Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Blood Coffin
Yang Xiao’s head buzzed, and he asked subconsciously, "Director, has anyone organized a rescue? Is there really no news of Zhao and the others?"
Nalan Shuo lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, "Yang Xiao, being new you might not understand, but in situations like this, there’s almost no possibility of rescue. They have to rely on themselves, and now that they have been missing for an entire night, so..."
The director’s words made it very clear, Kuang Hongyi and the other five were already dead. Yang Xiao immediately thought of the six black coffins he had dreamt of last night, and he told Nalan Shuo about it, who was greatly surprised, but he also had no idea what was going on.
Logically speaking, since Yang Xiao had removed the Resentful Eye that caused the supernatural event in the Fengmen Town Wasteland, there shouldn’t have been another supernatural event occurring.
Not to mention Yang Xiao’s bizarre dream—this time, he dreamt of six black coffins, exactly the number of missing people from Fengmen Town Wasteland.
If all these were coincidences, even Nalan Shuo wouldn’t believe it.
As if he had thought of something, Nalan Shuo stood up and walked to his desk, picking up the landline phone, "I, Nalan Shuo, am checking which team was on duty last night. Call the person in charge to my office, yes, right now."
Within just a few minutes, a tall man with a crew cut arrived, his dark green short-sleeved shirt showing sweat stains, "Director, you called for me?"
"Was it your team on duty last night?"
"Yes."
"Did you notice any anomalies?"
"No."
"Did the technical department’s detectors set up inside the building detect any unusual signals?" Nalan Shuo continued to inquire.
The man, clearly perplexed, still answered, "No, the detectors were operating normally. As required, we checked the instruments every two hours and found no unknown signal sources."
"What about you all? Did anyone staying in the building last night encounter anything strange, like having nightmares or anything of the sort?"
"No." The crew-cut man stood at attention, "Please rest assured, Director. We have all been trained. If we encounter anything strange, we would report it immediately."
After sending the man away, Director Nalan looked at Yang Xiao with a more complicated gaze, "You’ve heard it, right? This time, your dream was different from the one you had at the hotel; it didn’t have any effect. Out of safety concerns, our Bureau building is specially equipped with detectors for uncontrolled Resentful Eyes, which are regularly calibrated by the technical department, and no outbreak of Resentful Eyes was detected."
"So this means only I was affected by the Drama Robe this time." Yang Xiao’s head began to feel chaotic.
"Right, there’s something else I need to inform you of. The matter in Fengmen Town has blown up, and the provincial bureau has already sent someone down. They’re specifically here to understand the situation from you. They’ll probably arrive soon."
Nalan Shuo looked at Yang Xiao, reminding him, "Remember, don’t talk nonsense, and don’t lie. The man coming is called Mr. Yan Zhen, he possesses a very powerful Resentful Eye that can discern whether what you’re saying is true or false."
Yang Xiao was taken aback, "There’s such a Resentful Eye? But...but please rest assured, Director, how could I possibly lie? After all, I’m involved in this matter too."
"Hmm, keep the matter of his Resentful Eye ability to yourself; don’t go spreading it around," Nalan Shuo said in a much softer tone.
Yang Xiao nodded repeatedly, knowing that Director Nalan was looking out for him by giving him a heads-up to keep him out of trouble.
About half an hour later, Mr. Yan Zhen arrived, bringing along a young man who appeared to be his assistant.
When he saw the man, Yang Xiao was truly surprised. The person was around 60 years old, wearing a blue Daoist robe embroidered with clouds and flowing silver galaxies, his slightly graying hair neatly combed into a topknot typical of a Daoist priest, with sharp brows and starry eyes, exuding a transcendental aura.
He nodded at Director Nalan and without any unnecessary pleasantries, turned his head to look at Yang Xiao, "You are Yang Xiao?"
"I am." Yang Xiao answered firmly.
"I’ve been dispatched here by the provincial bureau, and everyone calls me Master Zhenyan. I’ve come today with some official business to ask you, and I hope you will answer truthfully."
"Of course."
The four of them sat down on the couch, and Master Zhenyan’s expression became increasingly solemn. Yang Xiao noticed that he was also fidgeting with a strangely textured Safe and Sound Talisman in his hands.
"Do you know Zhao Yuanpei from the Rongcheng Anping District Patrol Bureau?"
"I do, he recommended me to join the Patrol Bureau. We met during the last mission in the Nightmare World."
"He disappeared not long ago, did you know that?"
"I did, just heard it from Director Nalan. It was in that same Fengmen Town Wasteland where we had our last mission."
"Did you have any contact with him before he disappeared?"
"I sent him a message, but he didn’t reply to me."
"What was the content?"
"He messaged me first, telling me the time and place to meet with Director Nalan. I wanted to ask for more information about future leadership." Yang Xiao answered very sincerely.
"Before Zhao Yuanpei disappeared, you met with him in a coffee shop. What did you talk about? Did you notice anything unusual about him?"
