Chapter 26

At seven o'clock in the evening, at the dining table.

Grandma looked around at the family gathered around the table and announced with a rather good mood:

"Yuanzi, your uncle will be back tomorrow afternoon. Yuanjun, remember to drive and pick him up. Yuer, come home early after work."

Yuer is the nickname of the younger aunt.

Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yubei were each gnawing on a chicken leg, while Chen Yuanjun was drinking chicken soup, all with a calm expression.

Seeing this, Grandma slapped the table with her chopsticks and glared, "Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh."

"Hmm."

"Got it."

Grandma: "…"

The uncle and aunt have been traveling abroad for almost two months. The uncle is a good-for-nothing and the aunt is a pampered lady who has never done a day's work. Their presence or absence makes no difference at all.

Their return is not a grand occasion worth celebrating, and it seems only Grandma is happy about their return.

Jiang Yubei, gnawing on a chicken leg, said, "Why doesn't that family scoundrel play for a few more months? The house is much quieter without them."

Chen Yuanjun glanced at the younger aunt and said, "Don't say that, the family scoundrel is my father."

Zhang Yuanqing looked at his cousin and said, "Don't say that, the family scoundrel is my uncle."

Seeing Grandma's anger, she got up to tear into her unruly grandchildren, Jiang Yubei quickly soothed her and threw out a topic that would surely interest her mother:

"Mom, there's a ghost haunting our hospital."

A ghost? Zhang Yuanqing immediately perked up his ears.

Sure enough, Grandma stopped worrying about her son and asked hurriedly:

"Oh, what kind of ghost? Tell me quickly."

"It's our department's Aunt Zhou. During her night shift, she heard the laughter of a child in the office. When she went in to check, the laughter stopped. Then she went to the toilet and saw a baby on her shoulder in the mirror, almost scaring her to death."

The younger aunt added, "It's not just Aunt Zhou. Other colleagues on night shifts also say they occasionally hear the laughter of a child at midnight. Everyone thinks it must be a child who was aborted and is unwilling to leave, lingering in the hospital."

Grandma listened with great interest and commented, "That's really strange. I think it's probably true. When you have a night shift, let Yuanzi accompany you. Is there more? Is there more?"

"There is, there is."

Grandma's gossip was not passed on to her daughter but was fully inherited by the younger aunt. Zhang Yuanqing listened to the mother and daughter's chatter, and the interest that had been sparked in his heart gradually faded.

As a night wanderer, he knew at first listen that this was a rumor and not real.

Firstly, spirits cannot produce sound because they have no physical form, let alone vocal cords. Unless the spirit's power directly affects the human mind.

But with a baby's will and mental strength, it is impossible for a spirit to remain after death.

Finally, ordinary people cannot see spirits with their naked eyes. Those who are near death or have heavy yin energy might interact with spirits, so occasional occurrences are reasonable.

But many people hearing the baby's laughter is a stretch.

"Little aunt, be careful. Don't bring the hospital's dead children home," Zhang Yuanqing said ominously.

Jiang Yubei, who was speaking animatedly, instantly stiffened and called out, "Mom, he's scaring me again!"

Grandma symbolically scolded her grandson.

After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing quietly left home and took a taxi to the nearest tertiary hospital.

He was going to the hospital to exorcise spirits and gain experience.

The "Spirit Devouring" skill of the night wanderer is currently the best way to level up. The next opening of the spirit realm is unknown, so it's necessary to boost his strength before entering the spirit realm.

At the same level, the difference in combat power between 99% and 1% experience is like the difference between heaven and earth.

The hospital is a good place for a night wanderer to gain experience. Birth, aging, illness, and death all happen in the hospital. Of course, the crematorium is also a good place, but the crematoriums in Songhai are all in the suburbs, and there are few in the city.

In the car, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly remembered what Guanya said today.

"Why are the night wanderers of the Taiyi Sect more cautious about devouring spirits? Is it a rule of the trade, thinking it damages one's moral standing, or is there another reason?"

Thinking about this, he took out his phone, logged into the official forum of the Spirit Realm Walker, and searched for related information.

The search results showed: No related entries found.

In the suburbs, the night began to fall.

In a cheap rental apartment in an industrial park, the living room was dirty and messy. Ou Xiangrong held a large bowl of freshly cooked instant noodles and came to the table filled with beer cans.

He casually swept away the beer cans and other clutter, making space for the large bowl, then took a can of beer from the fridge.

He ate the noodles and drank the beer in large gulps.

The noodles were scalding hot, but they could not burn his tough mouth cells.

Ou Xiangrong's expression was sometimes fierce, sometimes cold, and sometimes hateful, like a mentally ill person on the verge of an episode.

Suddenly, his ears twitched, he stopped his chopsticks, and his expression turned vicious.

Ou Xiangrong slowly got up, drew the willow blade from the sheath at his waist, and silently approached the door.

"Bang!"

Just as he approached the entrance, the door was kicked open violently, and a bright light shone as a fiery ball of flame shot towards him.

The heat hit his face, and Ou Xiangrong stopped, swinging his right arm holding the blade. The bright blade cut through the fireball, and with a "boom," the room was filled with colorful flames.

In the sudden bright light, a figure covered in flames darted into the apartment, knees springing, and rocketed towards Ou Xiangrong.

Ou Xiangrong was even more ferocious, sidestepping and ramming forward with his shoulder.

"Bang!"

The figure was thrown back, crashing into the wall of the hallway, causing the wall to shake violently.

Ou Xiangrong, with burns on his right hand and shoulder, endured the pain, turned, and rushed towards the window. He dared not use the hallway; the old building's narrow hallway would mean certain death if he were surrounded.

