Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 358 Have you ever been "courted"?
Zheng Fan fled in disarray.

Despite his unparalleled fighting prowess and the enthusiastic courtship of a female sparrow, he could not defeat her no matter how hard he tried. With his white bar depleted, he hastily ended the game and ran away.

The stimulation from small animals is a bit too intense.

The leader of the sparrows watched the black sparrow hurriedly fly away, but the glint in his eyes did not dim.

The other sparrows gathered around. The leader, who had been courted by the males of the group so many times, remained unmoved. This rare instance of her taking the initiative to court a male was rejected.

However, the leader did not seem discouraged. Rather, it had long been interested in this powerful yet aloof black sparrow, and now it was completely moved by it.

Now that the black sparrows had fled, the eagle scrambled to its feet, ruffled its feathers, and looked at the sparrows.

The leader of the sparrows also became more alert, looking warily at the enemies around him.

The black sparrow left, which seemed like a good opportunity, but the eagle didn't choose to attack. Although the black sparrow didn't appear to be a member of this sparrow colony, they were still sparrows. Even though they had rejected the leader's courtship, what if the black sparrow was just aloof?

The eagle used to observe humans when it had nothing else to do, and it knows that many humans have this kind of troublesome nature. It's quite possible that the same applies to small animals!
Moreover, the flock of crows was still observing. The cats and dogs that it had temporarily recruited had all been defeated by the black sparrows, and were injured and agitated. Their fighting ability was not reliable for the time being; after all, they were just ordinary animals.

Realizing that this matter was beyond their control, Eagle did not persist. He simply gave the Sparrow Leader a deep look before calling on the cats and dogs who could still get up to leave first.

Seeing Eagle's decisive choice, the Sparrow leader could roughly guess what he was thinking, but he still breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Just then, the eagle suddenly flew back.

Grabbing a cow cat that was hiding among the sparrows, trying to cower and cling to their coattails, the cat was strangled by the scruff of its neck amidst a pitiful meow, and it soared into the sky.

So you're trying to sneak off and surrender after retreating? Stand up, you're not allowed to kneel!
He was just arrested like that.

……

Lin Yilin watched as a black sparrow flew in through the half-open window and landed on her desk.

"You're back, Mr. Illusion. This time there shouldn't be any surprises, right? Did you win?"

Zheng Fan did not answer Lin Yilin's question, but instead lowered his head and remained silent.

Lin Yilin was somewhat incredulous: "They still couldn't win? That's impossible. They're just a group of spiritual animals from the White World. Mr. Illusion was well-prepared this time, how could they possibly lose?"

Could it be that Mr. Illusion has been cursed with an absolute inability to defeat those sparrows head-on? What a terrible curse.

Zheng Fan opened his beak and sighed deeply: "It's hard to say."

A sense of melancholy and vicissitude washed over me.

"What exactly happened?" Lin Yilin asked curiously.

"I've been confessed to many times, but this is the first time I've been confessed to by a sparrow." Zheng Fanhei Sparrow sat in front of Lin Yilin, curled up like a ball.

Lin Yilin: ?

What's going on? Weren't we supposed to be talking about fighting and revenge? How did it turn into a confession of love?

Is the object a sparrow?

Lin Yilin remained silent for a long time before saying, "Mr. Illusion's charm is truly powerful."

"I have very mixed feelings right now," Zheng Fan said, chattering away.

"My feelings are also complicated," Lin Yilin said, squinting her eyes.

In the end, the matter was simply glossed over amidst the strange emotions that were inexplicably conveyed, and no one wanted to bring it up for the time being.

In the afternoon, Lin Yilin accepted two private cases and went out with Zheng Fan to handle them. The first case was a bit absurd. A person said that their relative had gone to Jiangwen Street for some reason. The relative was working overtime at Xixi Keke last night and went missing overnight. This morning, the relative went to Jiangwen Street. The two sides made contact, but the relative was also confused about how they could travel such a long distance to the remote gray area overnight.

