Outside the cordon of the Starlight Cinema, a pale stone-paved road suddenly appeared.
Four figures emerged, and then the path vanished.
Wen Jingyan and the others looked utterly wretched, their bodies reeking of a mixture of the stench of corpses and sweat, creating an indescribable odor.
Feng Qian looked up and around. The streetlights were still broken, but the environment was a little brighter because the dark clouds in the sky had dispersed and the moon had appeared.
His face lit up with joy. "We've finally escaped!"
Du Yan and Su Yu collapsed to the ground, their faces filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.
Only Wen Jingyan remained silent, looking up at the sky in a daze.
Upon seeing his expression Feng Qian instinctively tensed up and quickly asked, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Wen Jingyan said, "The ghost in the movie theater probably didn't chase after us."
Feng Qian breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."
"But I've discovered another problem," Wen Jingyan added.
Feng Qian: "Huh???"
"Look up at the moon," Wen Jingyan reminded him.
Feng Qian subconsciously looked up. The silvery crescent moon was bright. At first, he didn't notice anything, but soon he noticed that there seemed to be a small red spot on the moon.
"Am I seeing things?" He rubbed his eyes, preferring to believe that there was something wrong with his retina rather than that the moon was acting strangely.
"You didn't see wrong." Wen Jingyan shattered his hopes.
Du Yan, who had been slumped on the ground, stood up, looking uneasy. "I saw a red patch on the moon. Does that mean we're still in the movie theater and haven't come out yet?"
Wen Jingyan puzzled. He felt that this was the real world, but how could the moon in the real world be in this state?
Just then, the red spot on the moon suddenly swelled, its original silvery-white color stained, and it oozed thick blood like a rotting eyeball.
The red was not the usual dark red, but rather carried an unnatural, nauseating vibrancy, as if the moon were bleeding deep in the sky.
Just as this blasphemous color was about to engulf the entire lunar surface, a hideous shadow suddenly tore out from the other side of the moon.
The shadows took the shape of tree branches, like ancient giant trees struggling frantically in the vacuum of space, writhing and piercing into the crimson.
The two sides seemed to be locked in a fierce battle on the moon's surface, with blood surging everywhere, and the other side showing no sign of backing down.
Soon, the crimson hue lost its edge, gradually disappearing like the receding tide, and the moon returned to its silvery white color.
The whole process was extremely brief, lasting only a few seconds, but the four people at the entrance of the Starlight Cinema were so shocked that they were speechless.
"Th—what is that? You all saw it, right?" Feng Qian stammered.
Wen Jingyan opened his mouth, but no words came out. He had lived for so long and experienced countless Supernatural events, but he had never imagined that even the moon would undergo such a change.
That's a celestial body!
Back then, there were so many powerful Ghost Tamers, but I've never heard of anyone daring to leave Earth and wander around in space.
"It's possible we were subjected to some kind of Supernatural interference from the Starlight Cinema, causing a collective hallucination," he offered a reasonably plausible excuse.
"Alright, it seems there aren't any negative effects. Let's go back now," Feng Qian urged.
Whether it's an illusion or the moon has really turned red, we'll find out by checking the trending topics online tomorrow.
Wen Jingyan nodded; this was the only option now.
The group left the cordoned-off area.
However, Feng Qian, Du Yan, and Su Yu did not notice that Wen Jingyan around and glanced at the Starlight Cinema. He then gently flicked his finger, leaving behind an invisible, Supernatural passage.
Upon returning to the Headquarters of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, the Supernatural events at Starlight Cinema were immediately reported to the director.
Although Wen Jingyan and Feng Qian concealed their whereabouts when they arrived, there were two more people on their return. They couldn't very well kill them to cover it up, and Wen Jingyan had already done what he needed to do, so there was no need to continue concealing it.
According to Feng Qian and the others, the Supernatural events at the Starlight Cinema were taken very seriously by the Investigation Bureau.
Then... the lockdown was tightened.
It sounds like a joke, but this is the only option left for the Investigation Bureau. After all, even their ace investigator Wen Jingyan, is helpless. What else can they do? Send investigators to their deaths?
"We must accelerate the pace of human experimentation; we need more powerful Ghost Tamers."
This is a consensus among the top leadership of the Investigation Bureau.
