39: Chapter 39 The Truth Behind Willing Suicide, a Crisis for the Survival of Ten Thousand!

In the first few pages, the handwriting was neat and powerful, and the paper still seemed to retain the warmth of when it was written.

Hongxiu wrote about her daily life at the Trialist Academy.

Her excitement when she first successfully summoned spiritual energy, her pride when she first defeated a demon, and her high spirits when she first received her Trialist Qualification Certificate.

She wrote about a girl's dream:

[To become a trialist remembered by history, to protect the countless homes in this world, and to let her future children live in an era where they no longer have to fear the night!]

Between the lines, it was filled with longing for the future and unwavering belief.

She drew many small smiley faces in her diary, with the name of an ordinary person she had helped written next to each one.

Those pages were filled with the purest goodwill and light.

Then, the handwriting began to change...

It was no longer neat, becoming scribbled and messy.

Sometimes a sentence was crossed out and rewritten, rewritten and crossed out again, the paper covered in ink blots and indentations punctured by the pen tip.

Her writing began to frequently feature words like "confused," "lonely," and "trapped."

The firmness in her tone was replaced by a slow, irreversible wear and tear.

She began to question...

Why could the people she risked her life to protect turn around and stab her in the back?

Why did those high and mighty people enjoy the fruits of success while turning a blind eye to the sacrifices of the frontline soldiers?

Why did her most trusted partner choose to betray her at the critical moment and run off with all her savings?

Why did the people she gave everything to help coldly shut their doors when she needed help the most?

Questioning again and again, like a dull knife cutting flesh, slow and cruel.

Turning further, the handwriting in the diary began to show obvious abnormalities.

Some sentences cut off halfway through, jumping to a completely unrelated topic.

Some paragraphs were logically chaotic and contradictory, like a schizophrenic writing two completely opposite things in the same day's diary entry.

She repeatedly scratched the lines [Who on earth am I?] and [Is all of this meaningful?] onto the page with her fingernails.

She scratched so hard that she tore holes in the page.

She also heavily drew a cage with a pen, with a little person inside, and wrote a word next to it... Me.

Lin Ye took a deep breath and continued reading.

Flipping directly to the last few pages, eerily, the handwriting suddenly returned to being neat—even excessively so compared to the first few pages.

It was so neat that it looked as if the line spacing had been measured with a ruler, too neat to be written by a living person.

The tone was calm, like a drowning person who, after choking on their last breath, suddenly stopped struggling and began to smile.

The last sentence had only four words: [Willingly ended my life]

And on the line below those four words, another sentence was added, the ink a deeper color, as if added after a long time... [May the Eternal Night behold me!]

The diary ended here.

Lin Ye closed the notebook.

After a moment of silence, his gaze fell on the cover of the diary.

The two characters for "Hongxiu" were written exceptionally carefully and beautifully, just like the handwriting at the very beginning of the diary.

Filled with longing for the future.

He deduced the truth of the matter.

Hongxiu thought she had willingly pledged her loyalty to the Eternal Night while clear-headed, believing that the decision of [Willingly ended my life] was her own.

But perhaps, from the moment she began to show signs of mental abnormality, she had already been targeted by the Eternal Night organization.

Those chaotic fragments of thought in the diary, those increasingly fractured emotional fluctuations, and that almost pathological denial of her own self-worth were not normal states of mind.

Those were traces of mental control, a long-term and systematic infiltration, guidance, and suggestion.

Pushing her step by step toward that 'willing' ending.

Of course, the trigger for all this was also related to Hongxiu's own rather tragic experiences.

And the emergence of the Eternal Night organization accelerated Hongxiu's breakdown and guided her toward self-destruction.

Tragically,

Until the moment of her death, Hongxiu believed she was making her own choices.

"She was a pitiful soul as well."

Lin Ye closed the diary and put it away.

He did not sympathize with Hongxiu to the point of being soft-hearted.

No small number of people must have died by her hand; the number of Resentful Spirits condensed in the ghost heart was beyond doubt.

But if what was written in the diary was true, then before becoming an executioner, Hongxiu had also been a blade that wanted to protect countless homes.

And what turned her from a blade into an executioner was the Eternal Night organization!

"This Eternal Night is definitely nothing good."

Lin Ye tucked the diary into his pocket, stood at the edge of the ruined villa that had been razed to the ground, and looked down the mountain.

In the distant sky, dark clouds were gathering.

That was in the direction of a small town near Qingzhou City, with a population of tens of thousands.

The black light that Hongxiu had flicked out just before her death a few minutes ago had now reached that small town.

The clouds above the town began to shift.

The light was swallowed up bit by bit, and a layer of grayish-white mist appeared in the sky. This thin mist quickly turned into a thick fog, which then transformed from thick fog into a solid, leaden-gray layer of clouds.

Some eerie power seemed to be descending over the town.

