Chapter 187: Dream of the Ritual

In another room not far from the detention cell, Song Cheng subconsciously held his breath, watching the images displayed on the screen, along with various readings and layered analysis videos with filters shown on several other monitors beside it.

Bai Liqing sat nearby, watching those images with a calm expression.

"Director, did you see clearly just now?" Song Cheng turned his head slightly, glancing at the expressionless Bai Liqing, "When that doll acted just now..."

"I saw it," Bai Liqing said lightly, "Some kind of 'thread' of unknown nature with physical volume, capable of acting on both body and spirit simultaneously, but... it is different from the threads used by the Alice Doll in my memory."

Song Cheng nodded with a serious expression, his gaze returning to the surveillance footage before him.

When Yu Sheng was "reasoning" with that cultist, he felt no surprise; when Yu Sheng and Hu Li healed that cultist three times in a row and then "criticized" him three times, neither he nor Bai Liqing reacted much—after all, one was a squad leader of an action team, the other the director of the Special Affairs Bureau, both accustomed to bloody storms; although bound by numerous duties and rules, dealing lethal blows to cultists was common; Yu Sheng's "interrogation" method of only fighting and not questioning, though stylistically unique, was acceptable to them.

But after Erin acted, the situation became somewhat different.

"The equipment just recorded a series of special energy spikes," a middle-aged man in a technician's uniform sat nearby, speaking while monitoring the data changes recorded by the equipment, "The waveforms are very strange; their characteristics do not match any 'power' in our records, including the blessings bestowed by the Ancient Spirits or the spells mastered by those 'cultivators'."

As the technician spoke, he switched the waveform graph to the screens in front of Song Cheng and Bai Liqing; they saw a series of violently oscillating curves appear on the coordinate graph, with many parts of the curves even exceeding the limits of the axes, while another set of three-dimensional graphics appeared beside the axes, their complex, shifting surfaces dazzling to the eye.

"... Many characteristic points even exceeded the instrument's detection range," Bai Liqing's eyebrows gradually furrowed; her peripheral vision swept over the doll "Erin" on the main surveillance screen, and while her expression grew somewhat heavy, she continued asking, "Tending toward physical form?"

"Not like physical form; the energy characteristics of physical forms are relatively singular, not this complex, nor would such a breakthrough of monitoring occur."

Bai Liqing hesitated on her face for a rare moment, speaking in a deep voice: "... The Dark Angel?"

The technician's face instantly showed an expression of shock, even bordering on horror, but after seeing the director's serious and calm expression, he swallowed hard, asked no more questions, thought no more, and honestly replied: "No, not like it; at least it cannot be matched in the current database. And speaking outside of technical matters—if the power of the Dark Angel truly entered the real world, then at this very moment, at least this floor would have no survivors left."

Bai Liqing said nothing, merely watching the three figures on the surveillance with a heavy gaze.

First "Yu Sheng," who believed himself human; then Hu Li, highly likely from "outside the world"; now that doll "Erin," exceeding the system's cognition... This "Inn" truly had not a single normal one.

"Continue recording," after a moment, Bai Liqing sighed lightly, "Then, classify everything recorded today as top secret."

Following that field of vision, Yu Sheng walked slowly forward in the empty, abandoned warehouse.

Following Erin's instructions, he tried his best to lower his presence, not looking at irrelevant corners, not attempting to control the "body" he currently possessed.

The bald angel cultist was "dreaming," walking through a scene woven by Erin suitable for memories; he had temporarily forgotten his capture, but if he discovered someone hidden within his thoughts, he would likely wake up instantly.

Within the limited field of vision, Yu Sheng carefully examined this place, listening to the sounds around him.

Car horns could be heard, but they were very distant; it seemed this place was some distance from the bustling city district. In the field of vision, many stacked canned containers could be seen, with pipes hanging down from the steel framework above; some metal cans still bore danger markings covered by wear or grime... A chemical warehouse?

There was no light around, but sunlight poured down from several high windows; the time should be early morning or dusk. Some corners of the warehouse looked exceptionally dark, but it was unknown whether this was so in reality, or whether the cultist's memory had "blocked" this part of the memory scene...

Extra footsteps came from nearby, quickly attracting Yu Sheng's attention.

He saw the perspective he was currently "parasitizing" cautiously observing left and right, then seemingly noticing some code on the surface of a metal can; the owner of the perspective seemed relieved, then bypassed the huge metal can, entering a secret room through a passage at the end of the warehouse—a dim electric lamp lit the secret room, and strangely shaped, lit candles were placed on the floor; several figures stood around the candles, seemingly having waited for a long time.

