AITAMITB Chapter 90

On that night, at the Fifth People’s Hospital in S City:

In the duty room, a newly arrived doctor was chatting with the nurses. Having recently graduated from postgraduate studies, he was young and handsome, with a quick wit. His banter left several nurses blushing and laughing heartily.

“Dr. Hao is really witty.”

Dr. Hao grinned, oozing self-confidence. He continued to throw out jokes, entertaining the nurses like a clown. However, as he glanced down the empty corridor, he suddenly sighed, “I’m so lucky tonight; I haven’t even encountered an emergency case.”

The moment he uttered those words, the nurse who had been laughing uncontrollably immediately wiped the smile off her face. With a stern expression, she said, “Words shouldn’t be spoken lightly. I’m going on rounds.”

She turned and walked away. Dr. Hao couldn’t fathom why her demeanor had abruptly changed. A well-meaning colleague nearby reminded him, “In the hospital, especially during night shifts, be careful what you say. The moment you claim everything is fine, trouble tends to find you.”

Dr. Hao chuckled, dismissing it. “We’re in modern times; we shouldn’t be bound by superstitious beliefs.”

This minor incident soon faded into the tranquil night at the hospital. However, half an hour later, the piercing wail of an ambulance shattered the peaceful silence, echoing through the night sky.

“There’s been a car accident! A couple suddenly quarreled on the elevated bridge. The man snatched the steering wheel from his wife, and as a result, the car, along with its passengers, flipped off the bridge. It even smashed another car below. Three people died on the spot, and seven others were seriously injured.”

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

At this very moment, the curse of the night shift gods spread through every hospital in S City.

“A young couple committed suicide together at home, burning charcoal. But they accidentally ignited the natural gas…”

“The husband cheated and the wife caught him in the act. The husband was brutally attacked. The mistress’s lower body was torn apart by the wife.”

“The wife abused the husband, and suddenly he went berserk. He held someone and jumped from the sixth floor. His spine shattered into several segments, and now he’s barely clinging to life.”

…

Dr. Hao was exhausted.

One emergency patient after another was rushed into the hospital from outside, filling up the emergency room at the Fifth People’s Hospital.

Whether they were frontline doctors or seasoned professors, they were all summoned from home by a single phone call. The operating room lights flickered on one after another, but they never had a chance to turn off. Even the last operating room was occupied by a patient, and outside, a continuous stream of ambulances transported more injured individuals.

“Call the Fourth Hospital! Let them take some patients! What? Fourth Hospital’s emergency room is full too? What about the Third Hospital? And Second Hospital? Are they all packed? What the hell is happening tonight? Are all the accidents happening at once?”

In the registration office, the night shift nurse continued to type on her computer keyboard while gossiping in hushed tones, “Tonight’s incidents are quite mysterious. Have you noticed that most of the accidents seem to involve couples? I even saw two gay men who partied too hard and ended up in trouble.”

“Exactly!” Another nurse, with the remarkable ability to multitask, chimed in, “My friend from the neighboring hospital told me that they’re also swamped tonight, dealing with cases caused by couples. It’s as if these people love each other so intensely that they’d devour each other’s bones.”

The young nurse shivered. “Sister Mei, please, stop. I’m getting chills down my spine.”

Sister Mei, the nurse addressed as such, felt a similar unease but refrained from revealing it. Instead, she focused on her work.

…

“Report: No target found!”

“Report: No target found!”

“Report: No…”

One after another, the messages about not finding targets came through the communication channel. Zhao Xiaokui looked up at the map of S City on the screen, sweat forming on her forehead. Suddenly, a gentle hand reached over, pulling away the hand she had been gnawing on. A soothing voice spoke, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Take your time. Everything will be fine; we’re all here.”

Zhao Xiaokui turned her head, surprised. “Sister Mingyue, why are you here?”

Su Mingyue smiled softly. “I couldn’t stay away. You were about to gnaw your hand off. Look at the cuts on your hand.”

Zhao Xiaokui glanced down and realized that, unconsciously, she had bitten her hand, leaving deep teeth marks on each finger except the thumb. The imprints had broken the skin, and the area was now swollen and red.

She pulled her hand back and discreetly wiped it against her back. Sheepishly, she said, “It’s nothing.”

Su Mingyue smiled, not exposing her disguise. Instead, she shifted her gaze back to the map of S City and asked, “Still no sign?”

“Hmm.” Zhao Xiaokui nodded and subconsciously brought her hand to her mouth, gnawing on it. Her eyes remained fixed on the screen. Su Mingyue, feeling helpless, unwrapped a lollipop and placed it in the young girl’s mouth. Then she took out a wet wipe and gently wiped the sweat from Zhao Xiaokui’s forehead.

