Chapter 3: Disaster

Chen Ling’s pupils suddenly constricted!

However, when he blinked, the blood-red characters on the ground vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.

A hallucination?

Chen Ling stood motionless, those words seemingly burned into his mind, impossible to forget.

We are watching you

Chen Ling whirled his head around!

In the empty living room, it felt as though invisible crimson eyes were observing him, the sensation of being stared at identical to his nightmares.

He stood rigid as a statue for a long time, then forced himself to take deep breaths.

"Perhaps I've been too tired from staying up late to prepare for the Enforcer exam, my mind is too strained..."

"But this was done by the original owner of this body; it shouldn't have anything to do with me...

Could something have gone wrong when the two souls merged, damaging my mind?"

"I've heard that severe schizophrenia can indeed cause indistinguishable hallucinations..."

Chen Ling temporarily suppressed his inner fear, trying to explain everything scientifically. A strong sense of hunger welled up within him.

He casually grabbed a grilled sausage from the cutting board and devoured it in a few bites, which helped him regain some composure.

"Perhaps, I need a psychiatrist."

Startled, Chen Ling didn't even bother washing his face. He quickly threw on a black cotton overcoat and pushed the door open.

Even so, the cold air that rushed in from behind the door made Chen Ling shiver.

This was Chen Ling's first formal encounter with this world since regaining consciousness. He took a deep breath, ready to face all unknowns and difficulties.

However, when he inadvertently looked up at the sky, a "Holy moly!" still burst out involuntarily.

The light of early morning scattered from the east, and dreamlike blue ribbons floated above the small town, seemingly close enough to touch yet impossibly distant.

Auroras.

Auroras during the day.

Chen Ling stood at his doorstep, staring blankly at the sky full of auroras for a long time, muttering to himself:

"What in the world... is this place?"

"Damn it, why is this road so hard to walk?"

"It's too cold, and it rained heavily last night, so the mountain path is frozen. Be careful."

"We've been dawdling the whole way, and now it's already light." The man wiped the sweat from his forehead. "How much further do we have?"

"That mass grave is just ahead... we should be arriving soon."

Two stumbling figures climbed over the peak and finally saw the numerous mounds in the distance. These mounds, some new, some old, mostly lacked tombstones. Instead, crude wooden markers or personal belongings of the deceased were simply placed in front of them.

However, after last night's heavy rain, many of the mounds had been washed away, and wooden sticks and other items were scattered haphazardly, leaving the site a mess.

To their surprise, the mass grave was now cordoned off with yellow police tape, and more than a dozen figures moved within the restricted area, their expressions grim.

"Enforcers?"

Seeing their distinctive black and red uniforms, the man's eyes widened. "Why are they here?!"

"They've already found out?" The woman's face turned pale. "Is it... is it Ah Ling? Did he go to the Enforcers? He's really not dead?"

They had thought they killed Chen Ling, but he returned the next day, and now Enforcers had suddenly appeared at the burial site... there was almost no other explanation.

"No, that's not right..." The man stared intently at the figures. "Even for criminal cases, the Enforcers from District Three only deploy a maximum of three people! For them to send out a dozen at once, it can only mean..."

"A Calamity... has appeared?"

The woman seemed to realize something, and cold sweat instantly drenched her back!

"Could that monster in the bedroom be..."

"Let's go!!" The man grabbed the woman's wrist and turned to flee from the area.

Just then, a cold voice came from nearby.

"Stop."

Both figures instantly froze.

An Enforcer ducked under the police tape and slowly walked up to the two, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I... I..." The woman stammered, unable to speak.

"We came to see our son," the man said, trying to remain calm. "He's buried here. Today is the anniversary of his death."

"Then why were you running?"

"...Because we were scared."

"Scared?"

"To send out so many Enforcers at once, the Gray Realm must have converged here, right?" The man swallowed. "Maybe a Calamity crawled out from it... We were afraid of getting caught in the crossfire."

"Oh? You seem to know a lot," the Enforcer said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

The man forced a pale smile.

"Officer," the woman asked cautiously, "did a Calamity really emerge from the Gray Realm?"

"That's classified."

The Enforcer replied blandly, "You won't be able to visit your son today. You should both go back... What you've seen here must not be spread outside. You understand the rules, right?"

"Understood, understood."

"Go."

Hearing these words, the man finally let out a sigh of relief and immediately turned to leave.

"Wait."

Their hearts instantly skipped a beat.

"Please leave your names and addresses," the Enforcer said, pulling out a pen and paper. "It's a requirement of the secrecy protocols, please understand."

"Chen Tan, Li Xiuchun, 128 Frost Street, District Three."

After recording the information, the Enforcer let the two leave, then ducked back under the yellow police tape and approached a man in a black overcoat, handing him the document.

"Brother Meng, I've clarified it. They came to visit their son."

Han Meng took a deep drag from the thick rolled cigarette in his mouth, the pungent smoke mingling with his breath and dispersing into the cold wind.

He casually glanced at the document and spoke calmly:

"Send a few people to follow them discreetly. They're suspicious."

"...Huh?"

"Frost Street is at least a dozen kilometers from here. For them to arrive at this time, they must have left no later than four in the morning... The rain hadn't stopped then."

"Who would brave a downpour to come to a mountain to pay respects before dawn?"

"Also, this is a mass grave, a place for those without family or those who died far from home. As parents, why would they bury their child here?"

The Enforcer froze, then slapped his forehead. "You're right, why didn't I think of that?"

"...Xiao Qin, how did you even pass the Enforcer exam?"

The Enforcer called Xiao Qin let out a dry laugh and immediately changed the subject. "By the way, Brother Meng, did a Calamity actually crawl out from the Gray Realm last night?"

Han Meng didn't answer. Instead, he pulled a palm-sized instrument from the inside pocket of his overcoat. At the center of the instrument was a compass-like pointer mechanism, with different colors clearly marking different areas of the scale.

"Is this the Calamity Compass?" Jiang Qin eyed the instrument curiously and reached out to touch it, only for his hand to be sharply smacked on the back.

"This thing is extremely valuable. When you get promoted to Enforcer Officer, you'll naturally have a chance to touch it."

Jiang Qin rubbed the back of his hand ruefully. "How exactly does this thing work?"

"This is a device for detecting the danger level of a 'Calamity.' Once activated, the area the pointer indicates will show the magnitude of 'Calamity' fluctuations that have occurred nearby. If it's just a simple Gray Realm convergence with no 'Calamity' entering the real world, it won't react.

The higher the Calamity's level, the more intensely the pointer will swing."

Jiang Qin nodded, speaking with some concern:

"Brother Meng... a 'Calamity' shouldn't have crawled out, right?"

"Most likely not. After all, if a 'Calamity' truly descended through here yesterday, Districts Two and Three would have already been in chaos."

"That's good."

"To be safe, we still need to complete the scan."

As Han Meng spoke, he activated the Calamity Compass. The other Enforcers, seeing this, looked on curiously.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The Calamity Compass showed no reaction.

Just as Han Meng let out a sigh of relief, the pointer on the compass violently trembled!

The pointer swept wildly across the different colored zones, and a harsh grinding sound emanated from within the instrument. Han Meng's pupils suddenly constricted, and he instinctively released the Calamity Compass!

Bang—!!

Countless components shattered in mid-air, and the sharp, broken tip of the pointer grazed Han Meng's cheek, instantly leaving a crimson streak of blood!

The Calamity Compass...

...exploded.