Double Happiness (Nine)

Dahai City.

On a speeding high-speed train, the morning rush was no different from usual. People crowded into the cramped space, the air heavy with silent exhaustion.

A young man frowned and complained to the middle-aged man before him, "Old Li, the company's gone too far lately. They make us work overtime every day without paying a single cent for it! We should band together and demand overtime pay!"

The middle-aged man sighed, his eyes bloodshot with exhaustion. "Ah, I have a wife and child at home, and a pile of mortgage and car payments waiting for me. I want to be like you young people too, but..."

Before he could finish, the young man suddenly noticed Old Li's forehead and frowned. "What happened to your forehead? Did you get hurt?"

Old Li wiped his forehead, leaving a trace of sticky red on his palm. "Ah, maybe I've just been too tired lately. It's no-"

Before he could finish, a horrifying scene unfolded.

Deep cracks split across Old Li's forehead like the surface of shattered glass.

Bang! With a deafening blast, his entire head exploded!

Scarlet blood and white brain matter splattered everywhere, spraying the young man's face. Foul-smelling blood slid down his forehead. His eyes widened, his whole body rigid, his lips trembling without managing a single word.

Then-

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Explosions rang out one after another like firecrackers. Heads throughout the carriage burst in succession, one after another, spraying scarlet blood.

A bloody mist filled the entire carriage. Blood splashed across the windows and floor, and a foul stench filled the air.

"Aah-!!!"

The survivors screamed and ran desperately toward either end of the carriage, but the enclosed carriage left them nowhere to escape.

At the same time, the speeding train abruptly went out of control. Its body hurtled off the rails, and its front slammed into the tunnel wall. The train buckled violently as the carriages behind it piled crazily onto one another under their own momentum, producing a scalp-prickling crash.

Explosions, screams, and the sounds of flesh and steel being crushed blended together. In an instant, the entire tunnel became a hell on earth.

At that same moment, the same horror was unfolding elsewhere in Dahai City. Indiscriminate, certain-death attacks swept through all of Dahai City, and the entire city spiraled completely out of control...

"Something's happened..."

High above, a man stood atop a skyscraper, looking down over the city as it descended into chaos.

The entire city resembled a burning hell. Out-of-control vehicles careened about, corpses littered the streets, and blood gathered into gurgling rivers.

Explosions kept ringing out from distant high-rises. Thick smoke billowed upward, blotting out the once-clear sky.

A Wu turned and picked up a specially made black phone, his voice urgent. "Notify headquarters, quick! Dahai City has fallen! Evacuate to the safe house immediately!"

But there was only dead silence on the other end.

The next moment, the second wave of attacks began.

A Wu went rigid. Cracks instantly covered his forehead, and his fingers suspended in midair loosened. The phone fell to the ground with a sharp clatter.

"It's over..."

Headquarters.

"Minister Cao! An emergency! Dahai City has fallen! Almost everyone in the city..."

A staff member rushed into the conference room, anxiety written all over his face and a stack of documents in his hand, but before he could finish, Cao Yanhua snatched them away.

Cao Yanhua lowered his head and quickly scanned the report, his expression shifting from shock to disbelief. His hand trembled slightly around the documents. He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger and anxiety.

"Which captains are still capable of taking action? Contact them immediately! Notify nearby rescue forces to support Dahai City with everything they have! No matter what, we must keep casualties to a minimum!"

"Wait."

Holding another report, Wang Xiaoming looked up at Cao Yanhua, his tone as calm and rational as ever.

"There are still uncontained ghosts roaming Dajing City, and ordinary people are dying every minute. The vast majority of headquarters' persons in charge are in Dajing City dealing with the ghosts that have gone out of control. After the loss-of-control incident, all the captains are in extremely poor physical condition. Many are already on the verge of complete revival."

Wang Xiaoming paused, raised a hand to adjust his glasses, and continued:

"Not to mention the hurricane still raging over an area nearly large enough to cover two cities. Rescue efforts are ongoing there too. At this stage, we simply cannot provide support on the scale of an entire city. In other words, if Ye Zhen and Yang Jian cannot resolve the Dahai City incident together, then no matter how many persons in charge we send, we'll only be sending them to their deaths."

"Professor Wang! Are we supposed to just watch so many ordinary people die?!"

Cao Yanhua's voice rose considerably without his realizing it. In a rare occurrence, his tone toward Wang Xiaoming grew somewhat harsh.

But Wang Xiaoming did not even lift his head. He still faced the computer screen, its light reflecting a stark white off his lenses and obscuring his expression.

"It isn't that we won't save them. It's that we can't. Headquarters is gradually bringing the situation in Dajing City under control. Withdraw even one person in charge, and it could spiral out of control again. Every region is suffering the impact of supernatural incidents right now. Dajing City, the hurricane, Dahai City... headquarters no longer has enough personnel to deal with supernatural threats this widespread and terrifying."

His tone was so calm it bordered on indifference. "Both manpower and resources are nearly exhausted. All we can do now is wait."

Cao Yanhua slammed a hand on the table and stood up. His fists clenched, he remained standing in silence for a long time.

He knew Wang Xiaoming was right, but he could not accept this reality. He could not accept taking no action while countless ordinary people were left at the mercy of the supernatural.

A few seconds later, he said gravely, "Notify the rescue forces on the outskirts. Search inward from the city's edges, advancing in a fan-shaped formation. Withdraw immediately at any sign of anything abnormal. At least... save some survivors."

His voice was hoarse, as though all the air had gone out of him.

Time rewound to half an hour earlier...

The lifeless female corpse had already entered the bridal sedan chair, and the entire procession advanced slowly to the eerie sound of suona horns.

Yang Jian pointed at a gold body bag and said:

"A Wei, get in."

Back in Huanggang Village, he had used this trick to evade the Ghost Messenger's attacks. For now, he could only put Zhang Wei in the body bag temporarily.

"Brother Leg, isn't this thing for dead people? That's bad luck."

"Weren't you just cursing me to die? Get in, before A Zhen changes her mind."

"True. A Zhen's so fickle, she might have another change of heart in a moment."

With that, Zhang Wei stuck his backside up and crawled inside.

"Brother Leg! Tell Brother Ye for me-that A Zhen is no good. He'd better cleave her in two!"

"Got it. If it gets stuffy, open a little gap for air."

Yang Jian sealed the body bag, then turned and headed toward the wedding procession.

Dawn was breaking dimly, tinged with the pale white of a fish's belly.

An eerie wedding procession advanced with slow, synchronized steps. The entire procession made not a sound as it walked silently along the dirt road.

Yang Jian followed far behind the procession. Judging by the route it was taking, its destination was precisely the courtyard where the marriage contract lay.