The next day, when Feng Qian got up rubbing his sore eyes, his phone was already burning hot from being bombarded with push notifications.
The hashtag #TheMoonTurnsRed# was prominently displayed at the top of the trending searches, followed by the word "hot".
He frowned, clicked on the topic, and a flood of photos and videos came into view. The crescent moon that should have been bright last night was stained with an eerie scarlet color at a certain moment, like a blood scab hanging in the night sky. Even more bizarrely, the blood color only lasted for a few seconds before being covered and dissipated by some kind of shadowy, tree-like pattern, and finally returned to normal.
The comments section has already exploded.
"Holy crap! I was playing games all night last night, and I saw it with my own eyes! The moon suddenly turned red, and it scared me so much I almost smashed my keyboard!"
"AI? How could such a thing happen in reality?"
"Don't fool yourself upstairs. Supernatural events have occurred all over the world, and it's possible for celestial bodies to exhibit unusual phenomena. It's just that we don't know what kind of impact it will have on Earth."
The National Astronomical Observatories issued a notice describing it as a 'special atmospheric refraction phenomenon'...
"Bullshit! Atmospheric refraction can create tree-branch-like shadows on the moon?!"
"There's no need to be too nervous. Humans can't control the situation on the moon, so just relax and take it easy."
Feng Qian's finger hovered over the comment, his brow furrowing even more deeply.
He recalled what he had seen last night, scrolling through the webpage.
Because the Investigation Bureau concealed the true nature of Supernatural events, the public still uses "paranormal events" to refer to various unusual phenomena.
The red moon last night was also considered a supernatural event, but apart from a very small number of people online who were worrying unnecessarily and spreading doomsday theories, most people didn't seem to care much about it.
Even the Investigation Bureau simply recorded the changes in the moon without taking any action.
Because the moon is so far away from humans, even if the moon undergoes a very serious mutation, humans are powerless to do anything about it.
Why worry about things you have no control over?
Therefore, governments around the world have maintained a similar attitude towards the reddening of the moon, treating it as a minor matter and at most inquiring about the situation from countries with space stations.
Having figured this out, Feng Qian put the matter out of his mind; he still had to deal with matters related to the "Lucky Casino."
The Investigation Bureau has invested a lot of resources in the Lucky Casino case, but it hasn't even figured out the most basic operating mechanism of the casino.
Another batch of volunteers has been assembled for the test.
Feng Qian stood in the center of the training field, facing twenty rigorously selected test subjects.
He gave a familiar, albeit somewhat cliché, explanation of the existence of the Lucky Casino:
"Once you enter the casino with the dice, you can choose to participate in any game. The chips can be money, or they can be lifespan, health, luck... anything you're willing to pay."
"If you win, you will receive the corresponding rewards; if you lose, you will bear the consequences yourself."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces. "Remember, the dealers in casinos aren't human. No matter how friendly they seem, don't trust them."
Everyone nodded; since they were willing to volunteer for the test, they had naturally made preparations in advance.
The test officially began, and Feng Qian handed the dice to the volunteers.
The test was quick; after all, it was just participating in a betting game, so it didn't take long.
While waiting for the test results, Feng Qian sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest. He was very tired because he was a Ghost Tamer hardly had any holidays. He had just escaped from a thrilling movie theater yesterday, but he still had to continue working today.
Fortunately, no matter how he used his eyesight, he never experienced the feeling of a Fierce Ghost Revival.
Before he knew it, Feng Qian had drifted off to sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the test results were fresh out of the oven. Feng Qian personally wrote a report and submitted it to the bureau chief.
"Still no results?" In his office, Cheng Linzhou flipped through the report, his face grim. "Seven batches of volunteers in a row, and not a single person has won anything from the casino?!"
Feng Qian stood to the side, his expression unchanged. "The rules of the casino are very complicated; we need more time."
Cheng Linzhou stared at him for a few seconds, then finally just waved wearily. "Continue the test."
Feng Qian turned and left the office, a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth.
He wasn't telling the truth.
In fact, among the third batch of volunteers, there was a man named Lin Rui who gained "superpowers" from the casino. He had a black Red Spider Lily lily-shaped tattoo on his arm, and he could control this Red Spider Lily to parasitize and devour other people's bodies.
Lin Rui had just left the casino when he immediately found Feng Qian.
