A Fox Will Always Show Its Tail

Outside the parking lot security booth.

Officer Han knocked on the glass, and the drowsy security guard weakly opened his eyes.

"What do you want? Are you crazy?"

Normally, vehicles entering or exiting would have their license plates scanned for automatic entry, or they would honk to get him to open the gate. Very few people actually knocked on the security booth window.

"Speak properly, I'm the police!" Officer Han's tone was stern.

It turned out that while his police ID hadn't worked on the previous guy, it was quite effective with this security guard.

"Uh, Officer..."

The security guard scrambled to his feet and clumsily gave a less-than-standard salute.

"Alright, alright, no need for that. Why were you cursing earlier?"

"Officer, would you believe me if I said it was a misunderstanding? Just now, someone was acting crazy, knocking on my window, muttering to me for a long time. I didn't want to deal with him, so I just chased him away. I thought he was back."

Jiang Yue's expression changed upon hearing this: "When was that?"

"It wasn't long ago. If you came from that direction, you should have run into him, right?"

"Around forty years old? Carrying a briefcase?"

"Yeah, he didn't look like someone with mental problems. I don't know what got into him."

Jiang Yue hurriedly asked: "He wasn't parking?"

"Parking? No cars have entered or exited in the last half hour."

Hearing this, Jiang Yue grabbed Officer Han and turned to run back.

"Chase him, don't let that guy get away."

Officer Han, however, was a bit hesitant: "Xiao Jiang, don't be so jumpy. According to the records, Ke Yunshan, the ICU patient, is eighty-five this year. That person you saw could practically be his grandson."

Jiang Yue groaned: "Stop the nonsense and chase!"

As he approached the security booth earlier, he had a feeling of unease. This feeling was very strong, and the lingering aura he had sensed in Douya Alley seemed to be faintly surrounding the security booth.

He had also been misled by the age before. He had seen Ke Yunshan's information; an old man in his eighties, on his last legs.

Therefore, when he encountered a passerby making a phone call outside the parking lot, who looked to be only around forty, he hadn't thought of anything else.

It wasn't until he got close to the security booth and felt that faint aura that he realized something was wrong.

Then, a few words with the security guard jolted him awake.

In the middle of the night, someone who wasn't parking was muttering endlessly to a security guard at the booth. This was clearly suspicious.

Coupled with the lingering aura around the security booth that hadn't dissipated.

Although the truth couldn't be seen with the naked eye, it was becoming obvious.

A Year Eater!

Stealing others' lifespans to make oneself younger was entirely possible.

Although the Spirit had given no hints about any peculiar methods used by the Year Eater, reasonable speculation was still feasible.

Perhaps it was Jiang Yue's attitude that calmed Officer Han down.

"Should we call for backup?"

"You want to leave him for New Year's?!" Jiang Yue quickened his pace.

Their car was parked far away; they had been searching on foot. Driving would definitely be too late.

Fortunately, there were no forks in the road ahead.

The two of them sprinted towards the direction the person had gone.

They chased for several hundred meters but still saw no sign of anyone.

"Lost him again?" Officer Han looked around. They had reached a fork in the road, and there was a surveillance camera at the intersection.

"I'll have people check the surveillance."

Jiang Yue waved his hand: "No need. Have someone block the other end of this intersection. Describe the person we were chasing. We'll pursue from this side."

"Xiao Jiang, are you sure?" This was a fork in the road. Officer Han didn't understand where Jiang Yue's confidence came from.

"A fox doesn't show its tail unless it's in danger. But when it's in a hurry, it will eventually reveal itself." Jiang Yue's smile held confidence.

When he had brushed past the person earlier, the person had been calm and composed, showing no flaws, seeming like a normal person returning home late at night.

But now, Jiang Yue was absolutely certain that the other party had been alerted by them and had started to flee.

Fleeing at an accelerated pace consumed more energy. Even an evil spirit would still have some aura, and its fluctuations would naturally increase with speed, especially since it hadn't evolved into its complete form.

This aura was negligible when walking normally or stopping briefly, making it undetectable to Jiang Yue.

But with the acceleration, the fox's tail was revealed.

This aura was even clearer than the one in Douya Alley.

"Officer Han, do you have a photo of Ke Yunshan on your phone?"

"There really is."

After such a strange incident, this basic information must exist.

"It's him!" Jiang Yue was even more certain upon seeing the photo.

