Chapter 15
Page 1/3
Special Affairs Management Bureau for National Anomalous Security and Order — Haishi Headquarters.
The phone on operator Wang Jiajia’s desk rang, and she immediately picked up the receiver.
“...Yes, that’s right. What? Are you sure?” Her expression shifted rapidly between disbelief, suspicion, and confusion upon hearing the voice on the other end. Finally, she furrowed her brows and responded sternly, “Understood. Please remain calm. I will dispatch someone to coordinate with you immediately. The address is confirmed as xxxxx, correct?”
“Okay, please keep the line open during this period.”
After hanging up, Wang Jiajia promptly dialed an internal number.
Two rings later, the call was answered quickly.
“Captain Li, it’s me...”
While Wang Jiajia was urgently reporting, other colleagues in the same office also began receiving alarm calls one after another.
The once relatively quiet room suddenly erupted into a cacophony.
Though the call center team rarely had it easy, today’s chaos was unprecedented. Nearly all phones rang simultaneously — if this wasn’t a prank, it meant serious trouble.
Their team handled incidents involving the anomalous. Who in their right mind would risk their life to enter the realm of the strange — unless they were utterly reckless? Well, except for the so-called “Treasure Seekers.”
Money tempts people, and anomalous artifacts exist only within these strange realms. Thus, the profession of Treasure Seekers came about — individuals who venture into these realms to find anomalous items and sell them at high prices afterward. The government didn’t stop them due to the special circumstances; these seekers saved manpower. After all, money wasn’t an issue for the state — Treasure Seekers provided artifacts; the government paid; both parties were satisfied.
The authorities even established a special “Recovery” department, spending huge sums to buy back anomalous artifacts at prices above market value. This was a method to maintain social stability.
— To prevent incidents like murder and looting.
The government’s stance was clear: they would pay, but only for artifacts whose sources were clean.
Severe punishments were imposed for murder and robbery, with offenders receiving the maximum sentences according to law.
...
“Hello, ma’am. I am a special police officer from the National Anomalous Security Department. I will now question you and record your statement. Please cooperate.”
“Okay, I will cooperate.”
“Please describe in detail your experience, including time, place, and what happened.”
“I was at home... doing nothing unusual as usual, when suddenly I was dragged into the realm of the ghost marriage...”
“Did you notice any suspicious factors or objects during this? Strange sounds or events?”
“No.”
“Alright, thank you for your cooperation. Please wait a moment.”
The female officer recording the statement pressed the stop button on the recorder, gave a reassuring smile to the reporter, and left the room.
About ten minutes later, she returned accompanied by two men and one woman, three people in total.
Upon meeting, the four immediately recognized each other.
“You are all survivors who successfully escaped the ghost marriage realm,” the female officer said. “Please wait patiently here. A special team responsible for anomalous affairs will contact you.”
After saying this, the officer was about to leave.
By reflex, Duan Xunxue asked, “What about the other person, Huai Maocai? Didn’t he come?”
The officer paused, looked back at the four with a heavy expression, her voice softening as she said, “He has not contacted us voluntarily yet, but we are actively trying to reach him.”
The four had guessed that Huai Maocai was probably in trouble, but since they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, out of a shared sorrow, they sincerely hoped he was still alive.
However, it now seemed that Huai Maocai's death was a foregone conclusion.
The atmosphere grew heavy with this news. The officer opened her mouth but could find no comforting words to say; at this moment, none would make a difference.
She quietly left the room.
The four mourned for a while, then forced themselves to regain composure and began to talk.
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“So the one standing next to me wasn’t the anomaly, it was you?”
“That can’t be...”
“Exactly, it makes no sense that the anomaly just let us go like that.”
“By the way, did you hear a familiar voice at the end?”
“I heard a young boy’s voice, but I couldn’t make out the words — it was like murmuring in a dream.”
“Me too!”
“The domain lord of the ghost marriage realm is female, right?”
“That only means the other entity wasn’t the ghost marriage spirit; maybe it was another anomaly. Do you remember at the start, two anomalies were fighting?”
“Uh... If I heard correctly, they were two female anomalies. One was probably the domain lord of the ghost marriage realm.”
The four were deep in conversation when suddenly, the door was knocked. The noise stopped abruptly, and then a tall, sturdy figure pushed the door open and entered.
A man, about thirty years old, with a stern face, deep eyes, and a muscular build radiating formidable strength. His demeanor was full of the uprightness of a soldier. “Hello, I am the captain of the Anomalous Special Operations Team, surname Li. Just call me Captain Li.”
Originally, after receiving Wang Jiajia’s call, he had planned to visit the reporters himself, but just as he was about to act, the call center leader contacted him again, telling him not to hurry — this case was complicated, and there were multiple victims; he was asked to wait.
About an hour later, he was told everyone had arrived.
Fifteen minutes later.
After listening to the four’s accounts, Li Haoran had a solid understanding and asked the first question he cared about most: “You said you heard a young voice at the end. Did you see his face?”
