Chapter 863: Eerie Shifts Under the Red Moon
by xennovel“Eh?”
Doll tilted her head curiously as she looked at Lu Xin. Her innate sensitivity to mental power made it clear: Lu Xin seemed different from before. Previously, behind his calm façade, he had suppressed a volcano of terrifying emotion. Now, a different kind of serene and vast mental power had emerged, softening him.
Though his smile now felt a bit forced, it was still…
Beautiful!
With that thought, she happily forgot the second time Lu Xin had caused her to fall and reached out her hand to him.
Their palms met, and as the mental power spread, they walked side by side.
The atmosphere warmed slightly at that moment, and the night breeze grew gentler.
Doll felt completely content. As they walked, she tilted her head, seemingly ready to speak.
But suddenly, Lu Xin stopped in his tracks, standing like a wooden pole, his expression turning stern.
She didn’t pull him along; instead, she felt his palm rapidly grow ice-cold.
This sudden chill made Doll uneasy.
……
……
“What is this feeling…”
At that moment, the glow of the Red Moon turned eerily enchanting.
Lu Xin, bathed in the red light, slipped into a brief trance.
A shiver from deep within his mind arose unexpectedly, swiftly enveloping his entire body.
Pulling Doll close, his eyes darted around anxiously as black particles trembled in his gaze.
He couldn’t explain what was happening, yet an unfamiliar crisis surged within him.
Gazing at the Red Moon high above, his vision blurred slightly.
Whether an illusion or not, in that fleeting moment he saw countless bizarre images—twisting lights forming scenes, with violent electrical currents striking beneath a massive, ferocious grotesque tree…
“What’s happening?”
Lu Xin’s eyes widened, and every hair on his body seemed to stand on end.
In the air, faint ripples—almost like subtle electrical radiations—spread across the wasteland.
The images emerged strangely and then dissipated like clouds.
Before he could discern their truth, a hollow feeling overwhelmed him.
It was as if two spaces had suddenly lost pressure due to a vanished portal, creating an unbearable discomfort.
For reasons unknown, a sharp pain suddenly exploded in the palm of his right hand.
Looking down, he saw a black nail forming on his palm, growing increasingly real as if it were piercing his skin. Bright red blood dripped steadily to the ground.
“Ouch…”
Doll, worried, clutched his hand and stared at the unmistakably real nail.
“Don’t worry…”
Pulling himself together, Lu Xin quickly reassured her, “I’m not the one in trouble.”
“But…”
He paused, his face hardening. “We need to get back immediately!”
Without another word, he stepped forward, grasping Doll’s hand and drawing close to her.
In the next moment, both their bodies trembled violently, merging like overlapping shadows as they flashed toward Qinggang in the distance; under the Red Moon, only faint afterimages lingered.
He couldn’t pinpoint what had just happened, but the nail in his right palm suddenly sent a burst of intense pain through him.
Another gut instinct of danger instantly gripped his heart.
Something big was about to unfold.
……
……
“Attention, all Special Cleaning Department personnel. All recipients of this message, please note…”
“Regardless of your division within the Special Cleaning Department, return to your post immediately.”
“Special talents Level Four and above, report to the Special Cleaning Department Main Building 6-2 meeting room at once…”
“Searching for Doll. Searching for Doll…”
“Initiate a citywide search for Doll. If found, report immediately to your superiors…”
“……”
When Lu Xin returned to Qinggang, everything appeared orderly—as if normal residents were untouched—yet both the Security Hall and the City Defense were clearly in a state of panic.
Especially, frantic information flooded the headsets perched near the temples in the Security Hall.
“This is bad…”
Listening intently, Lu Xin felt his heart sink.
He had only been with Doll for a short while, and it nearly led to disaster.
He quickly signaled Doll to return to his villa and contact the nanny teams over there.
Meanwhile, rather than taking the subway or a cab as before, he looked up and saw his Sister swiftly descending from the rooftop of a nearby building. As a mental entity, she had sensed his return to Qinggang and appeared immediately under his influence.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Xin flickered into view on the side of a building and cradled his Sister in his arms.
Within a few steps, he dashed to the building’s roof. Under the Red Moon, his form flashed as he reappeared several hundred meters away.
It was as if he had mastered real-world space traversal.