Several figures?

... The "angel cultists" hiding in Border City, worshipping some mysterious Dark Angel, were indeed more than just the two captured!

Yu Sheng's heart stirred; he subconsciously looked at those figures, wanting to discern their faces.

However, the next second, he discovered that every person's face seemed shrouded in a layer of black mist; even their entire bodies were obscured by a vague sense of distortion; no matter how hard he tried, he could not see clearly. A vague sense of rejection suddenly came; Yu Sheng's heart tightened, and he quickly stopped this "gaze" that easily exposed his presence.

The faces and figures of the other members were hidden... Did they use some method in the real world to conceal themselves, to prevent exposure of others if one member was captured? Or was it some "protection mechanism" rooted in the subconscious, causing this captured cultist, even in the most relaxed dream state, to actively "blur" his accomplices?

Yu Sheng thought silently, while continuing to lower his presence, observing the subsequent actions of these mysterious figures.

"You are late."

One of the vague black shadows seemed to turn its head, looking at the latecomer.

"Negotiating with that member of the Oddity Association took more time; I had to be cautious to prevent him from suspecting," the perspective Yu Sheng was parasitizing replied, "He has just come into contact with the Master's guidance; he is not yet pious or firm enough, still in a state of wariness toward us."

Yu Sheng instantly focused his attention: They were discussing the matter of "Old Zheng"!

"Hmm... Is the progress smooth?" another figure spoke up at this moment.

"Everything is smooth; the target person has been seeking a way to combat the 'Fairy Tale' for years; his longing for this path surpasses everything; although there is still doubt, I believe he has recently begun trying the spirit-summoning art I left him—the Master's power has already taken root in his mind; 'conversion' is only a matter of time."

"... Then, should we really accept such a 'convert'?" someone else spoke from a corner, "He is not a qualified vessel; he merely happens to meet our current needs; if he truly converts into a devout believer, combined with his connection to the 'Fairy Tale,' it might instead interfere with the Master's descent process..."

"Deal with him after the matter is concluded," the one who spoke first said, his tone indifferent, "Being able to provide some help for the Master's descent is already his greatest honor; dying with an innocent body is the Master's grace toward him—and someone with status in a large organization, once exposed, will cause great trouble; he cannot be kept too long."

The other figures immediately nodded one after another, expressing approval.

This matter was thus settled.

After looking at each one in turn/p>

Then, Yu Sheng suddenly felt the scene before him shake; the environment in this dream changed again—

Still in the management room of that old warehouse, but the shaking black shadows around had changed positions at some point, seemingly arranged around those candles according to specific directions; one shadow stepped forward, adding some kind of spice to the candle flames; then these figures bent down, cooperating with each other to smear blood on the ground.

They chanted obscure, hard-to-pronounce incantations, praying devoutly; the candle flames flickered, gradually shaking into a unified frequency with the sound of prayer; the spice spread eerie colors in the firelight; smoke rose up, surrounding the black shadows like some kind of solid curtain; they drank suspicious liquids and began chanting in unison—

"We pray to you, wishing you to break free soon;

"We pray to you, wishing you to wake soon;

"We pray to you, wishing you to descend soon;

"We chant your name, letting you find the path to wakefulness in this chanting; we chant your name, just as you heard when you set out on that distant, endless path—

"an-ka-ai-la—Mother and Cradle, Hope and Future!

"Protector! Soother! The First and Final Caretaker! Chanter! Comforter! Nurturer of infants and children!

"an-ka-ai-la!

"You and those you protect will eventually break free from that shell—the realm prepared for your descent is about to open..."

The cultists prayed, chanting with extreme uniformity as if controlled by a single mind, while constantly repeating a strangely pronounced word; and as this bizarre, unsettling ritual proceeded, Yu Sheng saw a hole quietly crack open on the roof; a terrible, ugly tentacle poked out from that hole, emitting a headache-inducing noise and a hissing, scratching sound.

The cultists instantly fell into some kind of frenzy; even though their faces were unclear, that joy seemed to condense into physical form, filling the entire sacrificial site.

However, just as that tentacle was about to touch the cultists, about to bestow a new "blessing," the burning candles on the floor suddenly made crackling sounds—seemingly caused by excessive impurities leading to explosions; the originally uniform, trembling flames lost control; the curtain formed by rising smoke, symbolizing some kind of "boundary," suddenly tore and faded away.

That tentacle let out a piercing shriek and vanished into the air in the blink of an eye.

(End of Chapter)