After drawing cards, the evil god became my source of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of humorous commentary/criti

Chapter 103 Large-scale Mysterious Shopping Mall (7)

The air in the hallway was so stuffy it was almost stagnant, and the dim light bulbs flickered intermittently.

Youlong raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop. His gaze swept across the end of the corridor, his tone calm, yet carrying an undeniable chill:

"The energy here is much more concentrated than before."

His voice echoed in the empty corridor, like an invisible alarm bell, making the already tense nerves even more strained.

“There are definitely more mysteries involved,” he added.

An Jing unconsciously rubbed her clothes with her fingertips. She didn't say anything, but the unease in her heart became more obvious.

According to experience, the denser the energy of a magnetic field, the more mysterious things are contained within it. But at this moment, the surroundings were unusually quiet. There were no eerie hissing sounds, no strange footsteps, and not even the usual low-frequency energy fluctuations.

This is not normal.

and…

An Jing always had the feeling that she was being watched by some kind of creature.

“There will be more mysteries… but we haven’t seen a single one along the way,” Dongqing muttered to herself, her hands gripping her weapon slightly sweaty.

"Don't let your guard down." Youlong glanced at her and gestured for them to continue. "They might be gathering."

Just as everyone was silently counting down the seconds, the detector suddenly emitted a soft "beep" sound.

You Xin glanced down and raised an eyebrow: "Signal detected from the safe house."

Upon hearing the words "safe house," the previously oppressive atmosphere in the group instantly eased a little.

A safe house means a relatively safe zone within a magnetic field, and also implies the possibility of survivors.

"The direction is 30 meters ahead, turn right." You Xin confirmed the direction by looking at the arrow on the instrument.

Youlong nodded, letting her lead the way, while he walked at the very front.

An Jing continued to walk slowly, her gaze sweeping across every inch of shadow in the corridor.

I always felt that the quietness of this place was deliberately created.

Ten minutes later, the group stopped in front of a boutique.

The glass display case was intact, and the contents inside looked just like when the business was operating normally. It was so clean that one wondered if the place was really in a mysterious magnetic field.

"This is it." The location was confirmed.

Youlong nodded, stepped forward, and reached out to push the glass door.

The glass door wouldn't budge, as if something was blocking it from the inside. The group exchanged glances and immediately knew there must be survivors inside. They then used a little force to push the door open.

The moment the door was pushed open, a piercing scream suddenly erupted from inside.

"what--!"

Almost simultaneously, a streak of cold light pierced through the air.

It was a kitchen knife, aimed straight at Youlong's neck!
Youlong shifted his body slightly to the side, then grabbed the wrist holding the knife with his other hand, the movement swift and decisive.

The tip of the knife stopped less than a finger's width from his neck, reflecting a faint light.

"Let me go! Don't come any closer!"

His voice trembled violently, like the last gasp of a beast on the verge of collapse.

An Jing then realized that the person holding the knife was just a boy in a school uniform, a high school student, with a pale face and eyes full of terror.

He clearly hadn't expected to be subdued so quickly. When he saw that the people in front of him were a group of people wearing uniform tactical gear, he deflated like a punctured balloon, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

"You...you are...?" he stammered. You Xin crouched down, reached out to help him up, and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "We are agents from the Mysterious Research Department, here to rescue you. Don't be afraid. How many people are still inside?"

The boy seemed to still be recovering from the tension. He looked at her with a dazed expression, then at the others, and his lips trembled before he managed to squeeze out, "A few...dozens."

An Jing raised an eyebrow. Dozens? How many people can gather in a place like this? How big must that safe house be?

Youlong released the boy's hand, flipped his palm, and a ball of orange-red flame silently ignited, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

In the firelight, the dirt and exhaustion on the boy's face were clearly visible.

An Jing couldn't help but say, "Why didn't you use this sooner? I thought it would drain your energy, so you were reluctant to use it."

Youlong coughed lightly and turned his face away from her gaze: "I just thought of using it this way."

An Jing rolled her eyes: "I knew it."

As the group entered the shop one by one, the space illuminated by the firelight made them pause for a moment in surprise.

The shelves were emptied, and all sorts of clothes and fabrics were spread on the floor. People huddled in corners, huddling together for warmth.

Their eyes were filled with exhaustion and wariness. When they saw the agents, they did not show joy, but instead took a few steps back, their eyes filled with even deeper fear.

His mental state is very poor; he is even on the verge of a breakdown.

"You...you weren't transformed by some mysterious force, were you?"

"I'm not going out, I'm not going anywhere!"

The sounds rose and fell, and some people simply buried their faces in their knees, refusing to look up.

Yu Xin stepped forward, raising his voice so everyone could hear him: "Hello everyone, we are agents from the Mysterious Research Department, a national unit, specifically responsible for rescuing survivors trapped in mysterious magnetic fields. We rushed here as soon as we received the news to get you out."

The crowd was still not completely at ease. A woman asked cautiously, "Aren't you... the lamplighters?"

The person holding the lamp will not save people.

People online say that if you encounter a person holding a lamp, it's better to stay in a safe house until you die.

An Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing that You Xin's expression had not changed at all.

“We are agents, not the Lamplighters,” Xin said calmly. “The Lamplighters prioritize their missions, while our goal is to rescue every survivor.”

Her expression was so natural, as if she had never been a lamplighter before; her tone was firm and calm, like a wall one could lean on.

An Jing looked at her and sighed silently in his heart.

As expected of Youxin, her adaptability is just too strong.

As the firelight flickered, a tense atmosphere still permeated the air, but among the crowd, some had begun to believe in them, raising their heads slightly with a long-lost glimmer of hope in their eyes.

An Jing's gaze, however, quietly passed over them and landed in the shadows deep within the safe house.

Now there is a problem.

Some of the survivors have been found. How should they be resettled?

Staying in the safe house is definitely not an option, because the detectors have shown that the safe house is starting to accumulate energy from a mysterious magnetic field.

It was only a matter of time before the safe house was swallowed up by the mysterious magnetic field.

Xin had obviously thought of this as well; her current plan was to send the survivors to Zone D of the mall.

They've cleaned that area, so it's actually safer than this safe house.

Some people were unwilling to leave, so Xin showed them the detector and told them that this place would soon no longer be a safe house, and that those who remained after they left would only face death.

(End of this chapter)