Now, Lu Xin felt a subtle change; beneath the Red Moon’s glow, he could appear anywhere at will.
……
……
“Alright, the nanny team just reported that Doll is safe and back.”
“What about the Single Soldiers? Notifications have been sent…”
Arriving at the Special Cleaning Department’s sixth-floor meeting room, Lu Xin saw Chen Jing striding quickly from the far end of the corridor. Beside her, Mizang, dressed in a pink suit, balanced a stack of freshly printed materials while his two slender tentacles swiftly dialed on his phone. Suddenly, he looked up and spotted Lu Xin.
Startled, Mizang dropped the materials and quickly crouched to retrieve them.
At the same time, one of his tentacles gently prodded Chen Jing’s thigh.
“Eh?”
Chen Jing, equally surprised, looked up at Lu Xin with a fleeting daze.
“Did the Single Soldier put on makeup?”
She couldn’t understand what the Single Soldier was doing at this hour—apparently, he even applied heavy makeup. Strangely, it made him look even more attractive.
“What is he up to?”
In the next moment, Chen Jing snapped back, almost embarrassed by her own thought.
She let out a relieved sigh, looked up at the Single Soldier, and anxiously said, “Quick, follow me.”
Lu Xin wasn’t sure why Chen Jing’s expression had changed so suddenly; he worried that his sudden appearance might have startled her.
He quickly nodded and followed her into the meeting room, his curiosity urging him, “What’s going on?”
“We still don’t know…”
Chen Jing replied briskly, “But just now, every instrument in Qinggang used to detect external mental radiation showed wildly erratic and complex readings—with data gaps so huge it was frightening, as if the area were crawling with mental monsters. And yet, when I checked with City Defense, there were no signs of any mental entities approaching.”
“That can only mean…”
“…”
Before she could finish, red alert lights began flashing wildly at the far end of the corridor.
“Blackwater Town, Cigarette Market, Misty Village… Soda City…”
“Several settlements partnered with Qinggang—even High-wall City—have sent urgent rescue reports…”
“They’re suffering severe mental pollution…”
“And the pollution’s nature remains unknown…”
“……”
At that moment, Chen Jing and Lu Xin had just stepped into the meeting room.
The abrupt reports shocked her, and her face shifted ever so slightly.
How could so many places be calling for aid at once?
“This can only point to one thing…”
Almost simultaneously, a display screen at the head of the meeting room lit up to reveal Professor Bai’s face. He looked as if he had just been jolted awake from bed—dressed in luxurious silk pajamas and wearing a crooked sleep cap.
Yet his expression was gravely serious: “The impact isn’t limited to Qinggang…”
As he spoke, he quickly grabbed a phone and ordered, “City Defense, activate the emergency intelligence system.”
“I need to know immediately what’s happening in these areas.”
“……”
Professor Bai’s decision had an immediate effect on Chen Jing. Before she could say much more, she pulled out several phones in the meeting room. Qinggang was now vastly different—rich in resilience and power. Even in the face of sudden crises, it had the strength to investigate quickly.
Amid the chaotic yet methodical hustle, Lu Xin sat in the chair at the head of the meeting room.
He fell into deep thought, replaying the images he had witnessed.
The terrifying surge of electricity that struck the base of that grotesque tree—and the searing pain from the nail in his right palm…
What did it signify?
Why had he suddenly been overwhelmed by an inexplicable chill?
Wasn’t it just when he first gained a hint of his primordial power for protection? What could have shaken him so profoundly?
“All special intel agents are now active and receiving information…”
“Reports indicate an unknown, mental overlord–level monster in Blackwater Town…”
“Cigarette Market is experiencing a rapid outbreak of collective nightmares…”
“A mysterious ghost-type train is moving through Misty Village, luring residents to the platform; its level remains immeasurable…”
“……”
Within just five minutes, a flood of rough intel had arrived from various locations within Qinggang’s sphere—brief messages that couldn’t form full reports.
Yet, they explained a great deal.
Professor Bai yanked off his sleep cap, his silver hair tousled.
“Could it be…”
His voice, as if soaked in ice, sent a chill down everyone’s spine: “A true…”
“…Second Descent?”
－－－－－－Off-topic－－－－－－
Now comes the part that’s the hardest to write but yields the most spectacular scenes…
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