Chapter 138: Forbidden Building

The entire city was under attack by an unknown force.

Ai Ning recovered a fraction of her wits from the shock and grasped the current situation.

Whoever the enemy was, they were advancing with clear organization. They had seized high-level authorization from the Supernatural Disaster Bureau, gathered a massive number of ghost hunters at headquarters, and simultaneously broadcast the video of the Woman in the Rain, wiping out hundreds of ghost hunters in a single stroke.

Then, while launching a full-scale assault on Shanghai City, they continued spreading the Meme throughout the metropolis, hoping to incite even greater chaos and cripple any counterattack by the Supernatural Disaster Bureau's survivors.

As for how she had managed to survive in the completely empty headquarters, that was pure accident.

A newcomer like her—a fish that slipped through the net—posed no threat whatsoever. Even if her training instructor noticed someone was missing, they probably wouldn't have bothered checking the restroom for her.

Ai Ning stumbled down the street. Explosions occasionally rang in her ears, and the roadside was littered with corpses, their deaths gruesome.

But aside from the Woman in the Rain playing on every large screen across the city, she had yet to see a single so-called "enemy" or ghost.

Overhead, streaks of black meteors continued flying toward the distant landmarks of Shanghai City, resembling immortals leaving trails of white across the sky!

But the distance was too great. Ai Ning strained her neck to look up, entirely unable to make out what those "black meteors" were carrying—whether they were friend or foe.

Hopefully, they were the elite ghost hunters from Abyss Echo, riding their Supernatural Items and rushing toward the center of Shanghai City at top speed.

She consoled herself.

Ai Ning trudged forward through the dead, silent streets. Hailing a cab was out of the question. No phone calls would connect, and the Wi-Fi was intermittent, stuck in a perpetual loading state.

She tried to load up forums, apps, and news reports, wanting to see what people were saying about this disaster in Shanghai City. Instead, she found that the videos and images on every single webpage had been replaced by the clip of the Woman in the Rain holding an umbrella on a muddy path.

By now, everyone in Shanghai City had seen this Meme contamination.

The only ones capable of surviving this massive supernatural contamination were those born blind.

At some point, a fine, misty rain had begun to fall.

Today's weather forecast had originally predicted clear skies.

Ai Ning looked toward the distant horizon of Shanghai City. Massive dark clouds shrouded the sleepless city, and the usually brightly lit downtown had also fallen. Commercial signs, streetlamps, and the lights of countless homes were all extinguished. In the pitch darkness, there was only the steady rustle of rain, with occasional bursts of fire briefly illuminating small patches of the city.

It was likely because too many of the Woman in the Rain had descended upon Shanghai City at once. Whenever the Woman in the Rain appeared, a light drizzle would fall over the surrounding area. When a hundred thousand, a million manifestations of the Woman in the Rain arrived in Shanghai City, the entire metropolis was enveloped in this abnormal rainstorm.

Ai Ning felt a profound despair welling up from the bottom of her heart. In the distance, her colleagues might still be putting up a bitter fight, but the gunfire was growing increasingly sparse. The human resistance was being plucked up one by one by some invisible, giant hand and crushed to death like ants.

Was there anything left that could be done to salvage the situation? If there were a god in this world, even that god would feel despair facing this scene.

Parked on the side of the road was a bicycle, its rider hanging from a nearby telephone pole. Half of their neck had been slashed open, the wound haphazardly stitched back together with needle and thread before the body was casually tossed up there.

It was probably the handiwork of some Fierce Ghost with a twisted sense of humor.

The dead person's mountain bike was naturally ownerless now. Ai Ning didn't hesitate to hop on.

Her most urgent priority was to reach the garrison of the Abyss Echo Unit. That location housed the last ghost hunter unit in Shanghai City with complete combat capabilities, capable of organizing an effective counterattack even after headquarters was completely wiped out.

That place was her last hope.

Ai Ning wasn't cycling particularly fast. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a tall, eerie woman holding a White Umbrella under a streetlamp along the road. Revealing only her red lips, the woman offered a slight smile in greeting.

This woman's attire—it looked incredibly similar to the Woman in the Rain seen in the Meme video.

Sure enough, because she had watched that contaminated video, the Woman in the Rain had come for her too.

Accelerating in the opposite direction, Ai Ning drew her pistol, ready to shoot the moment the entity caught up.

Although she knew deep down that ordinary Supernatural Items would be of little use against her, it was still better than just waiting to die.

When she reached the next intersection, the tall woman holding the umbrella appeared once again, waiting for her ahead of time. The grotesque smile beneath the umbrella could no longer be contained.

Ai Ning slammed on the brakes and abandoned the bike, turning and dashing into a nearby narrow alley. The woman looked to have a rather clumsy build, so she decided to use the cramped terrain to see if she could shake her off.

Pant, pant, pant.

Heavy panting echoed from behind her.

Along with the crash of alleyway clutter being knocked over by brute force.

Ai Ning knew the tall woman had chased her inside like a rabid dog. She didn't dare look back, keeping her head down and burrowing deeper into the narrowest parts of the alley.

The relentless drizzle blurred her vision so much that she could barely keep her eyes open, but the fear of death overwhelmed the sting of water.

Wheeze, wheeze.

