9: Chapter 9 The Rusty Construction Site

Ten minutes after stepping into the abandoned construction site, Zhao Ye regretted not tricking his colleague into coming along.

It wasn't to have someone accompany him to his death.

At least if something really happened, someone could call the police from downstairs.

The unfinished building was only half-built; the night wind poured in through windowless openings, making the plastic sheets flap noisily.

Every time it flapped, the temporary Candidate mark on Zhao Ye's wrist would heat up, as if reminding him: the place was full of sounds that would disturb something.

"black rust chases sound," he lowered his voice. "Why don't you stop the wind first."

The mark did not answer.

The phone camera was aimed at the second-floor corridor.

To the naked eye, it was pitch black, but on the screen, three facial recognition boxes popped up in succession.

The three boxes hung in mid-air, slowly approaching him.

Zhao Ye's back tightened instantly.

He subconsciously wanted to retreat, but his heel hit the edge of the staircase, which had no railing.

Gravel rolled from under his shoe, falling to the bottom floor and making a series of crisp clattering sounds.

The darkness deep in the corridor suddenly contracted.

"Damn."

The shadow in the corner peeled off.

That thing had limbs so thin and long it didn't look human, and its head was wrapped in black rust that looked like wire.

Several blurred human faces were embedded in its chest and shoulders; each face was opening its mouth, but making no sound.

Until it turned toward Zhao Ye.

Several faces started crying at the same time.

As soon as the sound came out, Zhao Ye's scalp went numb.

He gripped the wooden stick tight, not rushing forward.

The mission target was the black rusty curved nail, not proving himself a hero.

"You eat sound, is that it?"

He took a coin from his pocket, just about to throw it into the distance, but suddenly remembered that ordinary metal could also be contaminated by black rust, so he abruptly pulled it back.

This hesitation was a beat too slow.

The monster had already lunged in front of him.

Zhao Ye dodged to the side, and the wooden stick smashed into its shoulder.

With a crack, the stick snapped in two, and the monster just shifted its body slightly.

A face on its chest suddenly opened its eyes, less than half a meter from Zhao Ye.

He smelled a mixture of damp iron and rotting flesh, and his stomach churned.

Zhao Ye kicked out, his sole feeling like it was kicking into mud.

The monster was pushed back a little, but he retreated to the edge of the stairs, half his foot stepping into thin air.

In his panic, he grabbed a piece of short steel pipe nearby.

The grey message's warning exploded in his mind: Do not let ordinary metal directly touch the anomaly core.

"As long as I don't touch the core, it's fine," he gritted his teeth, finding an excuse for himself.

In Xinhuo Hall, the image on the stone tablet was shaking violently.

Lu Chen saw Zhao Ye nearly fall off the building, and his heart constricted sharply.

[Candidate has encountered a low-level anomaly entity.]

[Suggested support: Temporary Purifying Flame attachment.]

[Consume source essence: 1.]

One-third of the three points of source essence was about to be spent in an instant.

Lu Chen's balance flashed through his mind, but the next second he still spoke: "Execute!"

A point of Purifying Flame fell into reality along the Candidate mark.

Zhao Ye's wrist suddenly became scalding hot, the pain almost making him let go.

A dark red fire appeared on the surface of the short steel pipe, as if a thin layer of fire was clinging to the metal.

"Can't you give a warning before you provide support?"

He cursed, but his movements didn't stop; he swept the steel pipe horizontally, slamming it heavily into the monster's neck.

Bang!

The thing toppled toward the wall, and the faces on its chest screamed simultaneously.

Hallucinations flooded into Zhao Ye's mind without warning.

Someone falling from a building, someone pierced by steel bars, someone curled up on the concrete floor, clawing the wall with their fingernails until it was covered in blood.

In the last image, a black rusty curved nail was driven into a living person's palm, and black rust crawled along the veins up the entire arm.

Zhao Ye froze in place, forgetting even to breathe.

The monster lifted its head again.

The mark on his wrist burned sharply, as if someone was pressing a cigarette butt against his skin.

