Midnight Mass

Twilight, Night City.

On the streets shrouded in eerie fog and dark red hues, a pair of ghostly green eyes lit up in the window of a towering office building. They were filled with a hatred for evil, their sinister gaze outshining the neon lights.

The subway entrance was right in front of them.

As Wu Hen stepped into the subway entrance, he cast a single glance back and felt a chill run through his entire body!

The city was like a massive living creature, waking up in the shroud of night to stare at the living beings who had wandered in, before elegantly and eerily opening its blood-red maw...

These are all virtual...

Wu Hen instinctively used his previous method to calm himself down.

But he immediately realized that this was what the real world looked like, and it was even colder!

"Creak, creak~~~~~~~"

Suddenly, Wu Hen heard the sound of something with a bone-like texture twisting.

The sound was exceptionally clear in the pitch-black subway tunnel, and it was getting closer!

"Aunt, something is crawling toward us!" Wu Hen immediately warned Su Li.

Su Li instantly turned on her military flashlight. She mounted the light onto her pistol and aimed it at the corner of the tunnel leading to the subway platform!

A beam of cold light illuminated a circular area, but the corner of the tunnel was empty.

Su Li frowned slightly, and just as she was about to speak to Wu Hen, Wu Hen suddenly closed his eyes and tilted his ear toward that direction.

He was certain that there was something in the corner tunnel; the bone-twisting sound had become very, very faint!

"There is definitely something!" Wu Hen said with absolute certainty.

At this moment, Su Li thought of something. She immediately raised her tactical light and muzzle, locking the search area onto the ceiling of the tunnel!

The ceiling was also pitch black, but as the tactical light swept over it, a sinister entity was revealed, clinging upside down to the ventilation duct. Its skin seemed very similar to plaster; even when the light hit it, one would mistake it for aged wall plaster if they didn't look closely!

When Su Li saw this sinister entity, her pupils dilated, showing that it was something truly terrifying.

"It's a Midnight Mass. It's stronger than a malicious spirit; firearms cannot kill it!" Su Li whispered.

"Then how are we supposed to get past?"

"Keep a light source on it, and it won't move," Su Li said.

Wu Hen had lived in his rural hometown for a period of time when he was a child. At night, he had once been frightened by a pitch-black, hairy White-fronted Huntsman Spider clinging to the corner of a wall.

It could be said that the Midnight Mass clinging to the ceiling of the tunnel was very similar in posture to that rural huntsman spider, but the feeling of horror it evoked was countless times more intense!

Pretending not to see it was one thing.

But having to illuminate it with the only available light source, all while not daring to shift your gaze away from it—it was like putting a close-up on a horror scene, the hideousness and revulsion hitting you right in the face!

"It hates light sources. During the day, they turn into gray statues, but if we foolishly try to defeat it with firepower and force, the only outcome will be getting torn to shreds." Su Li remained relatively calm as she guided Wu Hen bit by bit toward the corner of the corridor.

Su Li's hand was steady. The bright circle of the tactical light was actually less than two meters in diameter, which was just enough to cover this Midnight Mass!

However, as the distance between the two of them and the Midnight Mass closed, the illuminated circle of the tactical light shrank, its diameter becoming about one meter.

The terrifying part was that the Midnight Mass moved!!

Where the light shone, it remained like a wall sculpture, but in the dim areas outside the light, its eight legs began to writhe!

"Oh no!" Su Li cried out under her breath.

The speed of the Midnight Mass was lightning fast. Almost the instant its eight limbs slipped into the shadows, it crawled down the wall, reaching the corner in a flash!

Fortunately, Su Li reacted in time, quickly shifting the tactical light downward to lock onto the Midnight Mass once more with precision—specifically locking onto its hind legs!

Its front legs were already on the ground, while its hind legs were still pressed against the wall.

At this distance, the diameter of the light circle was less than a meter, but thanks to Su Li's quick wit, she used the light to pin the rear half of its body that was still stuck to the wall, preventing it from fully descending!

With such a tense and horrific scene unfolding right before his eyes, Wu Hen felt his heart ready to jump out of his throat!

If it weren't for his aunt's incredible reflexes and quick thinking, he would have been a goner!!

"Move, move, move!" Cold sweat was already beading on Su Li's forehead, but she didn't forget to urge Wu Hen on.

Wu Hen walked in front.

Su Li followed behind.

Her hand was taut, not daring to let it shake even the slightest bit. If she hadn't managed to lock the Midnight Mass in this position while it was descending the wall, it could have easily moved using its other limbs!

They had to move.

The light source could not deviate by even a fraction.

Therefore, every step Su Li took was cautious, her hand kept perfectly still without a tremor.

Although Wu Hen had questions in his mind, he didn't dare disturb Su Li, who was in a state of high concentration.

Fortunately, Su Li was calm and steady. As the distance between them and the Midnight Mass increased, the diameter of the tactical light's beam grew larger as well.

Finally, once the diameter of the light circle was large enough to completely envelop the body and limbs of the Midnight Mass, the two of them managed to pass the corner of the corridor.

"Hoo~"

After turning the corner, Su Li finally let out a sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing you awakened your hearing, otherwise we would have been ambushed the moment we walked past it!" Su Li said.

"Auntie, next time you go out, can't you bring a giant searchlight? That would provide a real sense of security," Wu Hen said.

Hearing this, Su Li reached out and flicked Wu Hen lightly on the forehead, smiling charmingly. "On this soil where electrical energy fails, even that tiny bit of glowing energy would cost half a Yuan You fragment."

