An active psionic reading of 2,000 points was downright monstrous.
The super-strong aberrant infected Yang Gan had dealt with on a previous field assignment for the bureau had barely topped 1,000.
And even then, they'd only taken it down after sacrificing more than a dozen investigators and leaving dozens more injured.
Yang Gan and two other Awakened from the bureau had even received first-class personal merits afterward.
Over 2,000 points—that was practically a psychic bomb!
And it was right in the middle of the city!
Yang Gan whipped his fishing rod out, instantly hooking it onto a window on the upper floors of a nearby building. His right hand rapidly reeled in the line.
He was pulled up in a flash, rising to the height of the seventh or eighth floor, and looked toward the source of that powerful psychic energy.
In the distance, the stretch of streets around the park was pitch-black, impossible to make out. Yet he had the vague sense that two terrifying beasts lurked there.
If he fell among them, they'd devour him without leaving so much as a scrap.
It seemed to be near Huting Park!
Suddenly, a glimmer appeared inside Huting Park, and Yang Gan shuddered again.
Psychic energy was actually visible to the naked eye!?
He was an Awakened and therefore sensitive to abnormal psychic energy, but this also showed just how powerful the other side was.
He immediately spoke into his communicator:
"Command Center, Command Center, this is Fishing Guy! Yellow alert! Extremely powerful psychic fluctuations detected at Huting Park—two sources! One over 800, the other over 2,000! Requesting backup! Over!"
A response came through the communicator at once:
"Fishing Guy, prioritize your own safety. Coordinate with the Zhun Brothers and focus on holding the enemy back! Reinforcements are on their way! Over!"
Yang Gan let out a long breath, immediately switched channels, and said:
"Zhun Tou, Zhun Xing, where are you two? Did you hear the order? Huting Park. We'll approach from three directions. I'm by Guanghua Residential Complex. Yellow alert! Fishing's canceled for today!"
A muffled voice came through:
"Heard you, Rod. Zhun Tou's keeping watch five blocks away. If anything goes wrong, he'll draw it toward you."
Five blocks away? What the hell kind of watch was that...
Still, Yang Gan understood. With the other side's psychic energy over 2,000, going closer would just mean getting themselves killed. It was better to keep watch from a distance and avoid alerting the enemy. They could move in to stop it if it made a move.
He looked up at Huting Park in the distance again and reckoned it was about three blocks away.
He gritted his teeth and prepared to move closer.
After all, unlike the Zhun Brothers, who specialized in long-range sniping, all he could do was swing a fishing rod.
"Help!" A cry for help suddenly came from inside Guanghua Residential Complex.
An aberrant infected must have just erupted.
Yang Gan stopped in his tracks. He looked toward Huting Park, then toward the source of the cry.
He turned and rushed into Guanghua Residential Complex, quickly making his way toward the caller.
It definitely wasn't because he was afraid of that mysterious being with over 2,000 points of psychic energy. There was an abnormal incident right beside him, and he couldn't just leave civilians to die!
Huting Park.
With his muscles and bones twisted, Li Fan moved in a strange, bizarre gait toward the Spider-Legged Monster, which was trapped by the phantom image of the bronze pillar. His whole body seemed boneless.
The steps of this Nuoyi Ritual were exceptionally peculiar. The only way to describe them was arrogant.
After those few steps, Li Fan felt his confidence rising.
Then he let out a mysterious cry. It sounded like a tiger's roar, a bear's bellow, a snake's hiss, and a crocodile's growl all at once.
The kneeling phantoms around them let out eerie, miserable wails, and the psychic energy surged again.
The first time he'd encountered the Tiger Pillar God, Li Fan had thought the sacrificial ritual was far too sinister and terrifying. Now he wished it were even scarier.
The trapped Spider-Legged Monster struggled desperately, trying to break free of the chains on the bronze pillar, but the more it struggled, the tighter they grew.
They dug right into its bones!
Every Human-Faced Snake trying to crawl out and escape was firmly bound. They thrashed in every direction but couldn't get away.
With Li Fan's permission, the Tiger Pillar God raised both arms. Two giant python-like psychic entities burst out and coiled around one another, forming a dome over the Spider-Legged Monster.
Blade after blade of sharp psychic energy extended from the dome, spinning and tearing at the monster's psychic form.