There might be enough time, but most transportation hubs in the area have not yet been restored after the earthquake, and the other party is just an ordinary person, so it is unlikely that they would use unofficial channels.

There were many suspicious points, so Lin Yilin made a note of them and then went to make her next trip.

Sitting in the taxi, Lin Yilin spoke with Zheng Fan without any attempt to hide it from the driver.

"What's going on this time?" Zheng asked in return.

"It was a commission from a group. The construction team that is currently involved in the renovation of Xixi Keke has recently experienced a series of auditory and visual hallucinations among many team members, which has affected their work efficiency and made it difficult for them to rest at night. The company contacted the relevant authorities, but due to the vague nature of the commission, they ultimately chose to assign it to various firms, so they also sent me their files," Lin Yilin replied.

Around the same time, the taxi they were in also arrived at the construction site.

The taxi driver was still one of his own, and he was used to Lin Yilin talking to herself in the car. After Lin Yilin got out of the car, he quickly stepped on the gas and drove off.

Lin Yilin has dirt on many taxi drivers in Xixi Keke. Whenever Lin Yilin needs a means of transportation, she simply selects a taxi from the taxi section on her phone and randomly dials a number.

A private car will pick you up soon afterward.

Lin Yilin and Zheng Fan arrived at the construction site and discovered that an underground tunnel was being excavated.

Soon someone came forward to greet Lin Yilin.

"Are you Ms. Lin Yilin from Zero One Agency, who was commissioned to investigate?" The other person took off their gloves and shook hands with Lin Yilin as a greeting.

Lin Yilin nodded: "Is your team responsible for clearing subway tunnels?"

"Yes, this is a tunnel buried by a collapse caused by the earthquake. We need to clear this area, inspect the condition of the tunnel below, and then report the findings to our superiors for a decision on the next steps: whether to repair it or abandon it and reroute it." The person in charge, along with Lin Yilin, didn't waste any time on pleasantries and immediately began to explain the specific situation.

"What are the specific details of the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations mentioned in the commission information?" Lin Yilin asked.

"It's usually at night, but I'm generally not there at that time, so I won't say more if I don't know the specifics. You can just ask the people resting over there." The person in charge pointed to the temporary tin shed next to him.

Lin Yilin nodded and went straight there.

Throughout the process, she constantly looked around.

Security personnel are on site because during tunnel clearing operations, there is a high chance of encountering groups that operate underground, just like before.

If they are discovered, they will try to kill witnesses without asking any questions. Working in the gray neighborhoods, they already have a tough job, but they also have to pay attention to their personal safety outside of work.

Are the security guards on duty tonight?

"Ah, the security guards on duty last night also said that similar situations had occurred. It's like a ghost story, so strange. I thought they were trying to raise the price, but they all seemed to be in poor spirits, so I thought I should investigate. Please, Miss," the person in charge said with a slight frown.

Lin Yilin approached a rough-looking craftsman, and after being introduced by the person in charge, she asked him for more details.

After thinking for a moment, the worker replied, "Hallucinations usually involve seeing something moving in the construction site at night, especially in the area where tunnels have been cleared. Also, it often happens that you just dug out a pipe that you don't know what it is, and when you're about to check it out, it disappears."

"This sounds interesting," Zheng said, leaning forward.

"Audio hallucinations?"

"As for auditory hallucinations, there were many different sounds, and each of my colleagues said they heard different sounds. But one thing is clear: we all heard the sound of the subway passing by," the worker replied.

"The sound of the subway starting?" Lin Yilin's pupils contracted, as if she had thought of something.

"That's right, it's so strange. Our tunnels aren't even finished being cleared yet, and a lot of the subway is broken. The maintenance project for the Xixi Keke subway has only just been scheduled. This progress is considered fast compared to other districts... It's really incomprehensible."

(End of this chapter)