Chapter 30

Upon hearing Zhu Youxiang's words, Xu Yan didn't feel much—after all, it wasn't the first time Zhu Youxiang had acted out of line. Even if she didn't mention "monsters," Xu Yan wouldn't be surprised if she said there were a few Transformers fighting downstairs.

However, because he had already witnessed Zhu Youxiang's extraordinary abilities, Xu Yan didn't dare to completely ignore her warning. He looked around—it was the peak shopping time on a Sunday afternoon. In the soft and cheerful commercial music, shoppers moved back and forth, chatting and laughing, their expressions happy, creating a scene of peace and tranquility. But where were the "monsters"?

"Xuan Yun, what do these monsters look like?"

Zhu Youxiang tightly gripped the black longsword that hadn't been drawn, her eyes alert and sharp, constantly scanning the surroundings. She looked at every person who approached her, her entire body sharp like a drawn sword, as if even a touch would be dangerous. She casually replied, "Young Master, monsters come in all shapes and sizes, with no fixed form! The demons from the Demon Realm are either bizarre in appearance or parasitize in the minds of humans, looking no different from ordinary people.

Monsters are killers from the Demon Realm, inherently mad, bloodthirsty, and cruel. Once they enter this world, they will inevitably cause brutal battles and a sea of blood!"

Zhu Youxiang spoke with a firm and powerful tone. Xu Yan also looked around nervously, but saw nothing unusual for a long time. He asked suspiciously, "Xuan Yun, is there something wrong with your sword?"

"Master Xu, don't be careless. The Spring Cicada Sword only reacts when the enemy is within ten meters. If it reacts, there must be a monster, without fail!" Zhu Youxiang said confidently, but her next words completely undermined her image: "My second master told me this himself, it must be true!"

"Has your second master ever seen a monster?"

"No, my second master has no practical experience with monsters. It was my first master who told him."

"Then has your first master ever fought a monster?"

"No, my first master also heard it from our master—over eighty years ago, our master fought a high-level monster from the Demon Realm!"

Seeing Zhu Youxiang say such irresponsible words with a very serious expression, Xu Yan was completely exasperated. They had been standing by the wall for several minutes, and more and more passersby were giving them strange looks, making Xu Yan feel embarrassed.

Xu Yan was thinking about how to persuade Zhu Youxiang to put away her sword and go home when suddenly, a sharp female scream shattered the tranquility of the mall: "Ah~~ Someone's killing, help, save me, ah~ don't kill me~~ ah!"

The scream came from above.

In an instant, Xu Yan realized: when Zhu Youxiang said "within ten meters," he had only thought of the ten meters around him, but he had overlooked the fact that they were inside a mall building. Within ten meters, it could be the same floor or other floors above or below.

The woman's scream was so piercing that it startled everyone. Shoppers stopped in their tracks, looking up at the third floor. Even some customers and staff who were eating in the restaurants came out, asking each other what had happened: "I heard a woman screaming for help?"

"It seems to be coming from the third floor... What's going on?"

"Should we call the police?"

"Who should notify the security to check it out?"

Before the security could arrive, a panicked crowd had already flooded down from the escalator, crying and shouting, creating chaos. Among them were shoppers, salespeople, and even a few mall security guards. They shouted as they ran: "Someone's killing, call the police quickly!"

"A lunatic is slashing with a kitchen knife, several people are already dead!"

"There's so much blood! Intestines are spilling out!"

More and more customers on the third floor began to flee, pushing and shoving each other, even coming to blows, all sense of decorum and politeness gone. At that moment, the only thing written on the faces of the fleeing people was "panic."

The fleeing crowd rushed to the escalator, trying to get away at all costs. The escalator quickly became overcrowded, and it stopped due to the overload. People obstructed each other, blocking each other's way, and hundreds of people were trapped in the narrow escalator passage, unable to move. The crowd was so dense that bodies were piled on top of each other, heads bumping into heads, and cries of pain and for help could be heard.

The escalator was already packed, but more and more fleeing customers from the third floor kept rushing over, making the situation even more crowded. In the crowd, panicked cries rose and fell: "Big girl, where are you? Come to Mommy! Come, don't run... Ah, don't step on my big girl!"

"Don't push me—ah, don't push me, I'm pregnant! Help!"

Xu Yan stood not far from the escalator and saw the panic clearly. He witnessed a man with a crew cut angrily push a girl in front of him, then step over her body and run. The poor girl hadn't even had time to get up when the dense crowd behind her instantly overwhelmed her, and her cries for help were drowned out by the loud noise.

