Chapter 13: A Second One?

"The aura of 【Judgment】 has vanished."

"The Calamity's aura has vanished too."

"If nothing went wrong, Brother Meng should have succeeded."

"Han Meng is too fast; we couldn't even get in on the credit if we wanted to..."

Under the rainy night, four figures in black trench coats sped toward the wilderness battlefield—they were the remaining enforcers of District 3.

They scanned the scarred wilderness, secretly shocked.

How intense must the battle have been to blast this place into such a state?

"This Calamity seems to have had some tricks up its sleeve..."

As they spoke, they looked toward the other side of the battlefield, where a blood-covered figure lay on his back, motionless like a corpse.

"Brother Meng?!"

One enforcer immediately rushed forward, picked up Han Meng from the ground, and nervously began to check his pulse.

The other three enforcers stood in place, exchanging glances, a strange glimmer in their eyes...

"Is he dead?" one of the three asked.

He was the second-in-command of the District 3 enforcers, Ma Zhong.

"He's not dead! He's still alive!"

A flicker of disappointment passed imperceptibly across the three men's faces. Two of them looked at Ma Zhong, who hesitated for a moment before shaking his head at them.

"What about the Calamity? Why don't we see a corpse?"

"Did it run away?!"

"No corpse, it must have run away..."

Everyone immediately searched the surroundings, but under the washing rain, no clues were left behind. The Calamity that had been fighting Han Meng here not long ago seemed to have evaporated into thin air, disappearing completely.

"Brother Ma! Brother Ma!!"

At the same time, an enforcer in a black and red uniform ran over from a distance in a hurry.

"What's wrong? Why the rush?" Ma Zhong asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We just received intelligence from District 2... Last night, a Calamity attack also occurred in District 2. Half a street was washed in blood, with a total of thirty-six deaths."

"What?" Ma Zhong said in surprise. "Is it the same one?"

"It's said that the one that attacked District 2 was a Grade 3 Calamity, so it shouldn't be the same one."

"Two Calamities crawling out at once during the same Gray Realm convergence? That's not common..." Ma Zhong mused. "Was it killed?"

"No, they said that after the Calamity finished killing, it headed toward the back mountain... We can't rule out the possibility that it crossed the back mountain and entered District 3.

District 2 is hoping we can send some manpower... Their casualties are too high, and the enforcers are overwhelmed."

"Understood, I'll handle this."

The enforcers carried the unconscious Han Meng and quickly transferred him to the hospital. Ma Zhong's gaze fell on the battlefield ruins and the silhouette of the back mountain hidden in the night, deep in thought.

"Same Gray Realm convergence point, two Calamities... interesting."

……

"Brother, aren't we running away?"

As the night deepened, two youths walked along a deserted path, heading straight toward Frost Street.

"Why would we run?" Chen Ling asked in return.

Chen Yan was taken aback. He scratched his head, thinking for a long time, but stopped himself from speaking.

"Besides, even if we did run, where could we go?" Chen Ling said helplessly. "The Aurora Domain is only so big—one city and seven districts. An ordinary person definitely can't get into Aurora City, and between the other seven districts, District 2 and District 3 have been sealed off..."

"Then how about we just find some mountain ditch and hide?"

"Hiding is useless. They’ll find us sooner or later. We can’t just keep retreating," Chen Ling replied vaguely.

In truth, Chen Ling himself wanted to find a place to hide, but he couldn't!

Although he had reclaimed the "stage," the audience's anticipation was still stuck at 20%. If he didn't do something to raise it, he would be usurped again and turned into a monster.

Chen Yan vaguely felt that the logic was a bit off... but he didn't think too much about it. Since his brother said they couldn't hide, he must have his reasons.

"A-Yan."

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you afraid of me?" In the darkness, Chen Ling turned to look at him. "You must have seen that just now... I turned into a monster."

Chen Yan kept his head down, silent for a long time.

"Brother, it doesn't matter if you turn into a monster, as long as... you are still you."

"How do you know I'm still me?"

"I just feel it..."

Chen Ling gave him a deep look. In the darkness, the youth's expression was blurred.

"By the way, how is your body?" he asked. "Usually, after a heart transplant, don't you need to rest for a long time? Is it really okay for you to be running around outside like this?"

"That doctor seems very skilled; I'm recovering quickly."

"Oh..."

Chen Ling suddenly thought that this world seemed to have supernatural powers; otherwise, without even electricity, such a heart transplant surgery would be impossible... Perhaps there were also methods for rapid recovery?

Chen Ling's gaze fell on his smooth neck, as if remembering something. "Right, where is the safety charm I gave you? The one you usually wear around your neck."

Chen Yan was stunned. He reached up to touch his chest, only to find it empty.

"I don't know... maybe it fell off when we were running back."

"...It's fine, I'll make you another one when we get back."

"Okay." Chen Yan spoke again. "Brother... are you really not going to wash up? If you walk onto the main street looking like that, you'll scare people to death."

Chen Ling was startled and instinctively touched his neck. It was slick and greasy; his hand was already covered in blood.

Strangely enough, after emerging from the red-paper monster, the wound on his neck had healed with abnormal speed. In just half an hour, the flesh had mostly reconnected, though it still looked like a bloody mess, making him look like a demon risen from hell.

With no other choice, Chen Ling found a nearby stream, took off his bright red opera robe, and began to wash the blood off his body.

"Brother, there's something I wanted to ask earlier..." Chen Yan asked, puzzled.

"Why are you wearing my opera robe?"

"I... don't know."

Chen Ling looked blankly at the robe on his body... He remembered that when he was hacked to death by the axe, he wasn't wearing this thing.

Thinking carefully, when he returned home that night, he had also been draped in this bright red opera robe. Judging by the words of Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun, it seemed to be the clothing they had casually used to wrap his corpse after murdering him.

But why didn't they put it on him this time, and how did the robe return to him on its own?

Chen Ling couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it. Ever since he transmigrated into this world, strange things had been happening more and more often...

He had intended to burn this ominous robe, but seeing Chen Yan's pitiful gaze, he sighed and silently washed it along with the rest.