The panting from behind drew closer. Out of the corner of her eye, Ai Ning caught sight of the shadow of a large umbrella slowly looming over her, as if someone were trying to hold the canopy above her to keep the rain off.

The reason the Woman in the Rain had chased her down was simply to hand her an umbrella?

Ai Ning's heart gave a jolt, but the mangled remains of the ghost hunters in the headquarters' classroom stopped her from having any illusions about the Woman in the Rain's "goodwill." She hastened her pace. The exit to the alley was just ahead. If she couldn't lose her pursuer here, there would be even less chance of shaking her on the main street.

Gritting her teeth, Ai Ning shoved aside the junk piled in front of her and burst out of the alley onto the main road.

Across the main road stood a dilapidated old building. Its exterior walls were a ruin of ivy, dust, and shattered windows, looking long-abandoned and dripping with gloom. Now, the surface was covered in a fuzzy layer of blood-red fungal blanket that squirmed as if alive, making it look even more eerie.

With no time to think, Ai Ning sprinted to an overhang at the base of the building. She whirled around to face the alleyway across the street, drawing her pistol and preparing to make a desperate last stand against the Woman in the Rain.

Even if she had to die here, Ai Ning preferred to die cleanly while standing in a dry corner, rather than covered in mud and rainwater.

The tall woman's figure slowly emerged from the alley's exit. Strangely, she merely stood quietly across the street, staring at Ai Ning with no intention of chasing after her.

Strange—

Was this ghost woman not planning to pursue her anymore?

Was it because she was afraid of the Supernatural Item in her hands?

Ai Ning hesitantly stepped out from the edge of the building, preparing to dash across to the opposite block.

But the moment she stepped away from the building, the tall woman in the alley once again moved her disproportionately long legs, walking toward Ai Ning with the large umbrella in hand.

Terrified, Ai Ning immediately ducked back inside the strange building.

As she retreated into the shadows, the effect was instantaneous. Across the street, the Woman in the Rain halted at once, the icy gaze hidden beneath her umbrella staring coldly back at her.

This terrifying Fierce Ghost actually seemed afraid of the building behind her?

Amidst her relief and terror, Ai Ning felt a sliver of curiosity.

Had this building been possessed by something? What was hiding deep inside that even an S-Level Fierce Ghost didn't dare to set foot in it?

Outside, the rain grew heavier.

In the blink of an eye amidst the torrential downpour, the woman's figure imperceptibly "grew taller," swelling until she was the size of a small building. After waiting a long time and seeing Ai Ning refuse to step outside, she changed her mind. Lifting two thick, stubby, pillar-like legs, she lumbered unsteadily toward Ai Ning.

Although her pace was agonizingly slow, it was clear that the Woman in the Rain was trying to breach the restrictions of the old building and enter the shadows to catch Ai Ning.

Forced into a corner, Ai Ning gritted her teeth and had no choice but to delve deeper into the old building.

At the very least, that Fierce Ghost wouldn't dare enter the building for the time being.

The inside of the building was relatively normal, lacking the layer of fleshy fungal blanket that coated the exterior.

However, the hallway lights had long since broken down, leaving the depths pitch black. On top of that, a thoroughly foul, musty stench lingered in the air, rushing straight to the head. Who knew how much rancid old junk was piled up in here.

Gritting her teeth, Ai Ning held her gun in one hand and flicked on her mobile phone's flashlight with the other, carefully venturing into the depths of the old building.

She suspected that this building might have been attacked by another Fierce Ghost, causing these anomalies. But right now, the Woman in the Rain was still the greater threat. The ghost woman was already standing at the entrance, leaning down and straining to squeeze her way inside, scraping against the walls on both sides and making them rattle and groan.

Just as Ai Ning stepped onto the old-fashioned stairs and made her way toward the second floor, a woman's mournful singing suddenly drifted down from above:

Dance, dance past the shadow of the gallows.

Blood drips on the slate, blooming into rose tattoos.

Sing, sing until the confessional's glass shatters.

The priest's rosary tangles around the bruises on your ankle.

We are the cursed seventh generation.

Waltzing in the morgue, until the pendulum swallows every breath.

Ai Ning felt her stomach churn wildly again.

She realized that the strict training she had received in her classes—the rules, requirements, tutorials, and guidelines for facing supernatural events—were practically useless in the face of true terror.

Right now, Ai Ning had only one thought in mind: run.

She wanted to escape this building, escape Shanghai City, escape to the end of the world. She had zero desire to fight these monstrosities that were neither human nor ghost; she only wanted to survive.

Cold sweat trickled continuously down Ai Ning's forehead. She forced rationality to suppress her terror, maintaining a baseline level of calm as she patiently searched for the source of the singing.

Just then, the sound of something tumbling down came from the pitch-black staircase ahead. An irregularly round object, about the size of a human head, came bouncing and rolling toward her.

Dodging to the side and drawing her gun, Ai Ning simultaneously aimed her flashlight at the rolling object to confirm whether it was a human head or some other body part.

What a joke—it was just the plastic head of a mannequin.

After completely shattering it with her pistol, Ai Ning let out a massive breath, relaxing slightly.

But in that very instant, an eerie voice echoed from right behind her: "You shouldn't have entered this building."