Chapter 2738 - 1851: Deadly Temptation

Chapter 2738: Chapter 1851: Deadly Temptation

The special operations squad found the survivors on the top floor of an apartment building. When Duanmu Huai arrived, the soldiers had already surrounded the place. The soldiers guarding the door saw Duanmu Huai exiting the elevator, and quickly crossed their hands over their chests and saluted him.

"Sir."

"Hmm, what’s the situation?"

Duanmu Huai looked at the closed door in front and asked, to which the soldier immediately responded.

"We followed your orders to fight the Demons. As we passed by, we heard gunshots."

"Gunshots?"

"Yes, just... those normal gunshots, and then we found that the nearby Demons didn’t attack us but rushed into this building. We judged that there might be survivors inside, so we decided to come and investigate. After eliminating the invading Demons, we found survivors here."

As he spoke, the soldier pointed to the tightly closed door in front.

"However, they are only willing to communicate with us through the door. Even when we offered them water and food, the survivors refused to come out. When they learned that our orders were to eliminate the Demons, one of them offered to provide us with intelligence, but required the presence of a Commander."

"Alright, I understand."

Duanmu Huai nodded and gestured to the soldier, who immediately came to the door and spoke.

"Lord Chief Justice of the Tribunal is here. Do you have anything to say?"

"......"

The other side was silent for a moment, then a man’s voice sounded.

"Really?"

"I am Grand Judge Duanmu Huai."

Duanmu Huai said.

"I hope you have important intelligence to attract my attention, rather than wasting my time here."

"...... I am Chief Ueda of the City Police Department."

The voice on the other side was somewhat muffled but still audible.

"I heard you’re here to eliminate the Demons in the city?"

"That’s right."

"Then I can tell you... where those Demons’ lairs are... "

"Oh?"

Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes.

"You know?"

"Of course, it’s a long story... "

Chief Ueda paused, then slowly began to narrate.

"That was before the pandemic. I was on night duty, then I received a report of thugs breaking into a nearby girls’ school, so I set out with my partner to handle the case. We arrived at the school’s gate, where we happened to meet two other patrol officers nearby, so we planned together to enter the school and expel the thugs."

As he continued speaking, the man seemed to fall into recollection.

"When we walked into the school building, we were startled because the windows in the corridor were smashed, and even the desks were overturned, which made us worried. Based on what we saw, the thug’s violent tendencies were very obvious, so we drew our guns and cautiously moved forward.

Then we heard shouts and cries for help, and quickly picked up the pace, running towards the source of the sound. We saw a man wielding a knife, chasing a student. I shouted sternly, ordering him to stop his violent acts and surrender. But the man ignored my instructions and charged straight at us."

"We were startled at the time, but there was no room to think. The opponent clearly showed an attitude of confrontation, and seemed to have lost reason, making it impossible to subdue him unharmed. So I decisively pulled the trigger — of course, I didn’t intend to kill him; I just wanted to incapacitate him so I could contact First Aid to take him to the hospital for treatment."

The man’s voice started to become rapid.

"The thug fell, and I went over to check; fortunately, I hadn’t hit a vital organ, and timely treatment meant no danger to life. Then... we noticed... huff... ha... then, others came. They were teachers and students from the school. They were very friendly to us, thanked us for subduing the thug, and for helping the student."

"Honestly, I should have first contacted an ambulance and taken the injured away at that time. But for some reason, my mind was filled with the compliments and thanks of these girls, making me feel like a hero. They loved me, respected me. So when they invited us to the café to rest for a while, I followed without any doubt, even leaving my duties and the man behind, eager only for their admiration."

"Haha."

Duanmu Huai chuckled; he could already guess what would happen next.

"Then the four of us enjoyed a delicious meal in the restaurant; the food was exquisite, and those female students clung tightly to us. They sat on our laps, even feeding us..."

The man’s voice began to turn hazy, as if he was lost in that memory.

"I remember that girl’s smile, so sweet, it felt like I had finally found true love. But at that time, I was already married, yet I completely forgot about it then. In my eyes, there was only her, so when she invited me to her room, I readily agreed. But somewhere deep inside, I still felt something was off... until I walked into the room and saw that student take off her clothes and walk toward me, I suddenly remembered my wife."

"Oh huh?"

"Not to be laughed at, but I’m actually really afraid of my wife. My mind instantly cleared up—if she found out I was in a room with a high school girl planning to do this kind of thing, I would be doomed! So it was almost instinctively that I rushed out of the room and went back to the restaurant, trying to get everyone else out with me—by then I already felt something was wrong. This school, and the students and teachers here seemed not quite right, but I couldn’t say exactly what it was. I contacted the others, but got no response, then I returned to the restaurant and saw..."

The man’s voice began to tremble.

"What did you see?"

"Nightmare... Those students, those students were already naked, standing in a circle, singing an eerie song, while my partner and the other two officers had completely turned into some bizarre monster. God, their bodies were like they were melting! Twisted together, becoming a huge ball of flesh, yet their faces were still on it, showing ecstatic smiles!"

"......"

The soldiers nearby clenched their weapons and swallowed hard. Although the man’s storytelling ability was average, his hysterical tone was unsettling.

"And then?"

"Then, I ran without looking back, returned home, and locked the door. The demons’ last laughter still echoed in my ears; I was always afraid they would follow, follow me home... Since then, I never went out again. Then the next day, I watched the TV news, and found out there was a riot and plague in the city. Then I saw those rioters—they looked exactly like those students!"

"So you’re saying that school is the source of all this? Hmm, that’s a very good lead."

Duanmu Huai waved his hand, and Mary beside him took out a map.

"Saint Chris Girls Academy... it should be here."

"Good, lock it down, order everyone to prepare to set out, then one last question."

Duanmu Huai stared at the closed door as he asked.

"Why weren’t you tempted?"

"Be-because of pain!"

The man suddenly raised his voice.

"That kind of pleasure corrodes our sanity! Erodes our spirit! Turns us into beasts that only pursue pleasure! So, we must use pain to dispel this temptation! Only extreme pain...!"

However, before he finished speaking, Duanmu Huai punched out, smashing the tightly closed door.

"Boom!"

The door was shattered into pieces, and immediately, a stench wafted out, causing everyone to wrinkle their brows and cover their noses. They looked inside and were dumbfounded.

In front of them stood a man covered in sores, wearing only a pair of underwear, his body covered in bloody wounds, some of which were already rotting while others were still bleeding. The man held a blood-stained blade tightly in his hand, staring at them. Even the skin on his face was mostly sliced off, leaving gruesome scars.

"So, when you hurt yourself, is that when you’re happiest, right."

Duanmu Huai stared at the man’s body, letting out a cold snort, while the latter grinned.

"You don’t understand, when tortured by that nightmare to the point of agony, only like this...!"

As he spoke, the man picked up the knife, stabbed it into his body, and slowly dragged it to open a wound. His body trembled from pain, but his mouth revealed a crazed smile.

"Only like this can I forget those terrible nightmares!"

"No, actually, you haven’t forgotten."

Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers.

"He’s already corrupted; take him out."

As Duanmu Huai’s words fell, Ogis, sitting on his shoulder, pointed her right hand forward. In the next instant, the man’s body was suddenly bound by invisible threads, then shattered into pieces on the ground. Yet even at this time, an eerie smile still lingered on the man’s mutilated face.

Duanmu Huai glanced once more at the man’s body, then retracted his gaze.

"Get someone to burn him, everyone else come with me to that school for a look."

Duanmu Huai spoke, a cold smile appearing on his face.

"Isn’t this what you all love the most?"