Chapter 31: The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

"Go split the screen for me, and display the current situation in the Arakawa District on one side," Director Saito ordered.

"Yes!"

A dozen seconds later.

On the large conference room screen, the image split in two: half showed the scene at Yunhu Lake, the other half showed the Arakawa District.

"This..."

A high-ranking government official shot up, knocking over the chair behind him.

Stunned everyone present.

On the screen, the Arakawa District was shaking; great trees lay toppled, uprooted, while buildings swayed like flat boats in a stormy sea, battered by wind and rain, ready to capsize at any moment.

The situation was dire, chaos reigned, countless people fled in all directions in sheer terror, and traffic was gridlocked.

"Exactly the same."

The drunk executive shook his head, trying to shake off the intoxication, glancing back and forth between the two screens.

Setting aside the chaotic crowd in the Arakawa District, the scene at Yunhu Lake matched the earthquake situation in the Arakawa District perfectly.

The same streets, the same earthquake conditions.

Trees fell; in Yunhu Lake, the corresponding trees fell at the exact same moment.

A streetlight pole snapped in Yunhu Lake, and the corresponding pole in the Arakawa District snapped too.

"Could the Yunhu Lake image truly be a mirror reflecting the actual situation in the Arakawa District?"

"No... actually, it's possible the world within the lake is the real one. After all, there are no people in Yunhu Lake. If it were truly a mirror reflection, why haven't the others been reflected in?"

Inside the conference room, two factions began to argue.

Just as everyone was arguing endlessly, each holding to their own viewpoint.

Due to his drunkenness, the drunk executive, who had not joined the discussion, sat slumped in his seat, listening to the crowd debate, when he casually glanced at the screen, his face instantly changed color, and he let out a startled cry.

"What is that thing?!"

Everyone froze, then followed the drunk executive's gaze toward the screen.

In an instant!

The conference room fell suddenly silent; one could hear a pin drop.

"Oh my god!!"

"I must be dreaming, right!?"

Everyone felt their scalps explode; a bone-chilling cold rose rapidly from the soles of their feet, shooting straight to their foreheads, threatening to burst through the crown of their skulls, freezing their very souls, leaving them trembling uncontrollably.

At that moment.

Under the twilight sky, on the streets of the Sakura-no-Hana Corporation building.

Mizuno Yuichi and the others were terrified, their faces filled with dread.

In this familiar yet strange unknown place, the sudden earthquake created a sense of unease.

"Don't panic, it's just an earthquake..."

Sakada Wenzhijie shouted; in such an unknown place, the crowd absolutely must not lose order, for once they do, the situation will only worsen.

"Right, it's just an earthquake, don't panic; it seems our location here is not the epicenter."

President Yamazaki quickly spoke up as well.

They tried their best to comfort themselves and calm their panic.

Don't be afraid; we've experienced so many strange things, even seen ancient cities; what else is there to fear? We must stay calm!

Yes!

Stay calm!

Just as everyone was encouraging and comforting one another, and the atmosphere of dread began to ease, at that very moment, everyone inexplicably shivered.

It was not a shiver of fear, but a shiver of cold.

"Hmm?"

There was no wind around, yet mist had risen; the fog varied in thickness, spreading from all directions like dry-ice vapor.

As the thin mist spread, reaching everyone's feet and sides, a bone-chilling cold attacked.

Everyone trembled, their skin, bones, and courage turning to ice.

The fog was so cold, cold to the marrow, cold enough to cause trembling, freezing even their souls with a layer of frost.

Unknown mist appeared.

The fearful hearts of the crowd became uneasy once more.

Facing the unknown, humans are most terrified, especially in unknown places and unknown situations.

And now, Mizuno Yuichi and the others were in an unknown place, encountering an unknown situation; the two things humans fear most, the two unknowns, had all befallen them; they had encountered everything.

They panicked.

"Don't..."

Sakada Wenzhijie attempted to comfort them once again, but as soon as he uttered a single word, a chilling, hair-raising terror sound came from all directions: from the sky, from the distance, from every side.

It was like the wailing of the underworld, the roar of a million fierce ghosts, the bellowing of ten thousand demons; the sound shook the blue heavens and startled the nine heavens.

They looked over.

Their breath stopped, their blood ceased to flow.

Everyone's eyes went blank, pupils dilated, losing all color, leaving only an expression named panic and terror.

At this moment.

They completely abandoned self-comfort.

Calm my ass!

This is utterly impossible to stay calm!!

They only wanted to cry, to wail, to curse loudly, to curse the heavens, to hate heaven and earth, to hate why it was them facing this and not others.

But looking at the scene from all directions, they could not make a sound.

Because they felt that if they made a sound, they would absolutely be dead.

Boom.

The earth beat like a heart, shaking violently again and again.

Time and time again, the ground trembled and shook; invisible terror spread and surged, sweeping across the sky, the cloud dome rolled, the setting sun swayed, and the stars flickered and dimmed.

This scene shocked the world; it had the quality of an earthquake wave spreading, affecting a vast area, even the sun, moon, and stars in the sky were affected, as if they were about to be shaken down.

At this moment.

Thin mist had already spread across the streets, filling every alley and lane of the entire city, permeating heaven and earth; the vast sky turned gray, the yellow dusk grew dim, as if this world had entered its final years and was about to be annihilated.

From all directions, even from the sky.

Dense figures surged forward, some flying from the horizon, some rushing from the distance, arriving together.

There were too many people; the figures were numerous, beyond counting.

Originally, in these empty and eerie streets and the silent city, seeing human figures should have been a happy thing.

But Sakada Wenzhijie and the others could not be happy.

Because they knew deeply that humans could not fly, nor could they be huge enough to be larger than a small hill, nor could they...

The setting sun's glow, soft and gentle, shone upon the figures.

Sakada Wenzhijie and the others clearly saw the figures.

They were terrified, trembling to the point of madness, panicked to the point of fainting, to the point of sudden death.

They were not mistaken.

Those figures were not humans at all!

The difference between them and humans was too great...

"De—Demons!"

Mizuno Yu screamed in terror, unable to hold back the cry in his heart.

The crowd panicked, their liver and gallbladder shattered, their hearts about to fail from the fright.

They were absolutely certain; these were demons!

Because these demons looked exactly like the various demon images depicted in Japanese folklore.

Flying Head, Bone Woman, Kappa, Blue Monk, One-Wheeled Cart, Hundred-Eyed Demon, Snow Woman, and other demon images.

Among the surging demons, they could find corresponding images for all of them.

And these demons they were familiar with were only a tiny fraction of these demons.

As for the remaining demons, they could not name them.

But there was no doubt; these were definitely demons too.

Demons as numerous as the stars surged forward; their types were so many they could not be counted at once; they all arrived together, appearing in this twilight world.

This scene stunned countless people.

At twilight, the moment day and night alternate, the chaotic time of light and darkness in heaven and earth.

Ten thousand demons, covering the sky and the earth.

Demons roared, their faces grotesque and terrifying; demonic qi surged to the heavens, shaking all directions; the sun and moon trembled because of it, and the stars seemed to be cracking and about to fall.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department suddenly fell silent.

People fleeing the Arakawa Ward due to the earthquake were stunned, forgetting to run for a moment.

"This is... the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!"

Sakada Wenzhijie completely lost his composure, panicking like an old man who had just learned all his children were dead, full of despair and horror, unwilling to believe reality.

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