Minuit Maléfique

Chapitre 15

I wiped my forehead and found my hands were covered in sweat.

We have no idea how long Gu Datou and his men can hold out. There's still a long time until sunrise, and without reinforcements, I'm afraid we won't be able to survive.

The zombies suddenly retreated, gathering in one place, their location unknown. The calm before the storm always foreshadows an even fiercer onslaught next.

My brain started spinning like a wheel, searching for an effective way to deal with the zombies.

His gaze swept over the magic array formed by the black dog's blood mixed with glutinous rice on the ground, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. He suddenly remembered why Hu Buwei's talismans in "The Chaotic Copper Furnace" were sometimes effective and sometimes not—it was all because he was merely copying the original without imbuing the talismans with any spiritual power. It seemed that Xingyun's ineffective spells were likely due to the same reason.

In other words, spells that require spiritual power are mostly ineffective, while items that inherently possess exorcising power are not useless.

This is why chanting incantations and drawing talismans has no effect, while a mere magic array can make zombies avoid it at all costs.

Before, it seemed like there was complete darkness before my eyes, and I had no idea where to go. Now, there is finally a glimmer of light, and although it may not work, it is better than having no way out at all.

lyingfly replied on: 2005-01-12 22:42:00

Several muffled "thuds" rang out in succession, and the group of zombies charged forward again without a sound. This time, however, their attack was quite different. The nine zombies had split into two groups, with one group attacking in front and the other group waiting behind to pounce. Once the first group was exhausted and retreated, the second group would immediately take over.

The pressure on Gu Datou and the other two increased exponentially, and their fear was indescribable. They were afraid they wouldn't be able to hold on for even a few more minutes!

I conveyed the key information to others in the simplest and fastest way possible. At that moment, everyone's brain must have been working frantically, just like mine, searching for even the slightest glimmer of hope!

"Hmph!" Stone thudded as he stumbled backward, knocking back the rain dog that had tried to help him, and the rain dog that followed him back three or four steps. A large chunk of his clothes, along with blood, was torn from his chest, leaving a bloody, mangled mess of black and purple flesh—a truly gruesome sight.

Without thinking, I reached for the machete in his hand, but Ah Lei swept past me like a gust of wind, snatched the machete away, and said, "If you're a brother, help me take care of Xiao Wei!" Without waiting for a reply, he slashed wildly with the machete, roaring repeatedly. This former track and field expert finally unleashed all his strength and temporarily filled the gap left by the stone.

I know he's only acting out of youthful vigor, displaying unparalleled bravery for a moment, but it won't last. If I don't find a way out, I fear we'll be completely wiped out this time!

The thoughts raced through his mind countless times in a short time. Suddenly, he was pulled into Yu Gou's arms. Shi Tou, who was bandaging his wounds, let out a low growl, ferocious and wild, filled with a desire for bloody carnage.

This is terrible! Cold sweat poured down my back.

With a "rip," Stone tore open his barely bandaged wound, growling incessantly, the green light in his eyes growing ever brighter. If Rain Dog hadn't been quite strong and desperately holding him back, he probably would have jumped up and started tearing at him!

In a moment of desperation, Stone suddenly raised his right hand and plunged it forcefully into his own chest. With a final, powerful tug, a large chunk of dark purple muscle was torn off, and bright red blood spurted out. The wound was so deep that the white bone was visible!

The green light receded like a tide, replaced by bloodshot veins resembling those of a wild beast.

"Big Brother!" Stone roared, like the howl of a wounded beast, shrill and violent, yet containing a mix of sorrow, reluctance, and determination, filled with the feeling of never returning.

Gu Datou was startled by the sound, exhaled and shouted, and with a thud, two military daggers simultaneously pierced the chest of a zombie, causing it to stagger back several steps. Two words burst from its mouth like steel: "No!"

At the same time, Shi Tou struggled with all his might, and Yu Gou could no longer hold him, falling to the ground with a thud. Shi Tou reached into his military trouser pocket, pulled out a syringe, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and plunged it into his arm.

I later learned that this injection, called "Tiramoni" in French, was a stimulant secretly carried by mercenaries of the French Foreign Legion. Once injected, it would boost a person's strength and speed to their absolute limit in a very short time, making them fearless and painless. The price was the extreme burning of their life force, and the only result after use was death.

That is, the legendary berserker.

Stone would rather die fighting like a warrior than become a zombie, which is why he took such a step. Normally, I would greatly respect such a strong and righteous person, but in that instant, I suddenly raised my right foot and kicked Stone away before the needle could pierce his arm!

Because at that moment, a spark ignited in my otherwise pitch-black mind, and I suddenly grasped a clue.

