The staircase below was surprisingly narrow, only wide enough for one person to walk through, and every five steps there was a corner turn. I didn't know why it was designed like this, but it really was just as Ruan Liang said earlier—if you had an assault rifle and guarded a corner, no matter if whoever came down was human or wolf, you wouldn't need precise aiming; one shot would be enough.
The stairs twisted and turned repeatedly. Ruan Liang walked carefully in front, and I didn't say anything to distract him. After passing a dozen or so turns, we finally reached the bottom of the warehouse. Since it was a military warehouse, compared with the several basement floors of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, it wasn't much smaller. Judging by the scale of the guard post above, no one would have imagined such a large warehouse beneath it. But now it was empty and pitch-black; with only two people here, there was an uneasy feeling in my heart.
Ruan Liang didn't seem very familiar with the place either. He first lowered his head and thought for a long time, then used his flashlight to spin around on the spot to determine the cardinal directions. Only then did he turn and point ahead, saying to me, "I remember there's an emergency generator for single-line lighting somewhere ahead. There might still be some diesel inside. Let's go see if we're lucky." As he spoke, Ruan Liang walked toward the direction he pointed, and I could only follow behind.
He wasn't wrong. After walking a short while, in a corner room, we found the generator he mentioned. Unfortunately, most of the diesel inside had evaporated, but in the corner we found barrels of diesel. After some effort, Ruan Liang and I poured the diesel into the generator, started it, and flipped the circuit breaker. Finally, the lights flickered on. But since it was only emergency lighting, there were just four or five lights glowing in the entire warehouse.
I said to Ruan Liang, "Alright, we have light now. Let's take another look around. If there's no problem, we can head back up." Ruan Liang nodded and led me deeper into the warehouse. We circled nearly all the way around. Just as I thought it was enough and was about to turn back with Ruan Liang, my eyes suddenly caught a faint wisp of purple gas seeping from a wall.
This purple gas was faint and intermittent, slowly oozing out of the wall. In the dim light, it was almost invisible. At first glance, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but when the purple gas appeared again, I was sure I hadn't been mistaken.
I was used to seeing the pale blueish Yin Qi, but this purple gas was something I had only read about in the archives. If I wasn't wrong, it could be summed up in two words—Aura of the Arcanobeast. To confirm my suspicion, I took out a stack of talisman papers from my wallet (which the Bureau gave us when we first joined, but since Ouyang Pianzuo and Hao Wenming forgot to teach us how to use them, I had never actually used one). Recently, while hanging around the archives, besides reading various materials, I had asked Ouyang Pianzuo about how to use these talismans.
From the stack, I took out one talisman whose back was marked in red pen with the words "Arcanobeast Detection Talisman." After confirming it was the right one, I held one corner of the paper between two fingers and slowly moved it toward the center of the purple gas. As soon as the talisman touched the edge of the gas, the runes in the center suddenly sparked and ignited from inside out. The talisman burned like a fuse soaked in gunpowder, with the flame spreading very quickly. Fortunately, I dropped the nearly burned-to-ash talisman just in time.
Ruan Liang behind me was stunned. He stared wide-eyed and pointed at the ashes on the ground, saying, "What are you doing?" The lighting here was too dim for him to see what was drawn on the talisman I had just burned. I stepped back, trying to get out of the purple gas's range, glanced at him, and said, "That was a sulfur test paper. Didn't you smell the sulfur here?"
Ruan Liang sniffed and looked puzzled. "Sulfur smell? I didn't smell anything at all. Is the sulfur concentration very high here?" I was already impatient to stay, and said, "The test paper is burned to ash. Would you say it's high or not?" Saying that, I turned toward the stairs.
This time, going back was the opposite order—we went with me in front and Ruan Liang following on my right. When we returned to the hidden door entrance, Gao Liang and Sun Fatty were craning their necks, looking down. Seeing the expression on my face, Gao Liang frowned and asked, "Is something wrong down there?" I glanced back at Ruan Liang following behind, took a deep breath, and said, "There's a sulfur leak downstairs."
"A sulfur leak?" Gao Liang was momentarily stunned but quickly reacted and asked, "Is the situation serious?" I took out another Arcanobeast Detection Talisman from my wallet and handed it to Gao Liang, saying, "I can't say for sure how serious it is, but the talisman couldn't even withstand the sulfur concentration down there without spontaneously igniting." Gao Liang took the talisman and pondered for a moment, then said to Ruan Liang, "We need to prepare to go down. Go check on your comrades; we'll carry them in shortly."