Seeing a life disappear so silently was a great shock to Xu Yan. The girl's look of terror, despair, and pleading in that instant was unforgettable. Seeing someone die just a few meters away and being unable to do anything made Xu Yan feel both helpless and guilty.

Those who managed to escape from the escalator ran past Xu Yan, disheveled and out of breath, still in a state of shock. The well-dressed, elegant gentlemen and ladies now looked no different from refugees. Their clothes were torn, ties askew, shoes lost, skirts ripped, glasses broken, faces pale, noses bleeding, and legs limping. They were in all sorts of conditions.

Seeing a tall, thin man who looked like a white-collar worker, Xu Yan stopped him and asked, "Sir, what happened on the third floor? What's going on?"

The man looked back, seeing no knife-wielding lunatic chasing him, he stopped and panted, "Young man, call the police, tell them someone's killing, killing! I saw it with my own eyes, on the third floor, in the Pierre Cardin section, a man suddenly went crazy, wielding two sharp knives, slashing at everyone! Several people have already been killed, even two security guards, there's so much blood, it's terrifying!"

The man looked back at the escalator to the third floor, as if he wanted to stay and watch the commotion, but in the end, the sage's teaching "a wise man does not put himself in danger" prevailed. He decided his life was more important and quickly continued to the exit on the first floor.

At this moment, Xu Yan looked at Zhu Youxiang in surprise—there really was a lunatic slashing people, just as she had predicted!

He tentatively said, "Recently, there have been many such incidents of lunatics randomly killing people. I didn't expect we would encounter one. Our luck is really bad..."

Zhu Youxiang shook her head, "I don't know about the other lunatics, but the person currently killing innocents is possessed by a demon."

" Possessed by a demon?" Xu Yan repeated, asking, "What do you mean?"

"It means that person has been possessed by a low-level demon... The demon's true physical body hasn't come over, it's still in the Demon Realm. What has crossed the barrier to this world is just its spirit. This spirit is intangible and must find a host in this world to cause mischief. In the Great Ming, such spirits possessing humans are called 'demon possession.'"

She seemed a bit disappointed: the Spring Cicada Sword had warned her, and she thought it would be a powerful demon, but it turned out to be just a low-level demon possession. She had no interest in dealing with such a low-level opponent.

"Master, it's just a low-level demon possession, nothing to be surprised about. Let's go."

Zhu Youxiang suggested leaving, and Xu Yan was relieved—Zhu Youxiang's actions couldn't be judged by normal standards, and he was afraid of her. If she suddenly decided to go and slay demons, he wouldn't know what to do. Now, he was terrified of the police and didn't dare to do anything that would draw attention.

The three left the crowd and went down to the first floor hall via the escalator. Clearly, the bloodshed on the third floor had caused a great stir, and the first floor was also affected. Many customers gathered in the hall, discussing the incident—of course, there were also those who were not deterred and were calling out, "Let's go up and see the commotion, they say someone's killing!"

"Let's go, let's go, we can catch the killer and hand him over to the police, maybe we'll get a reward of tens of thousands of dollars."

"Alright, let's go, brothers! We'll split the reward!"

Seeing these bold men, Xu Yan couldn't help but smile. He shook his head and led Zhu Youxiang toward the west entrance of the mall. As he approached the west entrance, he saw a group of police officers, led by a female officer, who was the beautiful police captain he had seen in the neighborhood earlier, Captain Zheng.

The beautiful police captain was walking quickly and speaking into her radio, "Received, we are at the west entrance of Wanhua Mall, everything is normal... Oh, understood, we will be careful, over."

Then, she said to the police officers, "The command center reported that someone is wielding a knife and injuring people on the third floor of Wanhua Mall. It's likely a lunatic or a terrorist retaliating against society. The suspect is about 1.75 meters tall, around 30 years old, wearing a yellow T-shirt and black jeans, and is quite muscular. He has already injured several people... and some victims have died."

"Should we go up to catch him?"

"No, the command center wants us to guard the west entrance, check passersby, and prevent the lunatic from escaping. The special forces are already at the east entrance and will handle it. Remember the suspect's description and be alert."

As she spoke, Zheng Qiuyi casually looked around at the passersby, and the police officers didn't seem overly tense. They were scattered around the entrance, chatting and smoking, appearing very relaxed—there were about eight detectives, several of whom were armed. As long as the lunatic retained a bit of rationality, he wouldn't come here to die.

Seeing a large group of police officers blocking the west entrance, Xu Yan felt guilty and anxious. But at this point, they were already very close, and turning back would only make him look guilty. Xu Yan could only lead Zhu Youxiang through the group of police officers, trying to act nonchalant. Fortunately, the police officers didn't pay much