Officer Han, however, was confused. "Xiao Jiang, the difference is huge."

"If there was facial recognition on-site, you could identify him too. Trust me, the person just now was Ke Yunshan. If you had a photo of him in his late thirties or early forties, you'd recognize him 100%."

"But the ages don't match at all."

"Do you think the lifespans it stole were just for fun?"

"You mean..." Officer Han gasped, his breath catching. Stealing someone else's lifespan and using it on oneself, wasn't that a method of achieving immortality?

In that instant, he felt his entire worldview shatter.

With the Year Eater's movements locked down, Jiang Yue wasn't as anxious anymore. Someone was blocking the other end anyway. If it managed to escape even now, they'd truly be a bunch of useless teammates.

This was a desolate road, with a demolition area on the side. Most residents had already moved out, waiting for the demolition.

Places like this were where all sorts of evil spirits liked to appear.

Insufficient yang energy, yin energy breeds. Desolate and bleak, it was practically fertile ground for evil spirits.

At this moment, Jiang Yue was like a hunting dog, tense and excited.

This was his first time tracking an evil spirit, and it was a novice mission arranged by the Spirit. He had a premonition that he was only one step away from completing the mission.

The bleak moonlight cast a particularly desolate glow on the abandoned residential area.

The plane trees, which hadn't yet grown leaves, had shed their blossoms all over the ground. With no one to sweep them, they were scattered everywhere, making the place look even more dilapidated.

Because no one had tended to it for a long time, the grass had grown vigorously, reaching half a person's height in some places.

In such a place, insects, snakes, and centipedes were a given. They couldn't help but be cautious.

A dilapidated trash can lay tilted on its side. Nearby were some broken fitness equipment, long unrepaired and covered in rust, none of which could be used normally.

Jiang Yue stopped at the entrance of a residential building.

"It's in this building." Jiang Yue was extremely confident because the lingering evil spirit aura clearly subsided when it reached here.

The aura was hidden quite perfectly. If Jiang Yue hadn't had the temporary tracking skill buff, he might not have been able to pinpoint it.

"I'll go in." Officer Han finally drew the weapon from his waist.

He held a flashlight in one hand and his firearm in the other, a cool and professional stance.

Jiang Yue, however, said, "No rush, let's wait."

"Still waiting? What if it slips away again? It jumped from the eighteenth floor and was fine."

"No matter which floor it jumps from, there will be a sound. Besides, it's more nervous than we are now." Jiang Yue remained calm.

He had the "Immunity to All Evils" halo, so he could go in. But he wasn't sure if he could subdue the opponent in the dark building with all sorts of unknown factors, or if he would be ambushed.

The "Immunity to All Evils" halo didn't mean he could ignore all physical attacks; a brick could still knock him down.

The risk was obvious.

If it were a life-or-death situation, this risk would certainly be worth taking.

In the current situation, waiting was the best option. Since they had reached the stage of waiting to net their prey, why take the risk?

Most importantly, his mission was to track the Year Eater. At this stage, it was actually close to completion, just needing the final push.

As for Officer Han, Jiang Yue was acting purely out of good intentions. Officer Han had a weapon, so it shouldn't be a big problem. Presumably, an unevolved evil spirit would also fear firearms.

But that was an evil spirit, not an ordinary criminal.

There's always the "what if."

What if the other party, cornered, launched a fierce counterattack? If Officer Han wasn't careful and was ambushed successfully, becoming Old Han in the next second would be too tragic.

"Still waiting?" Officer Han was still a bit uncertain.

"Your people should be here soon, right?"

"They'll be here any minute."

"It's best to bring a tranquilizer gun." Jiang Yue had thought of many methods, always feeling that a Year Eater in a comatose state was the safest Year Eater.

Whether you put handcuffs or shackles on it, you could only restrict its movement, but it would be difficult to restrict its year-eating abilities.

Just as Officer Han was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, and he raised his gun. "Don't move, hands up!"

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness at the top of the pitch-black staircase. Their face was covered in gloom, and their eyes shot out an extremely vicious hatred, completely unlike the eyes of a normal human.

"Why are you bothering me?" the figure growled, like a beast about to attack.

Under the moonlight, the Year Eater's face was contorted and ferocious, its features seeming to sink into darkness, appearing hollow and incredibly eerie in the night.

Is this the Year Eater?