After Ruan Liang went into the inner room, Gao Liang turned back to me and asked, "Where exactly is the sulfur leaking?" I led him through the hidden door and several turns until we reached the stair landing. I pointed to a distant wall below and said, "It's there. The purple gas appears intermittently; you can only see it clearly when you're close." After I finished speaking, I glanced at Director Gao and saw him suddenly flick his hand toward the wall. The talisman I gave him shot straight through the air like a bolt of lightning toward the wall. Just as it was about to hit, sparks flew and the talisman ignited. The burning talisman lost forward momentum and instantly disintegrated into several pieces of flying ash, drifting gently to the ground.
This was the first time I saw Director Gao take action since I joined the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation (not counting the times I was unconscious before). A talisman paper, almost weightless, was thrown by him so far that I could hardly believe my eyes.
I watched the talisman turn into flying ashes. Gao Liang suddenly gave a cold laugh and said, "No need to go downstairs anymore, Shen La, let's go back." After saying that, he ignored me and turned around, heading toward the exit of the secret door.
After leaving the hidden chamber, Gao Liang called over Sun Fatty and brought me along to the outer room. During this time, the giant white wolf outside did not lead the pack to attack again, but having learned from the last close call when the wolves nearly broke in, all the members of Huang Ran's trio, together with others, leaned against the table that blocked the main door. Only Yang Jun seemed unconcerned, sitting on the table and staring unblinking at Huang Ran and the others.
Once Director Gao returned to the outer room, he shouted to me and Sun Fatty, "Shen La, Sun Desheng! From now on, your task is to keep an eye on Huang Ran and his group of three. If any of them make a move, shoot them immediately—no need to ask for permission! If something happens, it's on me!" Sun Fatty chuckled and pulled back the bolt of his gun. Although he didn't aim directly at Huang Ran and his group, the muzzle intentionally shifted closer to them.
Huang Ran looked surprised and asked, "Director Gao, what do you mean by this?" Gao Liang glared at him and retorted, "Have you found your Tomb of a Transcendent Beast yet? After such a long detour, I didn't expect you'd end up being tricked yourself." Huang Ran still seemed confused by Gao's words, his face full of bewilderment. Director Gao gave him another glare and then ignored the three of them, instructing the others to carry down Ruan Liang's unconscious comrades first.
Fortunately, the underground warehouse was large enough. We placed the several unconscious soldiers far from the area emitting purple aura. Gao Liang and Yang Jun also led Huang Ran's trio inside the secret door. The soldiers were left in the care of Ruan Liang and Po Jun. Sun Fatty and I were called over by Gao Liang, who repeated: no matter which one of those three moves, shoot immediately. Gao would take responsibility if anything happened.
Just as Gao Liang was about to interrogate Huang Ran and the others, gunshots suddenly rang out from the sentry post above.
The white giant wolf outside once again led the pack in an attack. Lin Feng only had regular bullets, which were almost useless against the giant wolf, and they nearly suffered heavy losses. The door was instantly broken open with a gap. A wolf head resembling a bear's had squeezed inside, and with every howl, its body pressed further through. Following the gap, the wolf pack surged in one after another, rushing toward everyone inside.
Lin Feng gave up on the giant wolf for the moment. Standing on the table, he fired a full magazine into the incoming wolves. When the bullets ran out, a pile of wolf corpses lay in front of the door, but more wolves kept flooding in through the gap. Luckily, Hugo threw over an assault rifle with ammunition—not special Bureau rounds, but still effective against ordinary wolves. While Lin Feng fought off the pack, the white giant wolf had already stretched a paw inside.
Fortunately, Hao Wenming reacted quickly. He shouted to the directors nearby, "Hold them off for now!" Then he ran to the stove behind him, disregarding the burning heat, grabbed the still-burning stove, and climbed onto the table. From above, he smashed the stove down on the wolf's head. Although huge, it was still an animal and feared fire. The burning embers spilled onto the wolf's head, singeing its fur and face. The giant wolf howled painfully, shook off the burning embers, and with its neck pulled back, retreated half its body out of the door.
When Gao Liang and I rushed over, the door had been shut again, and the air smelled of scorched animal fur. Others were fine, but Hao Wenming was already at the water vat, grimacing as he soaked both hands in the cold water.
After hearing Lin Feng's report, Director Gao frowned and said, "The sentries above have fallen. We'll all retreat to the warehouse below." Then Gao suddenly gave a cold laugh for no apparent reason. Looking around at the directors nearby, he continued, "Whatever is down there might be more interesting or more dangerous than that beast outside. Listen carefully, I'll only say this once: This is probably a trap set by Huang Ran. I have a rough idea of what he wants, and one thing is certain—his target isn't us. It's something below. Huang Ran and his group dragged us in because they don't think they can handle it alone. No matter what, the Bureau must secure this thing, and we cannot let those three get away."
