Chapter 10: Midnight Mass
Dusk in the night city.
On the eerie fog and dark red avenues, a pair of ghostly green eyes lit up in the windows of the towering office buildings. They seethed with hatred, their sinister glare overshadowing the neon lights.
The metro entrance was right ahead.
Wu Hen stepped into the metro entrance, glancing back briefly, feeling a chill run through his body!
This city was like a giant living creature, waking up in the night to stare at the beings that had mistakenly entered, then elegantly and eerily opening its blood-red maw...
These were all virtual...
Wu Hen instinctively used his previous method to calm himself.
But soon he realized that this was what the real world looked like, colder than the palace!
"Creak~~~"
Suddenly, Wu Hen heard a sound of bones twisting.
The sound was unusually clear in the pitch-black metro tunnel and was getting closer!
"Aunt, there's something crawling towards us!" Wu Hen immediately warned Su Li.
Su Li quickly turned on the military flashlight, attaching it to the gun and aiming it at the corner of the tunnel leading to the metro platform!
A searchlight beam lit up a round, bright area, but the tunnel corner was empty.
Su Li frowned slightly, just about to speak to Wu Hen when he suddenly closed his eyes and turned his ear towards that direction.
He was sure that there was something at the corner of the tunnel; the sound of bones twisting had become very faint!
"There's definitely something!" Wu Hen said with certainty.
At this moment, Su Li thought of something and immediately raised the tactical light and gun barrel to focus on the top of the tunnel!
The top was also pitch-black, but as the tactical light swept over, an evil spirit was revealed, lying upside down in the ventilation duct. Its skin was so similar to lime plaster that, even when illuminated, it could be mistaken for a patch of weathered plaster if not looked at carefully!
Seeing the evil spirit, Su Li's pupils also dilated, showing how terrifying it was.
"It's the Midnight Mass. It's stronger than an evil spirit; we can't kill it with firearms!" Su Li whispered.
"How are we supposed to get past it?"
"Keep it in the light, and it won't move," Su Li said.
Wu Hen had lived in his rural hometown for some time as a child and had been scared by a wall-corner-dwelling, hairy white-browed high-leg spider at night.
One might say that the Midnight Mass on the tunnel's top bore a similar shape to the rural high-leg spider, but its terrifying presence was magnified countless times!
Ignoring it would be one thing.
But they had to keep it in the light, never letting their gaze shift away, as if giving a terrifying scene a close-up: gruesome and disgusting right in their faces!
"It hates light sources. In daytime, they turn into grey statues, but if we try to defeat it with firepower or brute force, we'll be torn to pieces," Su Li remained calm as she slowly walked with Wu Hen towards the tunnel corner.
Su Li's hand was steady. The tactical light's bright circle had a diameter of less than two meters, just enough to cover the Midnight Mass!
But as they got closer to the Midnight Mass, the tactical light's bright area shrank to about a meter in diameter.
Terrifyingly, the Midnight Mass moved!!
In the illuminated area, it looked like a plaster statue, but in the dim parts without light, its eight legs wriggled!
"Not good!" Su Li exclaimed.
The Midnight Mass moved extremely quickly. In the instant its eight legs were in the dark, it crawled down the wall and reached the corner!
Luckily, Su Li reacted promptly, swiftly lowering the tactical light and precisely locking the Midnight Mass's hind legs!
Its front legs were already on the ground, while its hind legs still clung to the wall.
At this distance, the light circle's diameter was less than a meter, but Su Li cleverly used the light to lock its hind legs still on the wall, preventing it from getting down!
In such a harrowing scene right before them, Wu Hen's heart felt like it would jump out of his throat!
If it weren't for his aunt's quick reaction and wisdom, he would be dead now!!
"Move, move, move!" Su Li, already sweating, urged Wu Hen to move.
Wu Hen led the way.
Su Li followed closely behind.
Her hand was taut, not daring to tremble even slightly, for the light source had to keep the Midnight Mass immobilized. Otherwise, it could easily move using its other legs!
They had to move.
The light source couldn't deviate at all.
Thus, Su Li took each step with great caution, her hand steady as a rock!
Though Wu Hen was curious and doubtful, he didn't dare to disturb Su Li, who was intensely focused.
Luckily, Su Li remained calm and collected. As they distanced themselves from the Midnight Mass, the tactical light's circle grew larger.
Finally, the light circle expanded enough to fully envelop the Midnight Mass's body and legs, allowing them to pass the tunnel corner.
"Whew~"
Passing the corner, Su Li finally sighed in relief.
"Good thing you awakened your listening sense, or we would have been ambushed crossing over!" Su Li said.
