Reality was like a terrible movie that had nothing going for it, yet insisted on making something out of nothing. Sometimes, events always unfolded beyond expectations.
The reason spirit plagues like Dream Loss Syndrome had always been so troublesome was that they could spread through the circulation of Spiritual Substance. And the nature of Spiritual Substance was forever shifting and uncertain.
No matter how tightly one guarded against it, perhaps some lingering thought, memory, or desire of the dead remained on something, then fell into someone else's hands and spread from there.
Whether it was banknotes, plastic bags, or old clothes, the protection of Heavenly Overseer's Law was equivalent to a repulsive field covering the entire city. Ordinary people found it difficult to perceive, yet it was everywhere, and it changed on its own to deal with abnormalities. Even when it had not been formally activated, tiny remnants of Spiritual Substance such as spirit plagues would be completely dispersed, unable to persist for long.
There was simply no basis for transmission.
From that perspective, City Hall standing as steady as a mountain was not really a problem.
This was the confidence Celestial Origin had given me!
Unfortunately, confidence was often hard to sustain, and Celestial Origin was often not omnipotent. Beneath seemingly rigorous Rules, perhaps countless loopholes waited to be exploited.
The first to suffer was North Mountain District, where foreign immigrants and enormous numbers of unregistered residents gathered in clusters.
When the first and second Dream Loss Syndrome patients were discovered, they could still be treated as isolated incidents. But when hospitals found dozens, even hundreds, of Dream Loss Syndrome patients lining up to buy sleeping pills, the situation began to turn serious!
"Yes, it's here, Wen-jie!"
Tong Hua, the little expert at leading the way, effortlessly pinpointed the