As her fingers touched Zhao Xiaokui’s forehead, Su Mingyue was surprised by the intense warmth of her skin. It felt like a CPU operating at an accelerated speed. However, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she prepared a cup of herbal tea and glanced at another person sitting nearby—Lin Bai.

Lin Bai faced several screens of varying heights. His fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, and windows kept popping up on the screens, displaying a dizzying amount of data.

Su Mingyue unwrapped a piece of chocolate and fed it to him. “You need to eat something. Your energy expenditure is too high right now.”

Lin Bai didn’t even look away from the screens as he opened his mouth, allowing her to place the chocolate inside. He chewed quickly and said, “Water.”

If it weren’t for Su Mingyue keeping a close eye on these two, she might not have heard Lin Bai’s voice at all.

No one expected the cult’s actions to escalate so rapidly.

They had just identified Fan Ying, pinpointed the locations of several warehouses, and thought they had a lead on the cult. But before they could even apply for a search warrant, incidents began occurring in S City.

Initially, it was just couples arguing, but it escalated to wielding kitchen knives. Instead of the couple being harmed, they accidentally injured a police officer. Once the case was entered into the system, it triggered an alarm set up by Lin Bai.

After 6 PM, similar incidents multiplied. Almost overnight, conflicts between couples intensified. Hindered lovers suddenly became relentless in the name of love. All betrayals and deceptions led to one decisive and brutal solution—murder.

They finally realized that the cult’s formation had been activated.

The power of the evil god was gradually infecting the city.

However, unexpectedly, the several warehouses that were locked down—despite evidence from the investigation showing significant material deliveries—yielded no traces of cult activity when the search teams arrived. Instead, it infuriated the Fan family, who were in the business world. They demanded an explanation from the police, threatening to expose the situation in the media.

The entire Nightwalkers organization was now on edge.

It wasn’t that they feared the Fan family specifically; their concern lay with the evil god lurking in the shadows.

Where were their operatives hiding? What were the critical points in constructing this formation? How could they possibly locate them…?

Even extraordinary individuals, when tainted by the power of the evil god, are rendered utterly defenseless. What chance do ordinary people have?

The series of unexpected incidents tonight, and the overcrowded hospitals—these all reveal the terrifying and immense strength of the evil god.

No one can fathom how, under such strict surveillance in S City, this cult managed to grow and strengthen right under the Nightwalkers’ noses, reaching such a formidable level.

Occasionally, these questions flitted through Zhao Xiaokui’s mind, but she didn’t have the mental capacity to dwell on them. Right now, her primary concern was where Fan Ying and her group were hiding.

Seeing her furrowed brow and the increasing frequency of her self-biting, Su Mingyue couldn’t help but soothe her, “Don’t worry. Everyone is investigating. These people are like rats in the gutter—they can’t escape.”

Zhao Xiaokui suddenly turned her head. “What did you say?”

“…I said not to worry.”

“No, no, no! The next sentence, the next sentence!”

After a moment of recollection, Su Mingyue continued, “These people are like rats in the gutter.”

“Yes, yes, yes! That’s it! That’s it!” Zhao Xiaokui swiftly pulled over a rolling chair, sat next to Lin Bai, and bossily instructed, “Quick, check the sewer distribution map of S City, especially the sewers near the Fan family’s warehouses.”

Lin Bai pursed his lips. Zhao Xiaokui couldn’t wait for the results. She immediately pressed the communication button and said, “Captain Zhang, the sewers! You’re near Warehouse One. Please check again if there’s a sewer nearby that can accommodate a person. I suspect those cultists are hiding there.”

The Nightwalkers had considered the sewers before. In foreign movies, they loved scenes where villains hid in the sewers. However, in China, honestly, they felt that the country’s sewers might not be suitable for such high-end, dramatic scenarios.

But since Zhao Xiaokui brought it up, they didn’t mind verifying. After all, their current search strategy was casting a wide net, hoping to catch any leads and trace them back to the cult’s lair.

“Captain Zhang, the sewer entrance address has been sent to your tablet. Please check it yourselves.”

Zhang Hongyi led his team along the designated path, only to find a massive truck parked right above the entrance to the sewer.

As a Nightwalker, his instincts made his heart race uncontrollably. He switched to the public channel and asked, “Teams Two, Three, Four… please respond: When you were investigating the warehouse, did you notice any parked vehicles outside?”

After receiving precise answers, he gestured to one of the team members. “Move the truck.”

The person swiftly unlocked the wheel clamp, pried open the door, and deftly climbed into the driver’s seat. But within a minute, they stuck their head out and said, “Captain Zhang, it won’t work. This truck is broken.”

Zhang Hongyi glanced at the Nightwalkers’ vehicle. “Just tow it!”

They revved up the engine, and several extraordinary individuals pushed the rear of the truck. Finally, after days of being parked, the massive cargo truck slowly moved forward. Moments later, a sewer manhole cover, labeled “sewage,” appeared before them.

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