"We met because he wanted to pull me into the Patrol Bureau; he was the one who suggested the meeting. In the last moment before leaving the Nightmare World, the content of our conversation was all about the Resentful Eye and the Patrol Bureau. I don’t understand these things, so I had to ask him," Yang Xiao paused, thought for a moment, and shook his head, "I didn’t notice anything unusual about him."
"What do you think about his disappearance in Fengmen Town?"
"I... I don’t know. I’m a bit panicked. After all, by all accounts, the supernatural incidents there had been resolved, and I have the Resentful Eye with me."
The two exchanged questions and answers, while the young assistant remained silent throughout, busily taking notes, occasionally lifting his head to adjust his glasses.
"Where is the Resentful Eye that you obtained?"
"Right here." Yang Xiao picked up his backpack and took out the Drama Robe, placing it on the table.
"We would like to take a look at it and will return it to you afterward. Is that okay?" Master Yan Zhen did not reach out to take it directly but first asked for Yang Xiao’s permission.
"Of course, help yourself."
Master Yan Zhen turned his head to look at the assistant and ordered, "Take a photo and send it back to headquarters. Have the data center look into it."
The assistant nodded, put down his notebook, and pulled out a pair of silver gloves that seemed to have a metallic texture from his pocket. He put on the gloves before touching and photographing the Drama Robe.
Yang Xiao suddenly remembered that the so-called technical department people he had seen before also had such items, and their clothes were made of a similar material.
"I heard from Director Nalan that you recently had a strange dream, which triggered a Minor Level supernatural event."
"Yes, after that dream ended, I found myself wearing this Drama Robe, but I hadn’t put it on myself. Right, just last night, I had another dream."
"Oh?" Master Yan Zhen’s gaze paused, and he couldn’t help but grip the Safe and Sound Talisman tightly. If one looked closely, they could see a strange black light flowing across the talisman, "Please tell me more about it."
"It was like this. I was staying over at the Bureau, and then, in my sleep at night, I saw that funeral procession again. The hallway outside my office was filled with fog, that sort of ashen-colored fog, and the space in the hallway seemed infinitely large. Then, the procession burst out of the fog, with people wearing mourning attire and strange makeup on their faces, like paper effigies. They were carrying a big coffin, and then... then there were six black coffins emerging from the fog behind it."
"Six coffins?" Master Yan Zhen raised his eyebrows, "That’s the same as the number of people who disappeared with Zhao Yuanpei."
"Right, I also found it strange."
The next second, Master Yan Zhen sharply turned to look at Yang Xiao, his voice carrying an undeniable authority, "You described the six coffins behind as black, but you didn’t give a similar description for the large coffin at the front. Did you not see it clearly, or are you deliberately hiding something?"
In that instant, Yang Xiao’s mind went blank, as if invaded by some eerie force. He stuttered, "No... it’s not that I’m hiding it, I just overlooked it just now. That coffin is... is..."
"What does it look like?" Master Yan Zhen tightened his grip on the Safe and Sound Talisman, and if one looked closely, they could see an eerie black glow streaming from it.
But the next second, something even more bizarre happened. The image of the Big Red Blood Coffin clearly surfaced in Yang Xiao’s mind, yet he couldn’t describe it. Every time he tried to utter the words red or blood, he felt as if his heart was about to explode, as though grasped by an icy hand. Instinctively, he sensed this hand was connected to the Blood Coffin, and it was that of a woman. Beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and Yang Xiao’s body could not help trembling. He almost cried out, "It’s... it’s black, a black coffin, just like the six behind it!"
Only after Yang Xiao spoke these words did the chaotic feeling in his brain suddenly disappear, and the hand gripping his heart vanished as well.
When he came back to his senses, he saw Nalan Shuo placing a hand on Master Yan Zhen’s arm, grasping the arm holding the talisman. Nalan Shuo’s expression was half-smiling, "Master Yan, I’m still here. To go so far against my brother in front of me, do you hold me in regard at all?"
Master Yan Zhen laughed heartily and waved his hands, "Director Nalan, what are you talking about? I’m merely following orders. This matter is of such great importance, I had to be cautious."
"Have you found any sign of him lying?"
"No, the young man is telling the truth," Master Yan Zhen returned to his serious demeanor, quietly releasing the Safe and Sound Talisman.
Seeing the situation turning awkward, the assistant quickly interjected, "Mr. Yan Zhen, Director Nalan, the data department at headquarters has replied. They say they do not have any information on this Resentful Eye."
With the assistant’s interruption, Nalan Shuo sat back on the sofa with his usual calm expression, lighting a cigarette for himself and casually tossing the cigarette box on the table.
Master Yan Zhen took a deep breath, "It means that this Resentful Eye was not previously registered. It’s either a new Resentful Eye or its previous owner has perished, and the former possessor is not an Official Apostle with a traceable record."
