The Hardware Tower stands at the end of Nanping Road, not far from the parking lot—just a few hundred meters away. Passing the big sign for Tianhui Food Company, I looked across at the commercial office building over twenty stories high. In my dream, I saw that very building.
But the Hardware Tower we’re heading to isn’t the place where things happened in my dream. I muttered a few words to myself.
"Something’s not right. The Hardware Tower isn’t the place I saw in my dream."
Rachel Lan turned her head and looked at me.
"Ethan, maybe dreams and reality are different. What you saw might be the final outcome, but the place where it happens might not be there."
I nodded and kept running after them. When we arrived beneath the Hardware Tower, I saw a nine-story building, its windows pitch black. Police were already setting up a cordon around the area.
"What’s the situation?"
As soon as Rachel Lan arrived at the scene, she spotted Detective Stone and went over to ask.
"Not sure yet. That Iron Mask is probably inside. I’ve already pulled all my team members out."
At that moment, I noticed two body bags being carried to an ambulance, and two others lying on stretchers, with medical staff bandaging their wounds.
"Sigh, I've already notified the Nether Syndicate. Hopefully, they'll make it in time."
Detective Stone took a drag on his cigarette and spoke quietly.
"Those two..." I looked at the body bags as they were loaded onto the ambulance. Detective Stone nodded, and I said no more.
"Move quickly. Draw talismans and set up formations around the perimeter. Find a way to trap that guy."
Hugh Thompson began directing operations at the scene. Members of the Ghost Burial Squad started spreading out around the building, some holding yellow talismans, others with cinnabar, setting up around the tower.
"Sigh, more than half the Ghost Burial Squad has died this round." Detective Stone said helplessly.
Looking at these people before me, I felt a bitter sorrow I couldn't put into words.
"Brother Zhang, dealing with ghosts is always like this. Especially now, with so many ghost cases piling up, we can only ask for help from the Nether Syndicate and Brahma Order."
With a deafening boom, a bolt of lightning struck in the distance near the building. Looking at the sky, it seemed like rain was coming.
"It's going to rain!" someone shouted.
"Damn!" Detective Stone shouted and rushed over.
If it starts raining, the talismans and formations placed outside will be soaked and ruined by the rain.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and I felt a drop of moisture on my forehead. The rain began to fall. Rachel Lan and I ran over, and found an argument had broken out.
"No, Stone, don't let anyone go in. Whoever's inside isn't someone we can handle."
Hugh Thompson blocked the doorway. The Ghost Burial Squad was deeply divided—some insisted on going in, while others wanted to wait for help from the Nether Syndicate or Brahma Order.
"Hugh Thompson, you bastard, get out of the way!"
One of the men wanting to go in looked furious, gritting his teeth.
"Leo Mang, do you have a death wish?"
"Move! Let me in, let me in..." Leo Mang cried out, tears streaming down his face.
"Smack! Smack!" Hugh Thompson slapped him twice without hesitation.
"Everyone, stop!" Detective Stone stood between the two groups, just as they were about to start fighting.
"My brother... My brother is gone, let me in! I want to avenge my brother!"
Leo Mang cried and struggled, desperate to go inside.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Suddenly, a piercing noise rang out—Detective Stone had found a loudspeaker from somewhere and shouted, instantly silencing both groups.
"Listen up, everyone. When you joined the Ghost Burial Squad, you knew how dangerous this job was. But at times like this, we need to stay calm. You can go in, but only stay on the first floor. Don’t go upstairs."
I saw Rachel Lan walk over.
"Let me handle this. You all stay outside and keep watch."
"Right, doesn’t the Hades Circle have a Divination Arts technique?"
Someone muttered, and I remembered that night when Rachel Lan used paper to create a paper tiger and paper eagle.
Then the members of the Ghost Burial Squad spread out. Hugh Thompson stepped aside, leaving a path. With a sudden clatter, the rolling gate was pulled up. Inside, it was pitch black. Immediately, a powerful spotlight shone in, and just as the beam hit, a shadowy figure darted away.
Everyone became alert. Rachel Lan crouched on the ground and pulled out a stack of white paper birds from her coat, placing them at the entrance. Then she took out a small vial of blood, dripping it onto each paper bird. She sat cross-legged, hands pressed together.