The sound of shattering glass, and Ou Xiangrong jumped out from the third floor.

"Bang! Bang!"

Just as he broke through the window, he heard two gunshots. He deflected the bullet aimed at his head with the willow blade but could not stop the bullet aimed at his chest.

The powerful kinetic energy of the bullet pierced through his skin, but was stopped by his tough muscles.

Following the sound of the gun, in the shadows by the green belt, stood a tall mixed-race beauty in an OL suit and white blouse, her hair flying in the wind, cold and beautiful.

She held a silver pistol in each hand, and her long legs, clad in black stockings, were bound with two holsters.

The mixed-race beauty calmly fired, her aim precise, seemingly able to predict his trajectory as he fell.

After being hit by several bullets, Ou Xiangrong finally landed. He suddenly looked at the mixed-race woman, and two blood-red, twisted runes appeared in his pupils.

In the next moment, the woman's expression turned blank, and she turned the gun towards her own forehead.

"Bang!"

The gun spewed flames, but the bullet failed to break through her smooth forehead, stopped by a pair of rough hands.

Beside her, a worker wearing a miner's helmet appeared, his dark face solemn, and said:

"A bewitching demon?"

"A level 3 bewitching demon."

In the darkness, a man with a cane walked over, dressed in a black suit with a black vest and white shirt, his hair neatly combed.

"Have the men set up a perimeter outside the neighborhood, don't approach here."

Another voice came from the hallway, and a woman in a traditional Chinese dress walked out, her demeanor gentle and serene, her appearance beautiful.

Ou Xiangrong, holding his blade, looked around with a dark expression.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

At this moment, the sound of motorcycles could be heard in the distance, and a motorcycle roared towards them, the rider in a white racing suit, leaning forward, holding a three-foot-long black blade, leading the charge.

In the next moment, gunshots rang out again, blocking Ou Xiangrong's escape route. The fiery figure leaped out of the window, attacking from the side.

Tang Guoqiang, wearing a miner's helmet, pressed his hands on the ground, and the cement floor cracked. A pair of mud hands grabbed Ou Xiangrong's feet.

Ou Xiangrong calmly swung his willow blade, deflecting the bullets, and sparks flew as the bullets hit the blade.

Then, his leg muscles swelled, breaking the mud hands, and he rolled forward, narrowly avoiding the fiery figure that leaped from the third floor.

He got up and ran towards the woman on the motorcycle.

In the darkness, they passed each other, and the sharp willow blade cut through the woman's chest, but it felt like cutting through nothing. The woman on the motorcycle turned into water the moment she was hit.

Her blade swept across Ou Xiangrong's chest and abdomen.

Ou Xiangrong's chest split open, and large amounts of blood gushed out.

Ignoring his injuries, he continued to run towards the exit of the neighborhood.

At this moment, a woman in a traditional Chinese dress leaped from a second-floor window, her bare white feet running on the wall as if on flat ground.

She pounced and landed in front of Ou Xiangrong, shouting, and spun around. Her long, powerful legs whipped like a whip, striking Ou Xiangrong.

He was thrown back like a cannonball, crashing through the wall of the building and slowly collapsing to the ground.

"Having the audacity to kill an official Spirit Realm Walker in my jurisdiction, you're quite impressive."

At this moment, Li Dongze, who had been watching from the beginning, slowly walked over, his face serious, calm like a mastermind, and said:

"Next, I will personally send you on your way."

"Ahh..." A huge sigh echoed around, and Ou Xiangrong slowly got up. His eyes were blood-red, filled with madness and violence, and a powerful, evil force awakened within him.

He said in a hoarse voice, "You will all die."

Li Dongze took two steps back, "Brothers, that was just a joke. I'm not the one to take all the credit."

In the taxi, Zhang Yuanqing, who found no related information, returned to the forum's homepage and instinctively refreshed the page.

Then he saw a post marked in red and pinned to the top.

#Wanted! Level 3 Bewitching Demon Ou Xiangrong#

A few minutes ago, there was no such post.

Zhang Yuanqing clicked on the post:

"Ou Xiangrong, a level 3 bewitching demon, killed the White Tiger soldier scout Zhao Yingjun of the Five Elements Alliance on April 18th. On the evening of April 19th, at 19:05, he escaped during a hunt by the Kangyang District Spirit Realm team.

"This person possesses a terrifying evil force, not a regular bewitching demon. He has been severely injured by the Kangyang District Spirit Realm team and is currently at large. Spirit Realm teams in all districts should be aware that Ou Xiangrong is on the verge of losing control. If he is found, he should be killed immediately.

"Those who provide information will be rewarded 50,000 yuan. Those who kill him will be rewarded 100,000 yuan."

The post had been up for less than three minutes, and the comments had already exceeded a hundred.

Most were criticizing the Kangyang District Spirit Realm team for their inefficiency, allowing a half-mad bewitching demon to escape.

"Is this a joke? This dangerous person could lose control at any moment. Is the Kangyang District team just eating their salaries?"

"Once he loses control and starts killing, by the time we get there, there will be blood everywhere. We will be laughed at by all the Spirit Realm Walkers in the country for our poor prevention and high salaries with no work done."

"Damn."

Ou Xiangrong escaped? Did Captain and the others lock onto the target so quickly and start the hunt?

Zhang Yuanqing was unsure whether to praise Captain and the others for their efficiency or criticize them for their incompetence in letting a time bomb loose.

"Since they have already engaged, Ou Xiangrong's blood, and even his flesh, must have been left at the scene. Using the Red Shoes, I should be able to find him."

Zhang Yuanqing immediately thought of his rule-class item.

PS: At the beginning of the month, I'm asking for votes. Unknowingly, it's already over 80,000 words