Chapter 8

After dealing with the wave of evil spirits, Old Hu led everyone to board the armored vehicle nearby. Since Qiu Wei had experience driving an armored vehicle, the task was given to him, while Old Hu and the others sat in the vehicle to prevent any sudden attacks from the evil spirits.

"Where should we head?"

Qiu Wei operated the armored vehicle, crashing through the cars blocking the way, and then asked Old Hu.

"Hmm... let's just follow this road."

Old Hu thought for a moment and pointed in a direction.

"I thought we would find records of the locations where the evil spirits appeared after finding these troops, but we found nothing."

"Does that mean we don't know where to go?"

Lang Shuai quickly asked upon hearing Old Hu's words.

"Not necessarily. The actions of the evil spirits are regular. Our target is a high-level Type A evil spirit. Her appearance will attract many evil spirits, and these evil spirits will cause significant destruction. So, we can follow the trail of destruction to find her. Even if we don't find our target, we might encounter the main characters from the original story."

Old Hu didn't seem worried about not finding the target.

"I see. By the way, I just thought of a question."

After Old Hu explained, Lang Shuai asked another question.

"Didn't I remember that only those with spiritual power can see the evil spirits? Why can we see them?"

"I thought it was something serious. The system wouldn't send a group of people who can't even see ghosts to catch ghosts. This means that all of you have some level of spiritual power."

Old Hu shrugged.

"Really? I feel like I have a power welling up inside me."

"No, that's just your imagination. You just have a bit more spiritual sensitivity than the average person. Generally, if someone is in contact with spirits for a long time, they can reach this level."

"Ugh!"

Lang Shuai felt terrible after being brutally criticized by Old Hu.

After that, they fell silent, quietly sitting in the vehicle to recover their energy from the previous battle.

Sijie looked out the window at the streets outside. This area was deserted due to the appearance of the evil spirits, making it hard to imagine that this was once a bustling city street.

Without his memories, Sijie didn't know if his former self was like the ordinary citizens of this city, strolling along the streets on a regular day. If so, what would he feel seeing this desolate scene now?

The flickering streetlights still illuminated the land, but it felt as if a shadow was covering everything. This was a direct impact on the soul. Sijie extended his consciousness outward, and he seemed to hear wails of sorrow. The mournful sounds came from the fallen corpses, the destroyed buildings, and the earth itself.

Sijie realized that the land was weeping for the disasters it had endured.

He wanted to cover his ears, but the sounds continued to pour in. He felt he had heard this sound before, filled with resentment and helplessness, a multitude of wails almost drowning his mind.

"Sijie! Wake up!"

Qiu Hua's voice made Sijie open his eyes suddenly. He was drenched in sweat and pale, looking worse than when he had fallen behind earlier.

"Is something wrong?"

Qiu Hua wiped the sweat from Sijie's forehead with a handkerchief, sensing that he was in a bad state.

"…It's fine now."

Sijie shook his head. It seemed his special ability had gone out of control. Just thinking about that feeling made even the emotionally detached Sijie shudder. He didn't know what would have happened if Qiu Hua hadn't woken him up. She had saved him again.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it."

Qiu Hua smiled and patted Sijie's head. For some reason, this simple gesture made Sijie feel at ease.

"I'm so jealous."

Lang Shuai dragged out his words with a mischievous smile.

"Hey, don't get yourself killed."

Old Hu also spoke in his unique way of showing concern.

Clearly, Sijie's condition had caught their attention.

After this small incident, nothing else happened. The vehicle continued forward, and they had already moved from North Ikebukuro to the Shinjuku area. The situation here looked much better. The streets were no longer empty, but the strict checkpoints on the roads caused a lot of traffic congestion, and the continuous honking of cars filled the air.

However, for them, who had seen the desolate scenes along the way, even the noisy traffic was enough to lift their spirits. But what they needed now was not this sense of relief.

"Strange, did we take a wrong turn?"

Old Hu looked around. There were no more evil spirits here.

"Let's try that way. I have a bad feeling about it."

Sijie pointed to the side.

"Okay."

Since they didn't know which way to go, Old Hu agreed readily.

Qiu Wei turned the steering wheel, and the vehicle took a turn, disregarding the other cars and whether it was a motor vehicle lane or a pedestrian path.

The scenery changed after a short distance.

"The signs of destruction are increasing here."

Lang Shuai pointed around.