At the foot of the mountain,

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan stood by the off-road vehicle, holding binoculars in one hand. It was very blurry; he couldn't even make out the outlines clearly.

He only knew that...

The dark red ghostly cloud on the mountaintop had suddenly expanded to a terrifying degree a few minutes ago. The entire peak was enveloped in a bloody halo, looking from afar like the precursor to a volcanic eruption.

But just as he thought things were about to spiral completely out of control, the ghostly cloud suddenly began to shrink and collapse.

As if shattered from the inside by something, it quickly dissipated.

The mountaintop was so quiet it made people panic.

"Captain Fang, the resentful energy fluctuations on the mountaintop... are rapidly decaying."

A young team member responsible for monitoring the instruments looked up, his tone filled with uncertainty. "Right now, the psionic structure of the ghost domain is disintegrating on its own very quickly. At this rate, it will completely dissipate in a few minutes at most."

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan's brow furrowed into a tight knot.

A ghost domain disintegrating on its own usually only happened in two situations.

Either the core ghost maintaining the ghost domain had been destroyed, or the core ghost had voluntarily retracted its domain.

If it was the former, it meant the malicious ghost had been killed.

But that was impossible. The only ones who had gone in so far were that group of intern trialists; they couldn't possibly be a match for a malicious ghost-class entity.

Then only the latter remained...

That malicious ghost might have officially broken through to become a Red-clothed Malicious Ghost and was now entering a window of dormancy before a new outbreak!

"Could it be..."

Signalman Zhao Gang hesitated for a moment before finishing his sentence, "If that female ghost really completed her breakthrough and voluntarily retracted her ghost domain, is it possible she plans to leave the ghost domain and come out to cause trouble?"

As soon as he spoke, the expressions of several team members around him changed at the same time.

A Red-clothed Malicious Ghost!

An existence that, theoretically, required a four-star trialist team to have any confidence in suppressing.

Where were they supposed to find a four-star trialist team right now?

The higher-ups had explicitly stated that support would take at least three days!

Once the other party escaped the ghost domain and entered the city during this period, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan turned his head to look in the direction of the distant small town. In the center of the leaden-gray clouds, a dark red vortex had already formed, looking like an eye slowly opening.

Something had happened there too!

"Little Zhao,"

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan suppressed the anxiety in his heart. "Send two people over to investigate. Don't enter the town center; observe from the outskirts and report back at any time. Remember, if you see any abnormalities, do not act without authorization—retreat immediately!"

"Understood."

Signalman Zhao Gang turned and pointed out two team members. After receiving their orders, the two got into another vehicle and sped off toward the small town.

Watching the reconnaissance vehicle drive away, Investigator Zhao Pingchuan looked back at the entrance of the mountain path.

His intuition told him that it was almost certain all the trialists in this round had been killed in action.

He pulled out a manual, intending to write a casualty report.

However...

"Captain Zhao!"

Someone suddenly shouted, "Someone is coming down from the mountain!"

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan whipped his head around.

On the mountain path, several figures were stumbling down.

He froze completely...

It was Su Tang and the others!

Behind her followed Lu Wanqing, Shen Qinghan, Zhou Peng, Zhao Juan, and the others...

On Wang Zheng's shoulder was Jiang Xiaohong, whose state of life or death was unknown!

His mind went briefly blank at this moment.

"You... how did you come out alive?"

Signalman Zhao Gang was young and spoke faster than he thought. Only after the words left his mouth did he realize it was inappropriate, so he quickly corrected himself, "I mean, are you guys okay? What about that thing on the mountain?"

Su Tang gasped heavily for air.

Before she could speak,

Lu Wanqing had already taken over. Her voice was mixed with her still-unsettled panting as she concisely explained everything that had happened on the mountain from beginning to end.

After Investigator Zhao Pingchuan and the others heard this, they fell completely silent.

"You're saying... that guy named Lin Ye led you all the way into the depths of the ghost domain, then covered your retreat so you could get out alive?"

Signalman Zhao Gang's mouth twitched.

He felt like he could understand every word Lu Wanqing said, but when put together, they seemed so foreign.

What did she mean by blowing away over twenty Resentful Spirits with a single strike, including six peak Resentful Spirits?

What did she mean by fighting head-on with a malicious ghost-class entity?

Who was Lin Ye?

A newcomer who had just completed his first trial!

His first trial results were indeed brilliant, but no matter how good they were, he was still just a newcomer with zero real combat experience!

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't connect such a person with those events.

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan's gaze was filled with quiet skepticism.

He was thinking...

Had these trialists suffered too much mental pressure in the ghost domain and experienced a collective cognitive bias?

There were all kinds of bizarre methods in the ghost domain—creating hallucinations, distorting memories, and altering perception were nothing new.

Perhaps everything they saw inside wasn't real at all, so their descriptions weren't the facts either.

He even began to consider a more cautious possibility...

Were the people in front of him really themselves?

