging to the deceased placed in front of them.
But after last night's heavy rain, many of the mounds here were washed away, and wooden sticks and other items were scattered haphazardly everywhere, leaving the scene in a mess.
What the two didn't expect was that the Chuwu was already cordoned off with yellow caution tape, and more than a dozen figures were moving within the sealed area, their expressions somewhat grave.
"Enforcers?"
Seeing the conspicuous black and red uniforms of those people, the man's eyes widened, "Why are they here?!"
"They've already found out?" The woman's face turned pale, "Is it… is it A Ling? Did he go to find the Enforcers? He's really not dead?"
They thought they had killed Chen Ling, but the next day Chen Ling returned on his own, plus the sudden appearance of the Enforcers at the burial site… There was almost no other explanation.
"No…" The man stared intently at those figures, "Enforcers from the Third District, even for criminal cases, at most only three people would be dispatched! For this many, a dozen people at once, it can only be…"
"A Disaster… has appeared?"
The woman seemed to have thought of something, and cold sweat instantly drenched her back!
"Could that monster in the bedroom be…"
"Run!!!" The man grabbed the woman's wrist and turned to flee from the area.
Just then, a cold voice came from not far away.
"Stop."
The two figures instantly froze.
An Enforcer ducked under the caution tape and slowly walked over to the two, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I… I…" The woman stammered, unable to speak.
"We came to see our son." The man spoke as calmly as possible, "He's buried here. Today is his death anniversary."
"Then why are you running?"
"…Because we're scared."
"Scared?"
"With so many Enforcers dispatched at once, the Gray Realm must be converging here, right?" The man swallowed, "Maybe there are even Disasters crawling out of it… We're afraid of being caught in the crossfire."
"Oh? You seem to know quite a lot." The Enforcer raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The man forced a pale smile.
"Enforcer, sir." The woman asked cautiously, "Are there really Disasters that have escaped from the Gray Realm?"
"That's classified."
The Enforcer replied indifferently, "You won't be able to visit your son today, you should all go back… What you've seen here is not allowed to be spread. You understand the rules, right?"
"Yes, yes."
"Go."
Hearing these two words, the man finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned to leave.
"Wait."
Both their hearts skipped a beat.
"Please leave your name and address." The Enforcer took out a pen and paper. "It's a requirement of the confidentiality regulations, please understand."
"Chen Tan, Li Xiuchun, Han Shuang Street, 12 8, Third District."
After recording, the Enforcer let the two leave and then crossed the yellow caution tape to approach a man in a black overcoat, handing him the document.
"Meng Ge, I've clarified, they came to see their son."
Han Meng held a hand-rolled cigarette, taking a deep drag. The acrid smoke mixed with his breath, dissipating in the cold wind.
He casually glanced at the document and spoke calmly:
"Send a few people to follow them secretly. They have a problem."
"…Huh?"
"Han Shuang Street is at least ten kilometers from here. For them to arrive at this time, they must have left no later than 4 AM… At that time, the rain hadn't stopped yet.
Who would brave a heavy rain on a mountain before dawn to pay respects?
Also, this is Chuwu, a place for those without family or who died far from home. As parents, why would they bury their child here?"
The Enforcer was stunned, then slapped his forehead, "You're right, why didn't I think of that?"
"…Xiao Qin, how did you pass the Enforcer exam back then?"
The Enforcer called Xiao Qin let out a dry laugh and immediately changed the subject, "By the way, Meng Ge, so did a Disaster really crawl out of the Gray Realm last night?"
Han Meng didn't answer. Instead, he pulled a palm-sized instrument from the inside pocket of his overcoat. In the center of the instrument was a compass-like pointer device, with different colors marking different areas of the scale, clear and distinct.
"Is this the Disaster Compass?" Jiang Qin curiously examined the instrument, reaching out to touch it, but his hand was sharply smacked.
"This thing is very precious. When you're promoted to Enforcement Officer, you'll naturally have a chance to touch it."
Jiang Qin rubbed his hand bitterly, "How exactly does this thing work?"
"This is a device for detecting the danger level of a 'Disaster.' Once it's turned on, whichever area the pointer points to indicates the magnitude of the 'Disaster' fluctuation that has appeared nearby. If it's just a simple Gray Realm convergence and no 'Disaster' has crawled into the real world, then it won't react.
The higher the level of the Disaster, the more violently the pointer will shake."
Jiang Qin nodded, speaking with some concern:
"Meng Ge… there shouldn't be any 'Disasters' that crawled out, right?"
"Most likely not, because if a 'Disaster' really descended through here yesterday, then the Second District and Third District would have already been in chaos."
"That's good."
"To be safe, we still need to complete the detection."
As Han Meng spoke, he turned on the Disaster Compass. The other Enforcers, seeing this, all looked over curiously.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
The Disaster Compass showed no reaction.
Just as Han Meng breathed a sigh of relief, the pointer on the compass suddenly began to tremble violently!
The pointer swept wildly across different colored areas, and a piercing screeching sound came from inside the instrument. Han Meng's pupils suddenly constricted, and he instinctively let go of the Disaster Compass!
Bang—!!
Countless parts shattered in mid-air, and the sharp broken tip of the pointer grazed Han Meng's cheek, instantly leaving a crimson bloodstain!
The Disaster Compass…
Exploded.