"It seems we're on the right track. Good job, kid."

Old Hu happily patted Sijie's shoulder, making Sijie wince in pain.

"What's that?"

Qiu Wei stepped on the brake, stopping the vehicle. Not far ahead, a series of golden text walls floated in the air.

"It's a barrier set by exorcists. No wonder we didn't see any evil spirits; they must be sealed off."

"What should we do?"

"Keep going. The barrier is still up, which means there are survivors. We don't have to worry about not knowing where to go."

The vehicle continued forward, and soon they heard the sounds of many people moving, shouts, continuous gunfire, and the clashing of metal, indicating an intense battle.

"Should we go help?"

Lang Shuai asked, looking at the battlefield before them.

"Of course, we should help."

Old Hu nodded.

"Besides, it's a good opportunity to gain the main characters' favor."

As they spoke, the vehicle stopped at the edge of the battlefield. Perhaps because it was a military vehicle, no one stopped them.

"Miss, stay here and protect the psychic boy."

"Okay."

Old Hu then led Qiu Wei and Lang Shuai into the battlefield.

Most of the people fighting here were from the Super Natural Disaster Countermeasures Office. With their own spiritual power, they were more powerful than ordinary people. Unlike the Ministry of Defense's Special Tactics Team, which was part of the military, their combat style was more flexible. Some used firearms, but more chose cold weapons. These outdated weapons, enhanced by spiritual power and superhuman physical abilities, had greater destructive power than firearms.

The black shadow-like evil spirits gathered here were far more numerous than those they had encountered before, so much so that it could be described as a sea of people. Despite the exorcists' superior individual strength, they could only maintain a stalemate due to their smaller numbers.

"I remember there weren't so many in the anime."

"This isn't the anime anymore."

Old Hu said to Lang Shuai as they moved forward.

"Are you reinforcements?"

A man holding two briefcases turned to look at Old Hu and the others.

"Are you from the Ministry of Defense?"

The man used a question, as Old Hu and the others were not wearing the equipment to detect spirits or the uniform of the Ministry of Defense, and he had never seen them in his department.

"There's no time for that now."

Old Hu flashed to the man's side, condensed his strength, and punched through an evil spirit that was trying to attack from behind.

"Wow, that was fast!"

The man couldn't help but exclaim.

"Sakurai, are you okay?"

Sakurai's companion, a man with a mohawk and metal drills on his hands, rushed over.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Sakurai waved and smashed a briefcase at an evil spirit, then looked at Old Hu again.

"Thanks. Who are you?"

"We are civilian exorcists."

Seeing that the first step in gaining their trust had worked, Old Hu recited the lines he had prepared.

"We saw the trouble here and couldn't help but get involved."

"I see."

"Civilian, huh."

Sakurai and the mohawk man with drills both looked enlightened, not overly suspicious of Old Hu's explanation.

This was related to the social structure of this world. The profession of exorcists had been passed down since ancient times, with some connected to the government and others hidden among the people. Even the Super Natural Disaster Countermeasures Office, established after World War II, had gathered many talents but could not gather all the exorcists. Therefore, it was possible for civilian exorcists to exist.

Since they could help eliminate the evil spirits, there was no need to be overly suspicious.

"It's embarrassing to have our colleagues worry."

Sakurai smiled bitterly.

"We can't let them look down on us."

The mohawk man raised his drills, which began to spin rapidly, piercing through the evil spirits approaching them.

"Right!"

Sakurai shouted, and the bottoms of his briefcases opened, revealing rows of gun barrels. A dense metal storm swept through, shredding several evil spirits.

After clearing a patch of evil spirits, they regrouped with the others from the Countermeasures Office.

"How's it going, Ikki?"

"Kino. It's fine here."

A young man with shoulder-length hair and a handsome face approached. A slender, white fox was perched on his shoulder.

Old Hu immediately recognized the young man. With such distinctive features, there was only one person in the original story: Ikki Banjo, the heir of the famous exorcist family, the Banjo family. He was skilled in controlling the spirit animal, the pipe fox, and was one of the strongest in the Countermeasures Office.

"Who are they?"

Banjo looked at Old Hu and the others, focusing mainly on Old Hu.

"Old Hu, a civilian exorcist. These two are my companions."

Old Hu briefly introduced himself.

Banjo was about to respond when his gaze suddenly shifted.

"A big one is coming!"