The moment the sea of white spider lilies bloomed, countless memories that did not belong to her flooded her mind.
Through the endless stretches of time, she seemed to see a white figure tirelessly and numbly thrusting a lance under a blood-red crescent moon. Surrounding her was an unending tide of monsters, millions of them nearly swallowing the entire world.
A bloody, seductive heart used the entire world as its nest, its veins veiling the shattered sky. Under the radiance of the crimson light, monsters clad in dark red armor marched forward, slaughtering every living being with hooked scythes, chainsaws, and dismantling blades.
Looking down, the silhouettes of collapsed buildings stood over severed limbs and broken bodies. People fell like reeds in a gale.
The flames of war reflected the fear and cowardice of the survivors. Their screams and wails were etched deeply into the mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
During those years echoing with pain and despair, that white figure had once walked with others. But those companions eventually vanished into the long river of time, leaving her alone. Lonely, tireless, and numb, she walked through the ruins, through this living hell.
The last glimmer of twilight fell upon the scorched earth burned by war. The mountains of corpses, the millions of monsters, the seductive heart, and the blood-red moon all vanished. The entire world was left with only the pale whiteness of withering, death, and decay. All living beings eventually turned into spider lilies, blooming in the wake of her footsteps.
She would bear all the pain and loneliness.
"Anya...?" Xu Xiaoyou murmured, her mind dazed.
As if hearing her soft call or sensing something, the figure paused and looked back.
Xu Xiaoyou saw a pair of blood-red eyes filled with endless hatred.
The white figure reached out a hand. Xu Xiaoyou immediately felt a strong sense of suffocation welling up. Her consciousness blurred, and every cell in her body screamed and spiraled out of control under this invisible pressure!
The sea of white spider lilies withered almost as soon as it bloomed.
All the petals fell in the wind, turning into dust.
Tang Xin noticed the commotion outside and stepped out of the house, finding Xu Xiaoyou standing motionless in the wind and snow.
"What's wrong, Yuzu? What just happened?" She instinctively reached out.
What she saw next was something Tang Xin would never forget for the rest of her life; her pupils constricted violently.
Xu Xiaoyou turned her head. Marks of corruption covered her entire body, and every inch of her skin seemed to be disintegrating. Dark red eyeballs opened and closed, trembling violently and spinning frantically.
An unspeakable aura suddenly spread. She was like a terrifying urban legend under the cover of night.
"Help me," she said.
Half an hour later, the sharp sound of sirens echoed through the streets.
Amidst the noisy discussions, a float-car roared overhead.
Peacekeeper vehicles packed the street, leaving no room to pass. The tuners organized order, pulling up long cordon lines to keep the spectating residents back.
"What happened? Is it that serious? The whole street is locked down!" people outside the cordon discussed.
"I'm not sure. It seems the Association detected the psychic waves of a disaster-level urban eldritch creature near the Dream of the Black Swan apartment recently. This is the strongest psychic wave in the last three months. The Association is taking it very seriously."
"You mean an urban eldritch creature was just born, and it's so close to our block?" One onlooker suddenly broke out in goosebumps.
Most of them had been asleep not long ago. The feeling of having brushed past death left them with a lingering fear.
"What is wrong with the Star of Art lately? The frequency of urban eldritch creatures appearing is getting higher and higher..."
Panic spread through the crowd. A tuner frowned and shouted,
"Unrelated personnel, leave immediately! Do not come within half a meter of the cordon!"
"This is not an outbreak of an urban eldritch creature; it is merely a routine exercise."
The tuner's voice echoed over the street. The expressions on people's faces shifted before they eventually dispersed.
The Association's attitude was so strange that they would actually call it an exercise. They weren't naive enough to believe such talk meant for children. There was only one possibility: this outbreak was beyond the Association's expectations, the danger level was high, and the situation could spiral out of control at any moment.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
The float-car finally stopped in front of the Dream of the Black Swan apartment. As the doors released pressure and gas billowed from the gaps, a black-haired girl in a pure white investigator uniform jumped down. She walked toward the scene with a solemn expression.
Amidst the flickering blue and white lights, the three-winged badge on the girl's shoulder was very prominent.
"Miss Bai, Investigator," a tuner stepped forward, his expression respectful.
"What is the situation?" Bai Nian'an asked.
"The entire Dream of the Black Swan apartment has been sealed. The psychic waves inside the apartment far exceed those on the street. That urban eldritch creature is likely hiding inside the apartment right now."
"Understood. Calm the residents down, send people upstairs to maintain order, and ensure no accidents occur on any floor," Bai Nian'an nodded.
In front of the Dream of the Black Swan apartment, the residents who had been disturbed from their sleep looked displeased.
A bloated resident wearing silk pajamas raised his voice: "What are you doing?! Do you know who the hell I am? I've been assessed as an art master! If my sleep quality is ruined and I can't create works, can you afford to compensate me for the mental damages?!"
"Exactly! We are all people of status in the art world. Believe it or not, I'll sue you. If you don't want your names on the front page tomorrow, get the hell out of this apartment!"
"Get out!" "Get out!"
Dissatisfaction quickly evolved into public outrage. The residents gathered in the hallway, shouting in unison at the Association members outside the cordon.
"Everyone, please stay calm, stay calm."
The young girl wearing glasses had clearly never seen such a scene and was unable to handle it for a moment, offering strained comfort.
Behind her, fully armed Association members wore anti-contamination gear. The metal ring-like monitoring devices in their hands flashed red as they moved through the apartment, not missing a single corner.
"Why bother talking so much to these idiots?"
A youth crouching in the corner felt that the anger on those residents' faces was foolish—so foolish he wanted to laugh.
Did they not know the Association was doing this to protect their safety?
If it weren't for the Association's regulations to protect civilians during urban legend events, he wouldn't care if these people lived or died. He would have just led the Eye Association members to barge in, regardless of status, and killed everyone tainted with the aura of an urban eldritch creature. Better to kill a hundred by mistake than let one go.
The more the youth thought about it, the more indignant he became. A flash of violence crossed his eyes, and he bit his finger until it bled.
What were they risking their lives for? To protect these civilians, yet so many Association members had lost their lives in urban legend events, only to be cursed in the end.
"A-Ning, I know what you're thinking. I didn't pull you out of Stillwater Prison just so you could think about killing."
A black-haired young man in a black trench coat walked by, his tone indifferent. He had a mole under the corner of his eye and heavy dark circles, making him look extremely exhausted.
"I know, President Jian Liu," the youth named A-Ning sighed.
Rate on N.U.