Stone stared at me in astonishment. I didn't have time to say anything and grabbed Xingyun, yelling, "Pee! Pee! Pee!"

Xingyun paused for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening and couldn't help but shout with joy, "Boy's pee! How come I can't remember having such an effective way to exorcise ghosts... Ouch!" But I was too lazy to pay attention to him, so I just slapped him and started pulling down his pants.

A group of girls screamed and turned around. Xingyun, that kid, really could pee at any moment. A huge stream of urine sprayed directly onto Shitou's chest. The wound hissed as if being steamed at high temperature, and white steam rose up. Shitou was in so much pain that beads of sweat the size of beans were dripping from his forehead, but this tough guy endured it without uttering a sound.

Legend has it that virgin boy's urine is an extremely yang substance, highly effective in suppressing evil spirits and demons. I always thought it was just a legend, but I never expected it to be so effective. After urinating on it, the dark purple color of the wound quickly faded, and although it was still a bloody mess, it was no longer as horrifying as before.

Xingyun's pee was quite large. I had a sudden idea. I soaked the baseball bat with his urine, shouted, and rushed up to take over from the exhausted Gu Datou and the other two.

The zombies were incredibly strong; a single blow from their staff sent a jolt through my arm. But the boy's urine proved invaluable. Wherever it touched a zombie, white smoke immediately billowed out, and the wound quickly festered. The zombies squeaked in pain and dared not approach again, leaving me to wield my weapon with incredible power.

A moment later, Xingyun shouted from behind, "Get out of the way!" I jumped back and saw Xingyun, Gao Changjian, and Yugou rushing forward with their pants up. With a shout, they pulled their hands to the left and right, and three jets of water shot into the sky, drenching the group of zombies from head to toe.

Of course, Gao Changjian's water column was the tallest and most powerful, followed by Yu Gou, and then Xing Yun.

We were silent for a moment, then couldn't help but cheer in unison.

The three warriors casually fastened their belts, turned around, and returned to receive a triumphant cheer from the crowd. Behind them lay a trail of zombies, their bodies billowing white smoke, writhing in agony on the ground.

We completely forgot the life-or-death danger of that moment, and we also forgot the crisis that had not eased even slightly because of the temporary victory.

Just then, another unexpected event occurred!

Section 35

A whirlwind suddenly swept across the flat ground. Strangely, the whirlwind only enveloped the few zombies. We were standing not far away, but we couldn't feel the wind at all.

The survivors were still laughing and talking merrily, completely unaware of what was happening. But I felt a sudden, inexplicable unease, as if I were being watched by a hungry wolf.

The whirlwind grew stronger and stronger, sucking in all the white smoke emanating from the zombie and tearing off its tattered clothes and rotten flesh bit by bit, swirling it into the eye of the whirlwind. At first, it was just rotting flesh, but gradually the white bones were revealed, and finally, even the bones were shredded into pieces, swirling wildly.

People suddenly fell silent, not because they had discovered the strange phenomenon, but because they heard a strange sound: "Gege...gege...gege..." It sounded particularly eerie in the dead of night. Sister Yan screamed and desperately buried her head in Lao Gao's arms.

As Mu Tou was examining Shi Tou's injuries, he suddenly turned around and shouted angrily, "You fake Taoist priest! You were just playing tricks on us and almost killed us. What are you up to now!" The voice was made by Xing Yun's teeth clenching together.

The fake Taoist priest's face was incredibly strange, pale with a touch of bright red. His eyes were fixed on the whirlwind, flickering with fear and excitement. He could barely speak clearly: "...It's...it's the Soul-Eating Ghost! I finally saw it...I finally saw it...They're all going to die, they're all going to die!"

As he finished speaking, he could no longer control his emotions and began to scream and yell incoherently.

At times like these, emotions are highly contagious. Everyone was already tense, and when he pointed, they all saw the strange whirlwind. Coupled with that strange shout, several girls couldn't help but scream, and even several boys were on the verge of collapse.

I was both angry and anxious, and without saying a word, I rushed over and slapped him across the face: "What are you yelling about! What's there to be afraid of? It's just a ghost, we just defeated the zombies!"

Xingyun immediately stopped talking, but her eyes were still staring blankly behind me, her facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, showing that she was extremely frightened.

What could make someone as knowledgeable about spiritual theories, who grew up watching ghost-catching and demon-hunting stories, so afraid?

I turned around abruptly, and a chill instantly crept up my back.

Because I saw nothing. Just an ordinary concrete floor, tiled with ceramic tiles. Nothing else, only an impenetrable darkness.

Everything we just saw and encountered seemed like an illusion, as if it had never happened. If it weren't for the stone still lying on the ground groaning, and if it weren't for the large puddle of still-steaming urine on the concrete, I would have thought I was dreaming.