"Aunt, next time you go out, can't you bring a big searchlight? That would make me feel much safer," Wu Hen said.
Upon hearing this, Su Li lightly tapped Wu Hen's head with a smile, "In this soil where electricity fails, a little bit of glowing energy costs half a Yuan You Fragment."
"Electricity fails?" Wu Hen was also puzzled.
"You've just awakened and don't understand many things, which is normal. Regardless, let's survive tonight and leave this city tomorrow," Su Li said.
Wu Hen had a good impression of his aunt.
Whether it was rescuing him from being sacrificed on the street with a gun or expertly shooting down the Black Sun Evil Spirit or calmly dealing with the Midnight Mass, she was brave and cool. If she wore a red cheongsam, she'd completely match his favorite, Ada Wang.
Entering this real world, Wu Hen felt like a newborn, yet his aunt had given him great security in this short time.
So, Wu Hen hesitated, wondering if he should reveal that he was a Top Numberer to her.
…
At the platform was a metro train.
Inside the train car, many glowing fireflies provided some visibility. Otherwise, it would have been completely dark.
"Su Li is back!"
Someone inside the train car recognized her in the dim light.
"Yes, open the door; I've cut ties with the Black Shirt Organization," Su Li told the person inside.
"So, must we leave this city?" a man with glasses inside asked.
"Yes, it's not worth staying here. We still need to find the Nuwa Divine Tree," Su Li said.
"Defying the Black Shirt Organization means we can't survive anywhere..." the man with glasses said.
"Stop talking. Open the door; there's a Midnight Mass outside!" Su Li demanded.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the train car panicked, anxiously scanning the dark platform and walls and even the train car's top.
"Your decision doesn't represent everyone. I think the Black Shirt Organization can protect us," the man with glasses remarked, his hand resting on the door handle.
"Bang!!!!" Suddenly, Su Li fired a shot.
The loud gunshot echoed on the platform, even sparking on the train car's top!
"Next shot, I'll hit the glass. Then we can gamble on who becomes the Midnight Mass's dinner first!" Su Li coldly said after the noise subsided.
She aimed at the train car's glass, and her eyes showed that if the door didn't open, she would break their refuge!
"Click!"
The train door slowly opened, pushed by three men together.
"Click!"
The door quickly closed again, not leaving a crack.
At first, Wu Hen was unsettled by the fireflies flying around him, but seeing the pitch-black, abyss-like platform, he found these glowing bugs rather cute.
They felt like a starry bath, comforting his eyes and offering a bit of solace.
"Remember, who found this refuge car. If you disagree with my decisions, you can leave." Su Li walked to the man with glasses and slapped him hard.
His glasses flew off; anger filled his eyes, but he dared not react and hid in a corner.
"Su Li, what should we do next? Without the Black Shirt Organization's protective water, we'll be eaten by those evil spirits," a scarred uncle asked, using a negotiating tone.
"I've checked the old train station. There's an old freight train that can start. When the White Day is up, we'll leave this evil soil on it," Su Li said.
It was clear that these refugees took Su Li as their leader.
She must have led them to survive in this bizarre world for a long time.
"The train needs power. Do we have any?" the man with glasses asked, coming out of the corner.
"I have half a Yuan You Fragment left," Su Li said.
"Old trains burn coal; can't we just find some coal?" Wu Hen asked.
Hearing this, the man with glasses showed disdain and a hint of barely noticeable disgust, explaining impatiently, "Under the evil sun, ordinary flames can't burn."
Wu Hen glanced instinctively at Su Li's gun.
Could it be that guns here didn't follow physical rules?
Newly arrived, Wu Hen realized he had much to learn.
The good news was that his aunt and these people shared his goal.
The Nuwa Divine Tree they mentioned should be the Nuwa God End he needed to reach?
"Where am I??"
"Who are you people??"
"Don't come near me!!"
Suddenly, a girl of seventeen or eighteen in the car screamed, full of vigilance, confusion, and anxiety.
"She woke up?" The others weren't too surprised.
"Xiao Yun, explain the situation to her. Everyone else, come here for tasks," Su Li said calmly.
Wu Hen observed the "awakened" girl, noting how she resembled himself upon entering the otherworldly realm, her pupils shocked and disbelieving.
"Xiao Yun?" Su Li looked at Wu Hen.
"Oh, oh, okay." Wu Hen snapped out of it.
She was calling him!
But he, too, had just transmigrated.
Yet Wu Hen didn't want to reveal himself so soon, so he went ahead.
Thus, a clueless young man confidently approached the panicked girl...
Bluffing, freshly awakened girls were the easiest to fool!