INHA Chapter 67

Not only did this viewer think this way, but those in the same city also had the same thoughts.

This was just too coincidental.

They didn’t initially connect the live stream to the loss of signal. They simply thought the internet at home had temporarily gone out, so they restarted their devices. But when it still showed no signal, they were completely baffled.

Confused, they switched off the Wi-Fi on their phones and tried using mobile data to watch the live stream instead, but it still showed no signal. It was only then that they noticed their phone was displaying “No Service.”

No way…

He hurried outside and knocked on his neighbor’s door. The neighbor, who was around the same age, opened the door and immediately asked, “Do you have any signal on your phone?”

He was stunned for a moment and quickly replied, “I was coming to ask you the same thing. My SIM card and Wi-Fi, everything has no signal.”

The neighbor said, “Same here.” The two exchanged confused looks for a few seconds, then went to knock on other doors, only to find that everyone was experiencing the same issue.

Could it be that the signal in this entire area is down?

He returned home, suddenly unsure of what to do next.

Without the internet, it felt like he was isolated from the rest of the world.

Every resident in the city faced the same situation. They all went downstairs to ask each other, only to receive the same response. With nothing else to do, they ended up chatting outside to pass the time.

Coincidentally, two residents from the same building had watched Xu Dongyou’s livestream. As they talked about it, they couldn’t help but comment on how strange the coincidence was. They even joked that the streamer might have a cursed mouth for something like this to happen. They agreed that once the internet was back, they’d definitely go online to vent about it.

As the two were chatting, they suddenly saw a police car drive into the neighborhood. The residents thought the police were there to address the signal outage, so they quickly gathered around.

However, the two officers sternly stopped them from approaching and asked, “We’re not here about the signal issue. Is Zhang Minfang, the resident of Unit 203 in Building 5, here?”

In the crowd, a young woman in her twenties timidly raised her hand. “That’s me.”

The other residents recognized the girl and, although puzzled, started speaking up for her.

The police quickly motioned for everyone to quiet down. “Ms. Zhang hasn’t done anything wrong, so don’t worry. We’re here for another matter.”

They approached her, and under her confused and nervous gaze, one of the officers said, “Six months ago, you participated in a mobile game event where they were giving away phones. Do you still have that phone?”

Zhang Minfang quickly nodded. “Yes, I still have it.”

She hurriedly pulled out the phone and handed it to the officer. The officer glanced at the screen, which was cluttered with apps, then handed the phone back to her. “Did you uninstall a game called Monster Town? If not, could you please find and open that game?”

Zhang Minfang nodded again. Realizing now that the police were there about something related to the phone and the game, she was no longer as nervous. She quickly found the game among dozens of apps and handed the phone back to the officer.

The police handed the phone to the handler, who quickly glanced at it. He could see that Zhang Minfang frequently played the game, with her character having already reached a level in the teens—one of the highest-level characters they had come across so far, indicating that she was an advanced player.

The handler, holding the phone, went to a private area to contact his superiors, then returned and said, “We need you to come with us to assist with something. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.”

Zhang Minfang hesitated for a few seconds before nodding.

As the police were about to take Zhang Minfang away, an elderly man hurriedly asked one of the young officers, “Officer, why is there no signal in our neighborhood? We can’t even call customer service. When will it be fixed?”

The young officer, used to being called “officer” by older people, kept a composed expression and kindly replied, “It’s not just your neighborhood—our entire city is without signal. We can’t disclose the exact reason, but it should be restored by tomorrow at the latest.”

The elderly man seemed reassured by this answer.

Meanwhile, the two residents who had watched the livestream were utterly shocked. The police were clearly legitimate, and the conversation with Zhang Minfang had revealed information about Monster Town and the phone.

It was starting to seem like—what they saw in the live stream was real!

This couldn’t just be a coincidence.

The two exchanged glances, suddenly feeling a chill.

If the reason the entire city’s signal was down was indeed to prevent that sinister force from the phone from growing stronger…

Then somewhere in this city, the spider with a human face might really exist.

“No way.”

“This must be a coincidence!”

“But our entire city is out of signal. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

“No matter how unlikely it seems, it can’t deny that this is the most plausible explanation right now.”

After saying this, the two fell into silence again. Whether it was due to nervousness or a shattered worldview, they sat on the cold steps, trying to calm down for a full hour. During this time, they kept checking their phones, hoping to re-enter the livestream.