I tried taking a few steps outside. The feeling of being trapped by the invisible net of energy was gone, replaced by an even more eerie sensation.

I was clearly walking forward, and there was a small flower bed in front of me, less than two steps away, but even after I walked quickly for about ten steps, it was still more than ten steps away.

A middle-aged man walking home late at night walked past me not far away. I shouted at the top of my lungs, but he ignored me. Although he glanced at me unintentionally, it was as if he didn't even notice me at all!

I quickly turned around, wanting to call out to Lei and Xingyun beside me, but I found that no matter how I called, they didn't seem to hear me. Moreover, everyone was walking out in a panic, but after walking for a long time, they were still in the same place.

And I can't get close to them.

I suddenly became terrified, even more so than when I was facing a group of zombies.

The Soul-Suppressing Bell, which I had been clutching tightly in my hand, suddenly rang loudly. I instinctively jumped back, and with a whoosh, a gust of foul wind swept past my face.

At the time, I didn't realize what was happening. I only reacted this way because every time the Soul-Suppressing Bell rang strangely, it meant something extremely dangerous was going on. But when I looked in the direction of the wind, my heart felt like it was being violently ripped apart, and for a moment it almost stopped beating!

The friendship between the wood and the stone was clearly very deep, so the wood kept holding the stone and calling out, "Stone, you have to cheer up, it'll be alright, it'll be alright soon... Don't fall asleep, don't close your eyes, don't scare me, Stone..."

I saw clearly that Stone barely opened his eyes, trying to force a smile at Wood, when suddenly his expression turned to disbelief, his eyes bulging out of their sockets!

The wooden face was filled with utter horror, and his voice turned into a strange hoarse cry, because a skeletal hand suddenly protruded from his chest, grasping a still-beating, blood-red heart!

The burly man, stronger than a bear, lost all his strength the moment he saw his own heart. His hand slipped, the stone rolled to the ground, and his body was covered in his brother's blood.

But he was completely unaware of what was happening, because almost at the same time, another steel-like bone claw had already torn open his skull as easily as if it were tofu, digging and scooping out a large chunk of white and reddish brain matter.

I witnessed this horrific scene firsthand, and my breath caught in my throat. The others were still walking around in a daze, completely oblivious to everything.

The Soul-Devouring Demon, as Xingyun had described, retracted its bone claws, stuffed its brain marrow into one mouth, and used its other bone claw to send the still-beating, dripping colored heart into another mouth. Several other mouths simultaneously began to suck, drawing in wisps of almost invisible black mist that rose from the stone and wood body.

A face suddenly stopped feeding, a flash of green light appeared, and it looked at me. The Soul-Suppressing Bell in my palm immediately started ringing. The Soul-Eating Ghost seemed a little afraid of the sound and turned away to focus on feeding.

My legs went weak and I almost collapsed to the ground. My underwear was wet, and I didn't know if it was urine or feces.

This Soul Eater was truly terrifying, like a nightmare. It had no body, only a large head floating in the air, its head covered with countless ghostly faces of varying sizes, and two bone claws protruding from the back of its head, making it extremely frightening.

In that instant, I suddenly remembered the origin of the Soul Eater. I once read an article online that specifically discussed the origins of ghosts and monsters, which mentioned: "The Soul Eater is the most malevolent of ghosts, formed from the vengeful spirits of a hundred years, and it craves to devour living souls. It is fond of bewitching and skilled in illusion. Those who are bewitched by it are often devoured, but only those who remain steadfast in their hearts will find no opening to enter and will depart on their own."

I wasn't the only one who witnessed this tragedy; Gu Datou, who was only a step away from the stones and wood, obviously also saw it all.

His eyes were almost dripping blood as he charged left and right like a mad tiger, but he couldn't get any closer and could only watch helplessly as the Soul Eater harmed his own brother.

This tough guy didn't utter a sound. He pulled with both hands and ripped his vest in two. He then pulled back with two military daggers, tearing two deep gashes in his own chest. Hot blood splattered onto the daggers, staining them crimson from hilt to blade.

Suddenly, he opened his mouth and shouted, his twin daggers flipping over as he stabbed at the Soul Eater less than a meter away.

What a hero! My blood boiled, and I don't know where the courage came from, but I rolled over and got up. I never imagined that Gu Datou, a man who seemed somewhat gloomy, would have such masculine spirit, risking his life, using the hottest blood of men as a catalyst, to avenge his brother!

Just then, a clear voice suddenly rang out: "The environment arises from the mind, and demons are destroyed from the heart, hah!"

With a whooshing sound, like glass shattering, everything in front of me suddenly became blurry, then instantly became clear again.