“No,” the four answered in unison. Their eyes were covered with red cloth; all they could see was red, except for their toes and a small area around them.
At this moment, Zhai Zhiyu suddenly remembered something nearly forgotten and connected a thought. His face turned pale, terror showing in his eyes, and his throat tightened as he said, “No, we overlooked a strange person.”
Li Haoran’s eyes sharpened as he asked, “What person?”
“The one who suddenly appeared the next day. We all thought he was an unlucky soul pulled in mid-way. That final voice was his.”
Upon hearing this, Duan Xunxue, Xu Gehan, and Li Yinzhou all recalled it. A chill ran down their spines, each felt as if their throats were being strangled, unable to utter a sound, eyes trembling with horror.
The essence of Chinese horror is the concept of “more.” Unlike Western horror, where everyone eventually dies, Chinese horror is n people going in, n+1 coming out.
Guess what that extra “person” is... an existence.
Swallowing nervously, Xu Gehan trembled, “Oh no, I can’t remember what they looked like.”
Not only her, the other three also said they couldn’t recall clearly.
...
Seeing the four pale with fear, Li Haoran fell into thought.
Though the only clue was “young voice,” it matched what Qi Mingxu had said.
Qi Mingxu was a researcher at the Anomalous Research Institute. He had been working normally in the lab when he was suddenly pulled into an anomalous realm related to a market — temporarily called the Market Realm.
Qi Mingxu’s experience was just as inexplicable going in as coming out.
Similarly, he encountered or saw a young man (a major anomaly), and after exiting, he too couldn’t clearly remember the person’s appearance, only a vague impression.
The difference was that the victims of the ghost marriage realm were all fixed in Haishi City, unlike those from the Market Realm who came from all over the country.
This time... it would likely be impossible to conceal.
— Apart from the ghost marriage realm, people are being forced into other anomalous realms as well. Current rough counts approach triple digits and will likely soon surpass that.
Overall survival rate is below 20%.
Besides these four extremely unlucky individuals dragged into an S-class anomalous realm who somehow survived, all other known survivors came from D or E-class realms.
There may be other extremely unlucky survivors, but since the statistics are not yet complete, they have not been counted.
Page 3/3
Back to the main point.
For humanity, this was the worst possible news.
***
Trending Topics on Weibo:
1. Humans are evolving (super intuition), and anomalous realms are evolving too! The government announces that even without entering anomalous realms voluntarily, people can be dragged into them!
2. The end of humanity?!
3. Nationwide “famine”? Panic buying everywhere, supermarkets “cleaned out.”
4. Officials urge residents not to panic; the Anomalous Research Institute has developed “enchanted” anomalous artifacts...
The outside chaos could not disturb the peaceful Guoyi Village, and Xia Lingze was completely unaware of it.
Upon waking, he exhaled the breath trapped in his chest, got up, poured a glass of water, and couldn’t help but recall the voice in his dream calling him “scum of the scum.” Reflecting on it, wasn’t that exactly Uncle Tiedan’s broadcasting voice? Almost identical.
— Don’t ask why a child could produce a mature male’s magnetic, deep voice. The answer: Uncle Tiedan’s actual age easily qualifies him as an uncle, so he can lower his voice to speak with an adult tone.
Uncle Tiedan said that in fierce competition outside, having a fluent and steady broadcast voice was a highlight.
Come to think of it, Xia Lingze had once learned the broadcast voice style from Uncle Tiedan, but later felt it unnatural and stopped using it.
Still, he had learned it.
Unexpectedly, it even merged into his dreams.
Back to the present.
Nearly a month had passed since the chaotic “wild dream.”
The opening day of July’s market had ended.
After showing Uncle Tiedan the items he had exchanged, and receiving the verdict that he was good at bargaining, Xia Lingze was in high spirits. Carrying a woven sack, he hummed as he walked toward Butcher Zhu’s house.
“Moon shadows flicker, ghostly dances flutter.
Childlike cries linger — who’s knocking at the door?”
*Knock knock knock*
Someone’s door was being knocked on.
*Creak*
The door opened slightly. A blood-red eye looked down from above, cold and terrifying, staring at the smiling youth.
“W-what... is it?” came a hoarse voice from the crack.
Xia Lingze waved the axe in his hand. “Uncle Zhu, I remember your axe is rusty. I got you a new one at the market.”
“No—”
Knowing Uncle Zhu was shy and taciturn, Xia Lingze tossed the axe through the gap directly. It seemed to hit something, but no heavy sound of it falling was heard; instead, a muffled thud as if landing on something soft.
“No need to thank me! I’m off to find Aunt Jiang now.” With that, Xia Lingze slung the sack over his shoulder and quickly walked away.
Butcher Zhu was silent for a moment, then slowly closed the door.
In the dark room, the axe was embedded in a floor made of flesh.
Looking around the room, every corner was covered with blood and flesh, writhing like someone’s intestines and stomach.
A sickening creaking filled the air. Cracks appeared on the axe — the accompanying weapon of an A-class anomaly was being shredded bit by bit...