Blood Mist

Chapter 8: Blood Mist

"What if that shadow... really is a supernatural entity?" 0401 asked worriedly.

"If it really is a supernatural entity, report it to the Investigation Bureau and have them send Hunters," Captain Huang said. "But first, you need to make sure it really is a supernatural entity. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" 0401 asked curiously.

"You wouldn't want to know." Captain Huang shook his head with a stern expression, clearly treating those people called "Hunters" as taboo.

"Hunters—are they the 'experts who deal with supernatural entities' mentioned in the mission details?" Sun Hang asked.

In his limited common knowledge, there were at least a few scraps of description regarding the profession of investigators. But when it came to the word "Hunter," all he could think of was "someone whose profession is hunting."

Obviously, the "Hunters" Captain Huang spoke of were nothing like the hunters Sun Hang understood.

"That's right... but honestly, I'd rather face vicious criminals than deal with those things." Captain Huang sighed.

Sun Hang noticed that Captain Huang had called Hunters "those things," not "those people."

The two Peacekeepers had already reached the spot where the shadow had stood. Their flashlights shone on the ground, revealing a clear trail of footprints on the floor beneath a thick layer of dust, stretching toward the direction the shadow had fled.

"Judging by the size and shape of the footprints, it seems to be a woman—barefoot, flat-footed, with a damaged little toe on her right foot," a Peacekeeper skilled in Forensics quickly analyzed.

"Pursue." Captain Huang's order was brief and direct.

The group immediately followed the footprints. With the Forensics expert leading them, despite the many miscellaneous prints scattered throughout the corridor, they never lost the trail. They pursued it from the second floor down to the first, then into the basement of the Haunted House.

During the pursuit, the Peacekeepers also obtained a surprisingly promising clue.

Among the jumbled footprints, they found those of the missing trainee Peacekeeper!

"Size thirty-eight field boots. It's Hu Lijun." The Forensics expert nodded to Captain Huang. "She entered the basement, and she never came back out."

And that barefoot woman in robes had also fled straight into the basement before them.

For some reason, Sun Hang felt that something was off.

Before entering the Haunted House, he had glanced at the advertisements painted on the walls. They described the various attractions inside in detail, including the themed escape rooms on the first floor and the retro maze on the second, but there had been no mention whatsoever of this basement.

"Does the Haunted House include the basement?" Sun Hang voiced his doubts. "Why wasn't it mentioned in the attraction introduction outside?"

"It's probably a power distribution room, surveillance room, or mechanism control room of some sort." Having returned to normal, 0398 said, "Places like that aren't open to visitors, so it's normal for them not to appear in the introduction."

The entrance to the basement was an iron door locked from the inside. It was covered in rust, along with dark brown suspicious stains that could have been water mixed with rust flakes—or blood left behind by some creature.

Bang!!

With a dull thud, the battering ram smashed the lock apart. Two Peacekeepers holding riot shields rammed the iron door open with their bodies and charged inside behind their shields.

The remaining Peacekeepers all drew their guns as well.

More than ten meters from the entrance, the barefoot woman in robes stood beneath an enormous painting. Her head was lowered as she muttered something in an indistinct voice.

Only then did the group see clearly that she was holding an antique oil lamp, its faint flame trembling continuously at the end of the wick.

"Don't move!" Captain Huang shouted. "Put down what you're holding! Take off your hood! Raise your hands!"

She ignored Captain Huang and instead sped up her chanting.

A strange fragrance spread through the basement. The next second, deep crimson mist surged from the cracks in the floor, instantly enveloping everyone.

"Restrain her!" Captain Huang ordered.

The two shield-bearing Peacekeepers were about to step forward when they discovered that their bodies had stiffened in place as if beyond their control. No matter how hard they tried, they could not take a single step.

"Captain... Captain Huang, I think I can't move!" The shield-bearing Peacekeeper's voice carried a trace of panic. "What's happening?"

"Is there poison in the mist?" Captain Huang instinctively covered his mouth and nose with one hand while raising his pistol with the other, intending to fire. But before he could pull the trigger, his wrist suddenly went limp, and the gun fell to the ground.

Another Peacekeeper also tried to fire, but something even more terrifying happened—he raised his gun, originally aiming at the robed woman's knee, yet one second before pulling the trigger, he suddenly turned the barrel toward the colleague beside him.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the basement. The Peacekeeper who had fired was splattered with his colleague's blood. He looked at the corpse by his feet and immediately let out a terrified scream.

Everyone in the squad seemed to have lost control over their own bodies, with only one exception.

Sun Hang flexed his wrist in confusion, then bent down and picked up Captain Huang's fallen pistol.

He discovered that the deep crimson mist pouring from the cracks in the floor constantly kept several centimeters away from him. Wherever he went, a human-shaped "blank area" appeared, as though the mist were actively avoiding him.

Were they... afraid of me?

Sun Hang tilted his head and thought for a moment, then walked straight up to the robed woman.

He smiled at her, raised his hand, and slapped her hard across the face.

Slap!

The sound of palm striking cheek was exceptionally crisp, ringing through the entire basement.

Everyone was stunned, including the robed woman.

After standing frozen for two seconds, she finally said in a sharp, trembling voice, "You... you actually dare..."

Slap!!

Another hard slap interrupted her accusation, even knocking the oil lamp from her hand onto the floor.

The instant the lamp went out, the blood-like mist vanished without a trace.

"You... you... unforgivable! He will bring down puni—"

Slap! Slap slap slap slap!!!

Loud slaps rang out one after another. The robed woman was slapped backward again and again until she had no choice but to crouch down, raising her arms to shield her cheeks.

"Don't... don't hit me..."

Sun Hang rubbed his palm, already somewhat red and swollen, and could not help sighing inwardly—sure enough, every force had an equal and opposite reaction.

He turned around, glanced at the stunned group, and shouted, "What are you standing around for? Get over here and cuff her!"