There was no such thing as a soul-devouring demon that eats people alive and swallows their brains, let alone the incomparably heroic Gu Datou. Stone was perfectly fine, held in Wood's arms, his chest wound already bandaged. Gu Datou stood with his hands behind his back, facing the darkness, lost in thought. Xingyun was surrounded and questioned by a group of brothers and sisters from the Ivy League Club.

My heart was pounding, and I was drenched in sweat without even realizing it. Was everything I had just seen an illusion? I couldn't tell what was real and what was fake anymore.

A taxi started with a low engine hum and quickly disappeared into the busy traffic. A familiar, slender figure walked slowly towards me under the orange glow of the streetlights.

With her neat, short hair reaching her ears, a pointed chin, and large, clear eyes that revealed an unusual seriousness, her slender figure, clad in a nightgown, only accentuated her alluring curves. Who could it be but Xiaohui?

A warmth filled my heart, but before I could speak, Xiaohui's clear black and white eyes, without even glancing at me, stared fixedly into the darkness. She slowly shook her head, looking as if facing a formidable enemy. This made my heart skip a beat. Could there be some powerful ghost or monster among them?

Xiaohui walked up to me, raised her right wrist, and several yellow talismans floated up. Surprisingly, they didn't fall, but spun in the air, faintly forming a yin-yang symbol, protecting us all behind her.

She finally spoke, but what she said was puzzling: "It's dark and windy here, and lack of sleep is the enemy of beauty. Why don't you come out earlier so we can have a good chat? After we're done, you can go home and catch up on your beauty sleep. What do you say?"

Section 36

The distant streetlights emitted a weak, feeble orange light, unable to pierce the dense, impenetrable darkness, surrounded by a faint ring of black mist.

Xiaohui's voice faded away, and the sounds of nearby cars seemed to drift far away, with only the soft thumping of footsteps coming from a great distance. It was like hearing the footsteps of pedestrians slowly approaching from miles away in the dead of night.

But we know perfectly well that the towering Minsheng Bank building is only a few meters away in that dark place!

We waited, holding our breath, our hearts almost stopping. Time seemed to drag on endlessly. Finally, a girl leading a child slowly emerged from the darkness. Gu Datou and I both gasped in surprise, because the woman was Hanako!

When my gaze fell from Hanako to the little boy beside her, the air around me seemed to drop to zero or ten degrees Celsius, so much so that I couldn't help but shiver.

The little boy, A-Guai, was very cute, with delicate features, a curved mouth, and a pretty Japanese-style children's outfit; he was instantly likable. But to me, he exuded a gloomy and eerie aura, exactly like the doll I saw in my dream—no, he was practically a living doll!

Just moments ago, Gu Datou was all bravado and imposing, but somehow he had donned that military overcoat again, the hem of which was now trembling slightly. What could possibly frighten this fearless iron man like this?

Before we knew it, the yellow talismans flying in the air gradually turned black, as if they had been stained with ink and sweat. Finally, they suddenly burst into flames without any wind, burning completely in an instant, which frightened us ordinary mortals so much that we couldn't help but back away.

Hanako's face was deathly pale, making me wonder if there was still blood flowing beneath her skin. Her pointed chin was adorned with bright red lips that seemed to have been stained with blood, and her large eyes were like a bottomless pool of stagnant water, making it impossible to tell whether she was alive or dead.

Xiaohui's gaze remained fixed on Huazi the entire time, even the amulet's spontaneous combustion only causing a slight flicker in her pupils. She suddenly smiled and approached, "Sister, that dress is really beautiful! What brand is it? What style is it? Could you tell me? I haven't bought any clothes in ages… Sister's skin is so fair and smooth; you're clearly an expert. I don't know why, but I've been getting a lot of pimples lately. I've heard aloe vera skincare products are quite effective; could you recommend a couple of good brands… Also, I heard that Da Yang is having a sale recently, with many bags at 70% off. Sister, you're so knowledgeable, could you take me shopping…?"

The tense atmosphere, which had been on the verge of conflict, suddenly transformed into sweet, charming whispers between lovers, leaving me completely bewildered. I watched as Xiaohui took two steps forward, intending to reach out and pull her along, but she bent at the waist and gracefully spun away like a dancer.

Xingyun mysteriously approached me. The fake Taoist priest was breathing rapidly, his face flushed, and he spoke with deliberate restraint, making his words punctuated: "...It's the Earth-Breaking Thunder-Summoning Technique...Truly a peerless genius...His movements are so graceful, and his waist is so slender, much more beautiful than Master's...That one over there...is probably a puppet infant spirit, the most powerful kind of vengeful spirit..."