Chapter 201 - 200: Acting Alone

Chapter 201: Chapter 200: Acting Alone

This pedestrian street was one of the busiest areas in the city, making it a prime spot for street vendors.

Feng Ling remembered that Qingjiang City had a similar area. Before the Alien Species appeared, Qingjiang’s food streets were a brilliant, bustling, interconnected network of lights and activity.

Some districts would stay bustling until two in the morning.

Later, Qingjiang City was designated a high-risk zone and a curfew was imposed. Shops would begin closing at 8 PM, and by 9 PM, the streets would be completely empty.

Of course, it wasn’t an absolute ban on being out at night.

For instance, a medical emergency or working late might leave you wandering outside after hours. If a patrol team found you, you’d be treated as a suspicious individual and questioned. At that point, you had no choice but to cooperate with the officers.

The citizens of Guangshan City, unlike those in Qingjiang City, seemed far less cooperative.

The patrol car had been parked here for over twenty minutes, yet many vendors were still dawdling, reluctant to leave. Plenty of onlookers were milling about, too, seizing the chance to buy portions of cold jelly or fried yogurt while they watched the commotion.

The officers seemed experienced with this routine. They had a certain rhythm: for the first twenty minutes, they used a megaphone to urge everyone to leave. After that, their attitude hardened, and they began getting physical, even dragging people away.

Watching from the truck, Xu Yiming grew anxious on their behalf.

He saw an old man packing up his stall at a snail’s pace, clearly trying to stall for time. He couldn’t help but call out, "Sir! You should hurry home! You won’t make much more money by dawdling, and it’s so much more comfortable to rest at home. Sigh... you all really aren’t afraid of dying, are you..."

The old man tied a plastic stool to his pushcart and said nonchalantly, "I burn incense and pray for blessings every year. If the City God won’t protect me, well, then there’s nothing to be done."

Xu Yiming was left speechless.

Feng Ling, hearing their conversation from the cargo bed, turned to Li Qing. "It seems like everyone here has a habit of worshipping gods. That proprietress this morning was praying to the God of Wealth, and this old man prays to the City God."

Li Qing nodded, his expression hard to read. "Yes. The divine and religious culture here is incredibly complex..."

He’d been studying it for three days and still couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Nearly every household here worshipped some deity, and they were all different.

Feng Ling asked him, "Which god is the most powerful?"

Li Qing thought, ’You’ve hit on the key point. If we think about this like clearing a Maze, the Maze Master is most likely the most powerful god here, but...’

"There is no single ’most powerful’ god. They worship different gods for different festivals. There are household gods for the home, village gods for the village, temple gods for the temple. Each minds their own business," Li Qing replied.

This was the fruit of his three days of research.

Feng Ling sighed in admiration. "So even the Immortals have their lives micromanaged here."

She turned to Huangfu Miaomiao. "It’s about time. Get ready to leave the truck. Find a crack in a wall to hide in. We’ll head back to the construction site first; a large truck parked on the road is too conspicuous."

With a serious expression on her small face, Huangfu Miaomiao nodded, took a deep breath, and quickly shifted into her Ghost Shadow Form.

The Ghost Shadow emerged from a pile of clothes, completely pitch-black. It was as if a random patch of shadow had appeared inside the truck, identifiable as Huangfu Miaomiao only by the butterfly hair clip nestled within it.

Seeing this, Feng Ling said, "Maybe you should leave the hair clip. It gets in the way. Just the camera is enough."

She reached out to remove the butterfly hair clip, but Huangfu Miaomiao wasn’t having it. The Ghost Shadow recoiled.

Feng Ling sighed in resignation. "Fine, have it your way."

Xu Yiming came to the back of the truck to find Feng Ling. "The street’s almost empty. We should get going."

"Okay," Feng Ling nodded.

Xu Yiming hurried to the front to start the truck, while Huangfu Miaomiao prepared to find a hiding spot.

A puddle of black shadow slid down from the truck bed and began to move along the street, a small hair clip perched on top.

As Feng Ling watched her furtive movements, a ripple of concern disturbed her usual calm.

"If you get spotted, make sure you run fast," Feng Ling said to the puddle of shadow before closing the cargo door.

The truck’s headlights flickered on. Weaving around the vendors’ tricycles and assorted pushcarts, it slowly pulled away.

Huangfu Miaomiao moved along the base of the wall, her heart a hollow, panicked drum.

This was her first time on a solo mission...

’Ah, no, that’s not right.’

’When I first logged in, I was always on my own...’

’This feeling... it’s like I’m back in those days again, all alone, with no one to rely on but myself.’

A pang of sadness hit Huangfu Miaomiao. She continued to move through the shadows, searching for a suitable hiding spot.

The streets were completely deserted.

The lights of the nearby shops had also been extinguished.

The patrol car’s red lights continued to flash. The officers returned to their vehicle and, a moment later, drove off, leaving the street behind.

The street, so boisterous just moments ago, fell deathly silent in the blink of an eye.

Huangfu Miaomiao carefully hid herself inside a window screen, merging with the darkness. She held her breath and observed the street.

She wasn’t wearing her phone watch, so she didn’t know the exact time, but she guessed it was still before nine.

’The player is bound to arrive early, right?’

’With the patrol car here earlier, the player probably didn’t dare get too close. But the car is gone now... so where is the player I contacted on the forum...’

A knot of tension tightened in her chest.

The seconds ticked by.

Huangfu Miaomiao waited in agony, cheering herself on internally. ’You can do this. You’ll be fine.’

She waited for a long time, but the street remained empty. Then, a new message popped up on her virtual screen.

She opened the message with trepidation. It read: "Are you here? I don’t see you."

’Here?’

’Where?!’

Huangfu Miaomiao frantically looked toward the breakfast shop’s entrance. ’There’s nobody there!’

The other person sent another message: "You’re not messing with me, are you?"

A heart-stopping shiver ran through Huangfu Miaomiao.

’What do I do? What do I do?’

’What should I do now? Should I reply? They already seem to suspect me!’

’Feng Ling rarely gives me a mission. I can’t mess this up, can I?’

Huangfu Miaomiao tried to calm herself down.

’They have to be nearby, in a spot with a clear view of the breakfast shop. That’s how they know I’m not at the entrance.’

’How do I find them...?’

She racked her brain, thinking hard. Her gaze drifted upward.

The buildings here weren’t tall, only four or five stories high, with rooftops used for drying laundry.

’If they’re on a roof, they would not only have a clear view of the street but also be able to avoid the cameras along the road.’

’I should go up and take a look...’

Huangfu Miaomiao steadied her breathing and controlled her form, moving upward—cautiously, slowly.

And there it was. On the roof of the building across the street, she saw a dark silhouette.

It was a tall, rail-thin woman.

She was so thin she resembled a skeleton. Her height made her limbs seem unnaturally long and slender. Standing there, motionless, she was the very picture of terrifying gloom. ℴℴ𝘮

Fear washed over Huangfu Miaomiao. The shadow plastered to the wall involuntarily shrank, causing the butterfly hair clip to tremble slightly.

The woman’s pitch-black eyes were fixed on the street below, oblivious to Huangfu Miaomiao’s presence.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Huangfu Miaomiao opened her virtual screen and typed a reply: "Got held up by a patrol. Can’t make it. Let’s reschedule for tomorrow."