Chapter 308: Chapter 267: Night Raid
Risks and rewards indeed went hand in hand, the ability of this copper mirror was beyond doubt, but the side effects it brought were also extremely terrifying. Yang Xiao suspected that if he overused it, he’d likely be replaced by the ghostly figure in the mirror, the one whose face couldn’t be seen clearly.
Returning to his own room, after much hesitation, Yang Xiao dismissed the idea of entering the Mirror World again. He wanted to figure out what that gray figure truly was, but now was not the right time.
In the evening, Brother Wu, who was on duty downstairs, brought them dinner. It was nothing special, just a simple boxed meal. The three of them thanked him and accepted it but left it aside untouched, continuing to munch on bread and instant noodles. Ximen Xiu had wisely brought along plenty of beef jerky and chocolate.
Zhuge Zhijie picked out some dishes from each of the three boxed meals and used the reagents he carried with him to test them. For the moment, he found no problems.
"The captain was right, caution is the parent of safety," said Ximen Xiu, munching on beef jerky. As the jerky was too dry, he paired it with the soup from the instant noodles.
Yang Xiao propped up the pillow and leaned on the bed, still contemplating the earlier events, "Who is leading the support team, and do we know anyone in it?"
"It’s Huang Beibei," said Zhuge Zhijie, nonchalantly tapping on the keyboard while holding a chocolate bar, not even turning his head.
"Beibei’s surname is Huang?"
"Pretty much, she has a temper like one," Ximen Xiu replied with a chuckle.
Time flew by quickly, and it soon became completely dark outside. Yang Xiao’s gun lay under his pillow, ready to be used at any moment. He had a bad feeling that, before the arrival of the support team, things would probably not be very peaceful.
"Zhijie, contact Brother Wu downstairs every 15 minutes, and let me know immediately if anything happens."
"Understood."
As it neared 9 o’clock at night, a ruckus suddenly erupted outside. Yang Xiao told Zhuge Zhijie and Ximen Xiu to stay put and first turned off the room’s lights before going alone to the window. Concealing his body behind the wall, he lifted a corner of the thick curtain and looked out.
Firelight shone from a distant building, the flames fierce, and fires burst out of three or four adjoining windows. The ominous premonition in Yang Xiao’s heart finally came true—the building ablaze was the Qingfeng Patrol Office’s main office building. At the moment, there was a crowd gathered outside, organizing firefighting efforts.
"Send a message to Brother Wu, ask what’s happening."
No sooner had he spoken than Zhuge Zhijie received a reply from Brother Wu, who was stationed downstairs, "Captain, Brother Wu says that Secretary Meng’s office is on fire, and also, the leaders of the Qingfeng Patrol Office want to see us, telling us to come down right now."
Ximen Xiu’s eyebrows rose as he instantly sensed something was amiss, "The main office building is burning, and they’re not hurrying to organize people to save the documents, but they have time to see us?"
"You two stay here, I’ll go take a look," said Yang Xiao, realizing the problem too. The target was him, and staying would only bring trouble to these two brothers.
Grabbing his gun, Yang Xiao pushed the door open and stepped into the corridor, which was eerily quiet. Without another word, he pulled out the Underworld Robe from his backpack and put it on. With the robe on, he felt much more at ease. Then, gripping his gun tightly, he cautiously made his way to the first floor.
From a distance, he could see the light on in the security room, where there was only one person. Judging by the silhouette, it should be Brother Wu, sitting on a chair with his back to Yang Xiao, reading a newspaper.
The next second, without hesitation, Yang Xiao took out the copper mirror, and his figure disappeared instantly.
This act was too fake. The office building was on fire, and instead of going out to check, there was still leisure time to stay in the security room reading a newspaper.
Having tried it before, Yang Xiao was now much more familiar with using the copper mirror. He quickly found a mirror in the security room and appeared behind it.
Peering through the mirror, Yang Xiao had just the right angle to see Brother Wu’s side face. He saw his eyes wide open, veins bulging on his forehead, and his mouth slightly agape—a clear sign of an unpeaceful death. On the body’s neck, Yang Xiao also spotted the familiar dark bruise of a handprint.
This instantly reminded him of the corpses he had seen in Nong Fayo’s backyard, which also had similar handprints around their necks.
According to the forensic doctor present at the time, these people were strangled to death by themselves. Obviously, Brother Wu met the same fate. It seemed that the Evil Cultivators, who had killed Nong Fayo’s family and a few neighboring farmers, had also arrived.
Using his copper mirror, Yang Xiao searched the vicinity but found no ambush. He cautiously stepped out from the mirror in the security room and quickly checked Brother Wu’s body. There were no signs of struggle on the body, indicating that he was killed in a sneak attack without any chance to defend himself.
However, there should have been two people on duty, and now a young man had vanished without a trace. Yang Xiao sincerely hoped he could survive, but he also knew it was almost impossible.
"Thud."
A faint noise suddenly came from the wardrobe in the security room. Yang Xiao reacted swiftly, turning around and firing his gun, "Bang, bang, bang, bang!!"
He emptied half a magazine in a flash, and slowly, blood began to seep out along the wardrobe’s crevices. Yang Xiao approached slowly, then yanked the wardrobe door open. A body clad in the same clothes as Brother Wu tumbled out stiffly and thudded to the ground—it was the missing young man.
The young man’s eyes were wide open, his death the spitting image of Brother Wu’s, his hands curled into claws on his chest, with several bullet holes still oozing blood.
Both bodies were still warm, obviously they had just died not long ago.
Yang Xiao couldn’t understand something—the opponent seemed intent on luring him out, but there were no ambushes nearby. Did they just want to scare him with these two corpses?