Pausing, Gao took a breath and added, "We came in too hastily, and we didn't bring most of our main gear. Be extra careful downstairs, don't fall for Huang Ran's tricks. Alright, get ready, we're going down now."
From previous experience, after a wolf pack is driven off, they stay quiet for a while. Taking advantage of this pause, Gao led the way with the directors through the secret door. I followed last, holding the assault rifle and shutting the door behind me. As Ruan Liang said before, no wolf can break through relying on strength alone.
When we reached the warehouse below, Huang Ran's trio were crouching on the ground, guarded by Sun Fatty and Yang Jun. At first, I wondered why the three were so obediently crouching, but after a few steps, I noticed a black cat prowling nearby. With no threat from the wolves, the "Nyeh." was very lively. Honestly, not only Huang Ran's group but even I was shaken by that cat's earlier scream. Thinking back to that piercing cry still made me weak in the knees and gave me goosebumps.
Seeing us approach, the black cat jumped onto Yang Jun's shoulder and softly called out, "Nyeh…" At that sound, everyone from Gao Liang down froze, their eyes fixed on the legendary creature. Huang Ran and his two companions immediately slumped to the ground. The black cat's reputation was terrifying enough that hearing its soft call with no harmful effect slightly eased our nerves.
"Yang Jun, can't your cat keep quiet? Not gonna lie, its call is pretty creepy," Sun Fatty said, staring at the black cat. He had suffered from this cat before; although it now followed him around, Sun Fatty's attitude was only slightly better than Huang Ran's. Yang Jun said nothing and gently stroked the cat's sleek black fur. The cat closed its eyes in comfort and softly called, "Nyeh…" again.
Sun Fatty was clearly displeased but dared not provoke Yang Jun. He sighed and turned his face aside. Gao Liang glanced at everyone and said, "It's just a cat making noise. What's there to be afraid of?" His eyes flicked toward the black cat on Yang Jun's shoulder, but his voice lacked conviction—more of a bravado.
After that, Gao told me to lead the way, bypassing Yang Jun and the black cat. We walked straight to the wall where purple aura was seeping out. The directors' eyes lit up at the sight of the faint purple mist. Old Qiu stepped closer, staring at the aura for a while before turning to Gao and asking, "Should we break open the wall? There must be something behind it."
Gao didn't answer immediately. He looked around, then picked up a piece of wire from the ground. Returning to the wall, he seemed to want to test it somehow, but hesitated and finally gave up. He glanced at Huang Ran, who was still crouching on the ground, handcuffed. Huang Ran was handcuffed together with Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan, with Huang in the middle.
"Can't we open this?" Huang Ran asked. "It's sealed, and there are so many of you. We can't run away anyway. So maybe there's no need for this."
"Better keep the cuffs on," Gao said with a smile. "I feel better watching you wear them."
Huang Ran sighed helplessly. The three of them shakily stood up and walked over to examine the purple aura. Their expressions were surprised. Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan both looked at Huang Ran as if wanting to ask something but held back because of our presence.
Huang Ran squinted at the aura, expressionless. Gao didn't rush him, only watching his face carefully. After two or three minutes, Huang suddenly took a step back, bit his index finger, and flicked a few drops of fresh blood onto the purple aura seeping from the wall.
A strange scene unfolded: the purple mist, which had been flowing out steadily, quickly retracted upon contact with the blood. The blood seemed to attract the aura like a magnet. As more aura was pulled back, the bloodstains on the wall faded from bright red to pale pink. Within minutes, the stains vanished completely from sight, and the aura, freed from its binding, slowly dissipated into the air like cigarette smoke.
Seeing this, Huang stepped forward again and looked at Gao Liang. "Do you have something like a nail? Give me one." Gao seemed to understand and silently handed over the wire he had picked up earlier.
Straightening the wire, Huang carefully inserted it into the wall along the fading bloodstain marks. Strangely, the wire met no resistance, as if poking into soft tofu. Almost the entire length of the wire disappeared inside the wall in an instant.
Huang looked back at Gao and said, "With it like this, do I need to say more?"
Gao gave a wry, forced smile and said, "Say whatever you want. How would I know what your Religious Affairs Commission thinks?"
Huang looked at Gao helplessly, then turned his head back toward the wall with the purple aura. After hesitating, he said, "There's no doubt this is the Aura of the Arcanobeast, and it's persistent and never-ending. It decomposes on contact with blood and has a bloodthirsty nature. This is definitely the aura of a powerful, bloodthirsty Arcanobeast. Judging by this, the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast I've been searching for years must be behind this wall."