Malice

Chapter 21: Malice

Zhou Diao remained expressionless, the hand behind his back giving a slight wave.

The team members exchanged glances and silently put away their weapons.

One of the female team members deliberately raised her voice, saying, "What's going on? Didn't they say there was a tunnel? Who dug this huge pit?"

Zhou Diao played along, "Those two down there look a bit suspicious to me. I didn't see any injured Xenomorphs either. Could be a trap."

The man at the bottom of the pit grew anxious, "There are Xenomorphs! At least a dozen of them, all half-dead lying inside! Hurry down, we'll kill them together and split the bounty!"

The female team member was named Xiao Li. She looked dashing and spirited but was skilled at putting on a soft, coquettish act. She and Zhou Diao played the classic good cop, bad cop routine.

She said, "Since we're already here, why not take a look down there?"

Zhou Diao replied, "How do we get down a hole this deep? Look at the state of those two—they probably can't even climb out themselves. They're just trying to trick us into coming down."

The man in the pit explained, "There's another way out, but it's a long detour. Coming down from here is faster!"

Then, with a suspicious look, he asked Zhou Diao, "Are you the ones who contacted me on the forum? Which one are you? Energetic Girl Li Kui?"

"..." Zhou Diao's face twisted like he'd just eaten something sour.

Feng Ling also leaned over the edge to peer down, asking curiously, "Which one of you is Super Strong Super?"

"I am." The man raised his phone and waved it. "I just sent a photo in the group chat. Take a look, and you'll see I'm telling the truth."

Zhou Diao was annoyed, "You only thought to send a message now? Why didn't you send it earlier? I called you, and you didn't pick up."

"The signal's bad down here. Nothing I could do," the man replied.

Feng Ling pulled out her phone and checked. Sure enough, there was a new unread message in the group—a photo sent by Super Strong Super.

The photo showed some people lying on the ground. With the flash on, the contrast between black and white was stark, making the outlines of their bodies look strange.

But just from the photo, it was hard to tell whether these people were humans or Xenomorphs.

Feng Ling was about to show the photo to Huangfu Miaomiao, but when she turned her head, she noticed something was off. Huangfu Miaomiao's body seemed to be trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?" Feng Ling reached out and touched her forehead. Had she been scared into some kind of trouble?

Huangfu Miaomiao's small face was pale. She looked up at Feng Ling and uttered two words: "Malice..."

Feng Ling was momentarily stunned.

She remembered—demons could sense malice.

Huangfu Miaomiao shrank her neck and whispered, "It's strong... a very strong malice, right down in that pit..."

She looked like she was about to cry from fear.

Zhou Diao overheard their conversation, walked over, and asked in a low voice, "Is there something wrong down there?"

Feng Ling thought: There's definitely something wrong, and we definitely have to go down.

The Contaminant was most likely down there. They couldn't just leave it alone. Even if they couldn't win in a fight, they had to investigate. Otherwise, even if Su Yuqing brought in heavy weapons, they'd just be firing blindly.

Just then, the man at the bottom seemed to have run out of patience and started urging them, "Are you coming down or not? Don't waste time, okay? I've already waited a whole day for you! If we wait any longer, what if those Xenomorphs recover? You should know, Xenomorphs have strong regenerative abilities. If my brother and I had enough power, we wouldn't have waited until now. We'd have gone to claim the bounty ourselves long ago!"

Zhou Diao listened in silence, his gaze shifting to the team members behind him.

Everyone was looking at him.

He knew the act was almost over. They couldn't squeeze any more clues out of the man's mouth. It was time to go down and find out for themselves.

"Alright, stop rushing." He called down to the man in the pit. "I'll go get the rope. We're coming down right now."

The rope was already prepared.

Qin Liang wrapped one end around a nearby concrete pillar and handed the other end to Zhou Diao.

Zhou Diao gripped the rope, wound it around his left hand a few times, and said to Feng Ling, "I'll go first. You bring up the rear."

Feng Ling nodded.

Beside her, Huangfu Miaomiao looked at her with pitiful eyes, as if begging: Do I have to go down?

Feng Ling was unmoved.

The thin shred of trust she had just started to build with Huangfu Miaomiao wasn't enough for her to let the girl out of her sight.

What if Huangfu Miaomiao ran away?

What if she not only ran but also notified other Xenomorphs to come and kick them while they were down?

Feng Ling loved excitement, but seeking thrills on her own and dragging a bunch of Supervision Bureau members into it were two completely different things. So she was going to keep Huangfu Miaomiao under her watchful eye.

Besides, Huangfu Miaomiao's ability might come in handy.

Zhou Diao tightened his grip on the rope, jumped into the deep pit, and slid down to the bottom with ease.

Next was team member Qin Liang.

Then the female team member, Xiao Li.

Finally, a male team member named Cao Hongyi.

Feng Ling bent down, hoisted Huangfu Miaomiao onto her back, glanced at the pit, grabbed the rope with one hand, pushed off the ground with one foot, and slid down quickly.

The bottom of the pit was pitch black.

Everyone's face was submerged in darkness, their features blurred, like ghosts.

Feng Ling couldn't help recalling that line: Deep in the pitch-black cave, the monster was already ravenous...

Mm, indeed, it was very pitch-black.

With a click, Qin Liang switched on a military-grade high-power headlamp.

The light illuminated the surroundings, fully revealing the faces of the two men in the pit—

They looked utterly haggard, skin sallow, dark circles under their eyes, as if they hadn't seen sunlight for days, their eyes tearing up from the harsh light.

Their clothes were filthy, stained with dirt and sweat, hanging loosely on their bodies like they'd been polished to a greasy sheen, emitting a sour, stinking odor.

With that image and their eerie, half-smiling expressions, they didn't seem like normal people at all.

Feng Ling gently squeezed Huangfu Miaomiao, asking with her eyes: Are they Xenomorphs?

Huangfu Miaomiao pressed her lips together and shook her head.

Not?

Feng Ling frowned. If not Xenomorphs, then ordinary humans? How strange...

"I'm Super Strong Super from the forum. Just call me Brother Chao."

Brother Chao tried hard to appear normal, forcing a smile as he introduced himself, then gestured to the young man beside him. "Oh, and this is my buddy, Fang Ye."

The man called Fang Ye looked timid and submissive. "Hello, I'm Fang Ye... You can call me Xiao Ye."

Feng Ling said, "You both seem pretty young, so let's skip the 'brother' thing. I'll call you Xiao Chao and Xiao Ye."

Brother Chao's face stiffened slightly, looking displeased.

Feng Ling said calmly, "Xiao Chao, where are the Xenomorphs? Hurry up and take us there. Weren't you in a rush earlier?"

"...Ahead. Follow me." Brother Chao turned and walked in front, his sinister expression hidden in the shadows.

Zhou Diao sensed something off about this guy and tried to pry information from the other one. "Xiao Ye, what's the deal with this pit? How did you find it?"

Fang Ye shrank his neck as he followed behind Brother Chao, answering in a low voice, "We were working at a car wash nearby. When we came to pick up a customer's car, we found this pit here. Got curious and came over to look, then the edge of the hole suddenly collapsed... We both fell in and couldn't climb out, so we thought about finding another exit..."

Brother Chao ahead took over the conversation: "We didn't expect it to be so deep and dark in here. Luckily, we had flashlights with us. After searching for a long time, we finally found an exit. Along the way, we spotted quite a few Xenomorphs hiding in the cave, so we hurried to post on the forum looking for help. Afraid the Xenomorphs might escape, we've been guarding this spot waiting for you all to arrive."