"A body like a vessel, drifting in the waves, steady and unmoved, drawing nothing in, sitting and lying with spirit cleansed. Blood for soul, paper for body—rise, flock of white birds..."
Suddenly, the paper birds on the ground flew up—a large flock of white paper birds soared into the Hardware Tower, while Rachel Lan sat focused and calm.
"That thing isn’t human or ghost, but as long as it’s a living being, if it touches one of these special paper birds, we’ll know its location," Detective Stone explained. He seemed very familiar with Rachel Lan’s technique.
"Heaven’s Path, winding and mysterious, two turns of infinity, Spirit Guardian Mirror..." Suddenly, Hugh Thompson spoke, pulling a round mirror from his coat. It was wrapped with a red cord tied in knots, with fine strings hanging below. He gestured around Rachel Lan, then raised the mirror high. A yellow light flashed, and incantations floated around her.
After Hugh Thompson let go, the mirror hovered in front of Rachel Lan, as if protecting her.
"One, two, three..." Rachel Lan counted softly. When she reached seventy-six, she opened her eyes.
"It’s on the fourth floor. There are 24 paper birds left. We’ve pinpointed its location."
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"Not good." At that moment, Rachel Lan suddenly stood up, her expression grave.
"Rachel, what's wrong?"
"The paper birds were all destroyed in an instant."
I stared in shock at the interior, while more than ten Ghost Burial Squad members at the entrance pulled out their weapons.
"Now that we know he's on the fourth floor, we can go in, right?" Leo Mang said, preparing to enter.
Suddenly, a yellow barrier of light appeared around Rachel Lan, and waves of killing intent rose from the ground. With a sizzling sound, they hit the barrier and turned into black smoke.
"Ah..." A scream rang out. In an instant, two Ghost Burial Squad members were grabbed by the killing intent and dragged inside.
Under the spotlight, it was the Iron Mask—bare-chested, wearing loose pants, surrounded by swirling black killing intent.
"Not good," Hugh Thompson said, as the other team members immediately began casting spells.
"Ah..." In an instant, I saw the Iron Mask twist off a Ghost Burial Squad member's head, blood spraying everywhere. Everyone stared in shock as he gnawed on the head. Another member's legs were gone, screaming in agony.
"Five Thunder Incantation..."
"Buddha's Radiant Artifact, go..."
"Consecrated Talisman, ghosts begone, fix..."
Suddenly, more than a dozen Ghost Burial Squad members charged forward—yellow talismans fluttered, and items like prayer beads and wooden fish were mixed in.
Suddenly, I remembered something.
"Don’t go in!" I shouted, rushing forward. Hugh Thompson glanced at me, and together with Rachel Lan, we grabbed four or five people, but the other six or seven rushed inside.
I saw the Iron Mask raise his head, a smile in his blood-red eyes.
A hissing sound erupted as sharp black spikes shot up from the ground like spears, impaling the charging men one by one as they screamed.
"Silken veils, go..." Swish, swish—several white ribbons flew forward. I clenched my hands, forming a dagger out of killing intent, and rushed in.
Rachel Lan’s white ribbons accurately snatched two of them—those pierced through the thigh and arm—and dragged them back. The others lay motionless on the ground, blood pouring out.
Two streaks of killing intent chased Rachel Lan’s white ribbons, turning into spikes. I raised my dagger and slashed, cutting through the incoming attack.
Outside, screams and cries echoed.
"Everyone, stay calm! Don’t act rashly!" Detective Stone shouted into the loudspeaker.
The Iron Mask’s eyes were filled with mockery as he gripped the man whose face was pale and whose legs were severed.
"Help... help... save me..."
"Damn..." I shouted, charging forward.
"Ethan, don’t go!" Rachel Lan called out behind me, her voice filled with alarm.
"Ah..." I stared in shock, watching the Iron Mask bite into the man’s neck. Blood gushed out. The man convulsed and then lay still, while the Iron Mask kept eating.
"Get back here!" Suddenly, I felt a tightness around my body—a red cord looped around me and dragged me back. Hissing sounds filled my ears as countless black spikes shot up before my eyes, pulling me to the doorway.
"Hahaha..." The Iron Mask laughed deeply, then waved at all of us. With a crack, he twisted off the dead man’s head and tossed it over.