Outside the Old City District.
The man who had just activated the Forbidden Ruins sat beside a notice board. He turned to glance at the half of the old city that now stood still like a frozen canvas, shook his head helplessly, and pulled out his phone to start playing a match-3 puzzle game.
"Hey bro, what are you doing out here playing on your phone in the middle of the night? Not afraid of freezing your butt off?"
Before long, a passerby crossed the street and chuckled at the sight.
The man looked up at him briefly before returning to his game. "Nothing else to do. Bored."
The passerby smiled, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and handed it to the man.
The man waved him off and said seriously, "On duty. I don't smoke."
"Hah, you're playing on your phone by the road, and you call that being on duty?" The passerby laughed.
"Yeah."
"…Alright then." The passerby shrugged and turned to head down the street behind the man.
"Where are you going?" the man suddenly asked.
"Home."
"You can't go. At least, not yet."
The passerby raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"That road's closed. You can go back once it's open again," the man said, pointing to the notice board behind him.
The passerby followed the direction of his finger and saw the strange sign standing in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to speak, the words "No Entry Ahead" flashed with a faint glimmer.
His gaze instantly turned blank.
Seconds later, he turned stiffly, and step by step, began walking back the way he came, his eyes filled with confusion…
The man didn't seem surprised at all. Just as he was about to resume his game, a voice crackled through his earpiece.
"Zhao Kongcheng!!"
The moment the voice rang out, the man shot up from the ground, all trace of laziness and sleepiness vanishing, replaced by absolute seriousness!
"Here! Captain, what's happened?"
"There's been an issue. Among the group of Faceless Ones we were suppressing, one has advanced to a Faceless King. It launched a sudden attack while we were focused on the others, critically injuring Hong Ying, and escaped through the sewers beyond the range of the Forbidden Ruins."
"A Faceless King?!" Zhao Kongcheng's expression changed. "Which direction did it go? I'll intercept!"
"No, Kongcheng. You're not a combat type. You can't beat a Faceless King. I'll go after it."
Zhao Kongcheng paused. "Then I…"
"After the King escaped, two more Faceless Ones took the opportunity to flee into the sewers. The others are tied up dealing with the rest."
"Which direction?"
"Southeast."
"Got it."
A sharp gleam flashed in Zhao Kongcheng's eyes. He dashed to the other end of the street and jumped into a black van, slamming the gas pedal. The vehicle roared to life and sped off.
On the passenger seat lay a neatly folded black-and-red cloak…
And a sheathed straight blade.
"Alright, I'm turning off here. I'll catch you guys later."
Wang Shao stopped and turned to speak to the four people behind him.
Just then, Li Yifei suddenly seemed to remember something. "Wang Shao, if I'm not mistaken, your house is near the old city, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"...Nothing. Just… be careful on your way home."
Wang Shao's mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes. "Spit it out. Don't stop halfway. You're making it sound creepy."
Li Yifei hesitated for a moment. "I heard the old city's been… not so peaceful lately. There's a psycho killer on the loose."
"A psycho killer? Seriously?" Jiang Qian sounded skeptical.
"It's true!" Li Yifei glanced around and lowered his voice. "You probably don't know this, but over the past few days, more than a dozen people have died there."
"A dozen people? No way. If something that big happened, it would've been on the news already," Wang Shao shook his head.
"No, I'm serious. Something fishy's going on. The higher-ups covered it up. If my dad didn't work at the police department, I wouldn't have known either."
"Fishy how?"
"They say…" Li Yifei paused and dropped his voice even lower."They say the victims had their faces peeled off—nothing left but bloody flesh and bulging eyeballs. Brutal stuff."
A cool night breeze passed by. Upon hearing that, everyone felt a chill shoot up their spines.
"Li Yifei! Are you crazy, telling horror stories at night?!" Jiang Qian's face turned pale as she instinctively looked around the silent street in alarm.
They were already close to the old city—a remote area of Cangnan City. It was nearly 10 PM after evening classes, and the roads were empty. What Li Yifei said made everything feel creepier.
Even the two guys—Wang Shao and Liu Yuan—looked uneasy. Wang Shao glanced at the narrow alley he was about to walk into, suddenly unsure of himself…
If Li Yifei's words were merely scary, Lin Qiye's next comment made their scalps go numb.
Lin Qiye thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Are you sure… this is something a human did?"
"Qiye, you—" Jiang Qian trembled.
Wang Shao and Liu Yuan twitched at the corners of their mouths, their expressions growing strange as they looked at Lin Qiye.
Of all people, this thick-browed, righteous-looking guy turned out to be the most mysterious?
Li Yifei stared at Lin Qiye in shock. "You think so too?"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Jiang Qian had had enough. She pinched Li Yifei's arm hard, making him yelp in pain.
"Don't tell ghost stories in the middle of the night! I still have to go home!"
Li Yifei clutched his arm and grumbled under his breath, "It's not a ghost story…"
Wang Shao shrugged. "I'm done with this nonsense. I don't believe in that supernatural crap. I'm out."
His figure gradually disappeared into the narrow alley.
Jiang Qian gave Li Yifei another glare and walked ahead a few steps, then suddenly stopped.
She sniffed the air hard, frowning.
"…Do you guys smell something weird?"
"Weird?"
"Like… something rotten."
"I don't smell anything. Liu Yuan?"
"Me neither—wait, ugh!!"
Before Liu Yuan could finish, his expression changed. He clamped his hand over his nose and looked around in horror.
Just as Lin Qiye was about to speak, an unbearable stench flooded his nostrils.
It was like rotting meat left in a septic tank for weeks mixed with a dozen raw eggs—so foul that just one breath made his stomach churn violently.
It was the worst smell Lin Qiye had ever experienced.
As for Jiang Qian, whose sense of smell was the sharpest—she immediately crouched down and started vomiting.
"What the hell is that smell?!" Li Yifei shouted, holding his nose.
"No idea," Lin Qiye frowned. After a moment, he raised his hand and pointed toward the alley Wang Shao had taken.
"But judging from the direction it's coming from, it seems to be that way."
The next second, a blood-curdling scream echoed from nearby, piercing through the silent night sky.