Could they have been possessed by ghosts?

Could they be fake people created by some high-level illusion?

The young team members behind him didn't have his professional restraint, and the suspicion on their faces was barely concealed.

"Sis,"

Signalman Zhao Gang tugged at Lu Wanqing's sleeve, "A malicious ghost! That guy Lin Ye was just a pure newcomer when he went in. You're telling us he fought back and forth with a malicious ghost all by himself and sent you guys out safely... Honestly, we really can't believe that."

Another female team member in charge of logistics added in a low voice, "We're not saying you're lying, but when people are in extreme fear, their brains activate a self-defense mechanism. It's normal to see things that aren't real. Maybe you guys... need to rest?"

Another was even more blunt, not even lowering his voice as he muttered to his companion, "They've probably been scared out of their minds."

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan did not stop his subordinates' discussion.

He remained silent throughout, expressing neither belief nor disbelief, only arranging for people to lead Su Tang's group to the nearby command vehicle to rest.

He gave them a few bottles of sports drinks and compressed dry rations, advising, "Recover your strength first, we'll talk about the rest later."

Inside the vehicle,

Su Tang leaned against the car seat, the Silver Moon Wolf curled up at her feet, its tail listlessly resting on the floor.

But its two ears remained perked, turning toward the mountaintop from time to time, as if waiting for a certain footstep.

"They don't believe us."

Zhou Peng sat in the corner, his tone helpless. "But I don't blame them. If I were standing outside listening, I wouldn't believe it either."

"Yeah, for this kind of thing, it's very hard for people who haven't seen it with their own eyes to accept."

Wang Zheng shook his head.

Su Tang's gaze was firm. "Anyway, Lin Ye can definitely do it. The ghost curse on Jiang Xiaohong lifting on its own is the best proof."

In everyone's minds, they recalled the scene of coming down the mountain.

Originally, even though Jiang Xiaohong used all his curse energy to suppress it, and Wanqing used her spiritual power to help him resist...

It still didn't alleviate much.

By all rights, Jiang Xiaohong should have been dead.

And then?

That ghost curse broke on its own!

"There's only one situation that could allow him to save his life: the ghost that cast the curse is completely dead."

Su Tang's gaze swept over everyone.

The cabin fell silent for a few seconds.

"What use is that?"

Zhou Peng's voice was muffled. "Those people outside don't believe us at all."

Just as he finished speaking, several unconcealed remarks came from outside the vehicle.

The vehicle's window wasn't closed, so they could hear everything clearly.

"Over twenty Resentful Spirits in one strike? I've fucking cultivated for a year now and haven't even solo-killed a single Resentful Spirit, yet a first-trial newcomer gets twenty-four in one strike? If you're going to make it up, at least make it believable."

Signalman Zhao Gang's voice was tinged with laughter.

"It was probably an illusion in the ghost domain that showed them what they wanted to see. It's normal for people to have some beautiful fantasies in such a high-pressure environment," another voice chimed in.

"It's a pity about that Lin Ye. His first trial record was so exaggerated, and it supposedly alarmed many top-level figures in the Demon Suppression Division, but his first real battle ended in... tsk tsk."

"Alright, alright, stop talking. He's gone, and their minds have also gone a bit haywire. They're actually quite pitiful. Who knew this ghost domain was underestimated by so much..."

Su Tang stood up abruptly, but a hand pressed down on her shoulder.

Shen Qinghan comforted her, "Forget it. When Lin Ye returns, they will know how ignorant their words are right now."

"But..."

Shen Qinghan interrupted her, "After all, they didn't see with their own eyes Lin Ye shattering six late-stage peak entities with one strike, they didn't see him paralyzing twenty Resentful Spirits with a single stomp, and they didn't see him cornering a malicious ghost..."

"Sigh... alright..."

Su Tang sighed softly.

Just then, the walkie-talkie in Investigator Zhao Pingchuan's hand suddenly erupted with a harsh burst of static.

"Captain Zhao, Captain Zhao! Outskirts reconnaissance report for the small town! We've reached the entrance of the town, and the situation here is extremely wrong!"

"What's wrong? Speak slowly!"

"We see many people walking on the streets like sleepwalkers, completely unresponsive no matter how much we call out. Some people suddenly start spinning in place as they walk, and a few are kneeling in the middle of the road, repeatedly kowtowing to that vortex in the sky, still kowtowing even though their foreheads are covered in blood. Others are eating dirt... the whole town... everyone in the town seems to have gone mad!!"

Investigator Zhao Pingchuan whipped his head toward the direction of the small town.

The dark red light in the center of the vortex was growing brighter and denser, as if something was about to break out of its cocoon from within the clouds.

A strange sound was also coming through the walkie-talkie...

That was... the sound of chanting!

Hundreds of people were reciting the same scripture in completely identical tones and completely identical rhythms, their voices so uniform it was hair-raising!!