Zhao Ye was jolted awake by the pain, and his first reaction wasn't calm judgment, but swinging the steel pipe and smashing it again.

"Get lost!"

The monster was beaten back.

He was panting heavily, only then remembering that black rust would chase sound.

With that shout just now, all the steel bars on the entire floor vibrated.

Inside the walls, on the ground, and on the ceiling, a dense scraping sound began.

Zhao Ye's face turned pale: "Fine, my mistake."

He grabbed a plastic bucket from the ground and threw it hard toward the other end of the corridor.

The plastic bucket hit the wall, making a loud noise.

The monster indeed turned and lunged toward the source of the sound.

Zhao Ye took the opportunity to rush to the end.

The black rusty curved nail was driven into a concrete wall, and the surrounding rust connected to the entire floor's steel bars like blood vessels.

Whenever the monster moved, the black lines on the wall contracted accordingly.

He put on rubber gloves and clamped the black rusty curved nail with plastic pliers.

He didn't get a good grip.

The plastic pliers slipped, the black rusty curved nail didn't budge, and instead, a wisp of black rust crawled along the pliers toward his hand.

Zhao Ye shook his hand, threw the pliers away, and cursed even more foully.

Lu Chen in the hall watched with sweaty palms, but there was no way to pull the nail for him from afar.

Zhao Ye stared at the wall, then suddenly inserted the broken wooden stick under the black rusty curved nail, using the other piece of wood as a fulcrum, and then fixed the nail head with the plastic pliers.

"If I can't pull it out, I'll pry it out."

The first time, the black rusty curved nail loosened by half a millimeter.

The sound of the monster crawling came from behind him.

The second time, the black rust had already crawled to the edge of his shoe.

The third time, he used all his strength, the veins in his arm bulging.

The black rusty curved nail suddenly detached from the wall.

All the steel bars went silent at the same time.

The monster stopped less than two steps behind Zhao Ye, its body collapsing as if it had lost its bones.

The human faces on its chest turned into grey mist, and the crying stopped along with it.

Zhao Ye sat down on the ground, gasping for air.

His hands were still shaking, shaking so much he couldn't open the sealable bag.

After trying twice, he irritably bit the opening of the bag with his teeth to tear it open.

"I should have brought a nail puller."

The black rusty curved nail vibrated gently in his hand.

He realized what was happening and quickly stuffed it into the sealable bag.

A streak of residual rust shot up from the ground, cutting a wound on his back.

The sharp pain almost made Zhao Ye fall again.

He didn't try to be tough; he grabbed the steel pipe and ran downstairs, even knocking over a construction sign when he reached the first floor.

Not until he left the construction site did he stop, leaning against the roadside railing.

As the wind blew, the wound on his back stung fiercely.

A grey message appeared.

[Mission target acquired.]

[Please proceed to a safe zone and apply for entry into Xinhuo Hall.]

Zhao Ye looked at this line of text, not moving for a long time.

"The building just now didn't count as a dangerous zone?"

There was no answer.

He looked down at his wrist, then looked up at the pitch-black unfinished building.

That rescue half a month ago wasn't a matter of perspective, and he hadn't gone crazy.

This answer didn't make anyone feel relieved at all.

Zhao Ye confirmed entry.

Before the grey mist rose, he took out his phone and sent a message to his colleague.

"Stop calling, I'm alive."

The other person replied quickly: "Did the date go well?"

Zhao Ye glanced at himself covered in dust and blood, and gritted his teeth as he replied: "Get lost."

In Xinhuo Hall, Lu Chen saw the mission screen go dark and realized he had been holding his breath the whole time.

[Temporary Purifying Flame attachment ended.]

[Support consumed source essence: 1.]

[Current source essence: 2.]

The black rusty curved nail hadn't been submitted yet, and the real settlement hadn't begun.

Zhao Ye's figure gradually condensed in front of the stone tablet.

Lu Chen saw the bloodstains on his back and couldn't get out a single word of the mysterious opening he had prepared.

"How badly are you hurt?"