"I don't want the bureau to know." Lin Rui's voice was low but went straight to the point. "I didn't participate in the test voluntarily. The higher-ups in the bureau practically forced me to gamble with my life, and they still want me to work for them? To put it bluntly, the current Investigation Bureau is really not worth it..."
Feng Qian stared at him, his golden pupils slightly contracting. "I can help you keep it a secret."
Lin Rui made a very good point: the Investigation Bureau is indeed not worth it. Those who truly dedicated themselves to the country and its people have already died in the previous disasters; what remains are either parasites or incompetent fools.
Since those in power are all incredibly selfish, there's no need for those below to be selfless either.
Feng Qian and Lin Rui secretly formed a partnership, helping each other to protect themselves in an increasingly chaotic world, while also taking advantage of the Investigation Bureau.
The Investigation Bureau has never benefited from the Lucky Casino, and can only intensify its experiments on artificial Ghost Tamer and search for wild Ghost Tamer in the community.
A military truck rolled over the last security checkpoint of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, where Cheng Linzhou personally greeted them with a smile.
Inside the driver's cab, two soldiers in full protective suits saluted him, their eyes behind their masks filled with determination.
"Director Cheng, the volunteers have been delivered." The leading soldier's voice was hoarse.
Cheng Linzhou nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the tall figures in the carriage. Unlike the volunteers with terminal illnesses and death row inmates he had seen before, these soldiers were young, healthy, determined, and highly obedient. According to Wen Jingyan, these people had a greater chance of successfully controlling the Fierce Ghost.
Moreover, once they become Ghost Tamers, there's no need to worry about them harming society.
The country needs more Ghost Tamers. The success rate of ordinary people participating in the experiments is infinitely close to zero, so we can only find more suitable test subjects.
Even knowing what they were about to face, these soldiers maintained a chilling level of discipline and were prepared to sacrifice their lives for their country.
Cheng Linzhou personally led these people to the laboratory. During the elevator's descent to the ninth basement level, they remained motionless like statues, showing no sign of retreat.
Wen Jingyan was already waiting at the laboratory door. Today, he was wearing a white lab coat, which was unusual for him, and he looked like a normal researcher.
As Wen Jingyan's gaze swept over the resolute faces of the soldiers following behind Cheng Linzhou, a complex emotion flickered in his eyes. He admired these people who dared to risk their lives for the greater good, but it was a pity that good people often did not live long.
The experiment begins.
The researchers, holding a document, said, "Considering safety and success rate, the Fierce Ghosts participating in this experiment are all low-level vengeful spirits with a low risk factor, such as the C-014 Blood Handprint. Its killing pattern is..."
"Contact transmission." A young soldier at the end of the column suddenly spoke, "Any human touched by it will begin to fester from the point of contact; experimental records show an average death time of 47 seconds."
Wen Jingyan an eyebrow at Cheng Linzhou: "You showed them the files?"
"They memorized all 137 files on Fierce Ghosts beforehand," Cheng Linzhou said.
At this moment, the researchers opened the gold containment chamber and saw a dark red, viscous substance leaving handprints on the glass.
Cheng Linzhou's Adam's apple bobbed, and he commanded, "Prepare the fusion program with the Fierce Ghost in numerical order."
Volunteer number 001 was a square-faced soldier who was taken alone by researchers into a gold-plated Isolation Room, where he released Blood Handprint.
"Direct contact began," the researchers said.
001 steadily raised his right hand and pressed it onto the reviving Blood Handprint.
Instantly, all the veins in his arm turned black, bulging out of the skin like tree roots.
"Ah--!" 001 couldn't help but scream as his right hand began to melt, the skin dripping like wax to reveal the muscle tissue underneath, and his entire arm thrashed wildly.
But he was not overcome by the pain; instead, he pressed his right arm down firmly with his left hand.
Soon, his right arm turned into a rotten, indistinct mass of flesh and blood, the decay continuing to spread along his limb. Then, with a muffled thud, 001 collapsed to the ground as a blood-soaked figure, writhing and howling in agony.
Blood and flesh splattered throughout the cabin, but the researcher calmly recorded data; he had seen this scene many times before and was already numb to it.
People with strong willpower and good physical health can indeed endure experiments for longer than ordinary people.