"Electrical energy fails?" Wu Hen was deeply confused.

"You just woke up, so it's normal that you don't understand many things. Regardless, let's just survive tonight; we must leave this city tomorrow," Su Li said.

Wu Hen had a very good impression of this aunt of his.

Whether it was when he was first tied up in the street as an offering and she rescued him single-handedly with a gun, or when she turned back to accurately shoot down the Black Sun Evil Spirit, or how she calmly faced the Midnight Mass just now—she was heroic, cold, and beautiful. If she were wearing a red qipao, she would perfectly match his favorite character, Ada Wong.

Wu Hen was essentially like a newborn infant stepping into this real world, yet in the short time they had spent together, Aunt Su Li had given him a full sense of security.

Therefore, Wu Hen was hesitating whether to tell her that he was an Account Swapper.

At the platform, there was a subway train.

Inside the subway carriage, there were many insects emitting a fluorescent glow. They barely provided enough light to make the carriage visible; otherwise, it would have been pitch black inside.

"Su Li is back!"

There were people inside the subway carriage, and they recognized the arrivals through the faint light.

"Yes, open the door. I've broken ties with the Black Shirt Organization," Su Li said to the people inside.

"Doesn't that mean we have to leave this city?" a man wearing glasses said.

"Yes, this place isn't worth staying in any longer. We still need to find the Nuwa Divine Tree," Su Li said.

"If we offend the Black Shirt Organization, we won't be able to survive anywhere..." the Glasses Man said.

"Stop talking nonsense, open the door! There is a Midnight Mass outside!" Su Li said firmly.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the subway carriage panicked. They scanned the pitch-black platform in terror, constantly staring at the walls, the pillars, and even the ceiling of the carriage.

"Your decision alone cannot represent everyone. I think the Black Shirt Organization can protect us," the Glasses Man said, keeping his hand on the door handle.

"BANG!!!!" Suddenly, Su Li raised her hand and fired a shot.

The massive gunshot echoed through the platform, even sparking against the ceiling of the carriage!

"The next shot, I'll aim for the glass. Let's test our luck and see who becomes the first course for the Midnight Mass," Su Li said coldly after the gunfire died down.

She pointed the muzzle at the carriage window. It was clear from her eyes that if they didn't open the door, she would absolutely shatter this subway shelter!

"Click!"

The subway doors slowly creaked open, pushed by the combined effort of three grown men.

"Click!"

Soon after, the three men worked together to pull the doors shut again, leaving not even a sliver of a gap.

At first, Wu Hen wasn't used to the Fireflies buzzing around in front of him, but when he looked at the rest of the subway platform—dark as a ghostly abyss—he found these little self-illuminating creatures rather cute.

It felt like bathing in starlight. His eyes were slowly adjusting, and the light provided a small sense of comfort to his mind.

"Don't forget who found this shelter carriage. If you have any objections to my decisions, you are free to leave." Su Li walked up to the Glasses Man and delivered a sharp slap to his face.

The man's glasses were sent flying. Rage burned in his eyes, but he dared not vent it, retreating instead to a corner.

"Su Li, what should we do next? Without the Blessing Water issued by the Black Shirt Organization, we'll be eaten alive by those evil spirits sooner or later," a scarred man approached, his tone sounding like a plea for guidance.

"I've been to the Old Train Station. There's an old freight train that can still start. Tomorrow, when the sun is at its peak, we'll take that old train and leave this Evil Soil," Su Li said.

It was evident that the people sheltering in the subway carriage followed Su Li's lead.

It seemed that for a long time, Su Li had been the one leading them to survive in this bizarre and grotesque world.

"Trains need power to start. Do we have any?" The Glasses Man finally emerged from the corner to pose the question.

"I still have half a Yuan You," Su Li replied.

"The old train burns coal, can't we just find some coal?" Wu Hen asked.

As soon as he spoke, the Glasses Man showed a look of disdain and a flicker of barely concealed disgust, explaining impatiently, "Under the evil sun, ordinary fire cannot burn."

Wu Hen instinctively glanced at Su Li's pistol.

Could it be that the pistols here didn't follow the laws of physics he knew?

Being a newcomer, there was truly a lot he needed to learn.

But the good news was that his aunt and this group of people likely shared the same goal as him.

The Nuwa Divine Tree they mentioned—that must be the Nuwa Divine Terminal he was heading toward, right?

"Where am I??"

"Who are you people??"

"Don't come near me!!"

Suddenly, a young woman of seventeen or eighteen in the carriage cried out. She was deeply guarded, her face filled with confusion and unease.

"She's woken up?" The others didn't seem particularly surprised.

"Xiao Yun, go explain the situation to her. The rest of you, come with me; we need to distribute tasks," Su Li said calmly.

Wu Hen was also observing this girl who appeared to have just "woken up." He felt she was very similar to himself when he had first stepped into this different dimension—her pupils dilated with shock, unable to accept reality.

"Xiao Yun?" Su Li turned her head to look at Wu Hen.

"Oh, oh, right." Wu Hen finally reacted.

She was calling me!

But I don't even know what's going on; I just soul-transmigrated here myself.

However, Wu Hen didn't want to expose himself so quickly, so he just had to bite the bullet.

And so, one could see a young man with clear, foolish eyes walking toward the panicked young girl with an air of certainty and confidence...

Just make it up as you go. A girl who just woke up is the easiest to fool!

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