The Tiger Pillar God opened its tiger jaws and sprayed blue flames into the dome. These were flames of psychic energy, and they began to scorch the Spider-Legged Monster trapped inside!
Then the Tiger Pillar God suddenly bowed toward the bronze pillar!
Wisps of smoke-like psychic energy surged from the ritual phantoms around them and poured toward Li Fan.
He could feel a massive amount of psychic energy flooding into his body.
A small portion was absorbed by the Tiger Pillar God, while most of it entered his subconscious. The little that remained still made him feel refreshed and clear-headed.
Even though he'd been running around all night, he felt as energetic as if he'd just had a full spa treatment.
They were stealing the Spider-Legged Monster's psychic energy!
Unfortunately, the absorption didn't last. After only a short while, the influx of psychic energy began to fade. The sacrificial phantoms around them dimmed and gradually disappeared.
The wailing, kneeling people, the bronze pillar, and the phantoms of all the Nuoyi Ritual objects were gone.
A feeling of post-climax satisfaction came from the Tiger Pillar God.
The two giant python-like psychic entities withdrew into its body, and the Spider-Legged Monster dropped from midair with a thump, like a sack of flour.
Li Fan walked up and saw that the Human-Faced Snakes attached to the Spider-Legged Monster's body had disappeared.
All that remained was its original body, with spider legs and a giant mouth in its rib cage.
The face protruding from its chest was now ashen.
There wasn't a trace of psychic energy left.
It should be dead for good.
Finally, it was over. What a hassle. First the Nuoyi Ritual, then the sacrifice.
At the same time, a strong desire rose in the Tiger Pillar God's consciousness. It wanted to devour the Spider-Legged Monster's corpse.
Although it had absorbed most of the monster's psychic energy, plenty still remained in the corpse.
From what the Tiger Pillar God was telling him, the brain inside the head growing out of the Spider-Legged Monster's chest was especially delicious.
Li Fan immediately scolded the Tiger Pillar God for even thinking about it.
How was he supposed to eat that?
This wasn't a psychic form anymore. It was a corpse.
Was the Lord of the Prison of Suppression supposed to crack open its skull and suck out its brains for it!?
Without hesitation, Li Fan swiped his right hand, marked with the key tattoo, over the Spider-Legged Monster and grabbed its corpse, tossing it into the Prison of Suppression.
He'd throw it in first and figure out the rest later. Better than leaving it outside and risking it causing trouble and hurting someone.
Fortunately, it was much easier to throw an object with psychic energy into the Prison of Suppression if it didn't resist than to bring something out.
He looked around and made sure nothing had been left behind. Only then did he prepare to go back and find Liu Dalong.
He couldn't just leave the guy lying out there in the middle of the night. He might catch a cold.
"Clack..."
Suddenly, a sound came from the public restroom nearby.
Li Fan furrowed his brow. Someone was there!
The Tiger Pillar God's power surged again. The muscles and bones in his face twisted rapidly, completely transforming him into a different middle-aged man.
Using both hands and feet, he raced toward the sound like the wind and yanked open the restroom door, which had been locked from the inside.
In the darkness, the terrified face of an old man appeared. He was half-crouched, holding on to the door.
He was clutching several sheets of paper.
Someone had seen what happened!
Li Fan's heart tightened, but he'd been possessed by the Tiger Pillar God, and his appearance had been bizarre. Even someone who knew him wouldn't have recognized him. So it didn't matter.
He was a little curious, though: just how strong had he been in that fight with the Spider-Legged Monster?
The Tiger Pillar God seemed pretty powerful. Had he been underestimating himself all this time?
He asked the old man kindly:
"Sir, you saw it?"
The old man let out a nervous fart and said shakily:
"I... I saw it... Who... who are you people? Did you run away from Qingyang Hospital to play? Where's the other guy?"
What Qingyang Hospital? Li Fan froze, then asked:
"What did you see? How did you see it?"
The old man said:
"I just looked through the eyes in front... I saw you and another young fellow running over from far away. Then you both climbed onto the pavilion and started jumping all over the place and shouting."
"Then the young fellow floated up. You bowed to him, and then he lay down. Then you came over..."
"Were you doing that parkour thing? I'm pretty hip too. I know all about it."
Thanks for the monthly and recommendation tickets!
Before you continue