They had so many questions for the streamer.

Of course, they also considered asking the man in plain clothes who came with the police, who was probably a handler as well. But they were so stunned at the time that by the time they came to their senses, the police had already left.

They were unsure whether they should go to the police station to ask questions. They felt that even if they did, they might not get any answers, so they decided to just sit and wait for the signal to be restored.

Meanwhile, some viewers in the live stream noticed that after Xu Dongyou made that statement, the barrage of comments seemed to have decreased. They quickly dismissed the thought, assuming those people had left the stream.

It was more interesting to focus on the livestream, especially with the frightening and eerie human-faced spider that kept appearing. It was almost impossible to describe how realistic and unsettling it was, even through the phone screen, giving them goosebumps.

As always, it was clear that the special effects team hired by the live stream platform was top-notch. Their work was truly the best in the country—no, perhaps even superior to international effects.

After all, this was a live stream!

If they really made a movie and took more time to perfect it, the effects would be even more explosive. Even if the movie tickets were expensive, they would still be willing to pay to see it!

At this moment, Xu Dongyou and his team were still in the middle of a fierce battle with the human-faced spider. Such a battle was not suitable for police officers to join, but some handlers nearby who were watching the live stream were concerned and wanted to help. However, they were stopped by other handlers.

“Going over won’t help. Demons can’t be defeated just by numbers. What we need to do now is quickly find the remaining few dozen phones,” the chief’s words immediately clarified the situation for the handler, who then resumed the search for the remaining phones.

Yan Jingnan outside occasionally used his phone to record the human-faced spider, buying time for Xu Dongyou and the others.

Fortunately, the human-faced spider was nearly immobilized by Xu Wan’s efforts. Combined with the relentless attacks from Kuang Zhannu and Xu Dongyou’s intermittent use of immobilizing talismans to reveal the spider’s form, their coordination was quite effective.

Without its source of power, the human-faced spider was gradually weakening. On top of that, the small stone Xu Dongyou had thrown in earlier was further limiting its strength.

Watching the live stream, Elder Chen and Jiu Chao were anxiously on edge. This was their demon clan’s cub. Although it was clear the cub had only suffered minor injuries that would heal in a few days, it still made them extremely distressed.

Jiu Chao, who had shouted that he wanted to help, was stopped by a single glance from Elder Chen. He scolded, “Have you forgotten what Elder Bai said? Unless our cub is truly in life-threatening danger, our demon clan must never intervene. Do you remember this or not?”

Jiu Chao hadn’t forgotten, but he couldn’t understand. “What harm could there be in helping out?”

After all, he had handled the aftermath of the monster fish attack on the ship himself.

So why couldn’t they act this time?

Elder Chen knew that if he didn’t reveal some secrets, he wouldn’t be able to stop Jiu Chao. Despite being a nine-tailed fox¹although he currently has six tails, Jiu Chao was particularly protective of his young, to the extent of sacrificing his own life.

Elder Chen set aside his phone, which had lost signal, and shared his analysis, based on speculation and guesswork. “Actually, Elder Bai’s actions are for the future of our cub and our demon clan.”

Jiu Chao paused in his steps and sat back down.

Elder Chen sighed, “Do you think it’s because our demon clan is too small in number and has unique abilities that we can’t just intervene?”

“Isn’t that the reason?”

Elder Chen shook his head. “Not at all. It’s not about our numbers. Even if we were to intervene directly, do you think we old ones could resist the true forces behind the creation of these ghosts?”

In fact, the demon clan had a vague sense that the ghosts might be tied to an ancient and powerful mysterious entity from the same era as Zhulong. Otherwise, why would only Zhulong’s aura be able to suppress these ghosts?

Jiu Chao seemed to sense something. “Could it be that only the flourishing fate of the human race can suppress the backlash of the demons?”

“Exactly. That’s why we absolutely cannot intervene. If we do, it might involve our cub and the fate of our demon clan.”

“But the cub is also part of our demon clan,” Jiu Chao said, puzzled.

If the demon clan can’t intervene, then the cub, being part of the demon clan and even weaker, should be even less involved with these matters.

“Have you seen any evil influence on him? When those human handlers come into contact with ghosts, they become tainted by the residual evil energy that Zhulong dislikes the most. But the cub remains completely clean. This is an opportunity for our demon clan, though the specific reason is unknown to me,” Elder Chen sighed. “So, do you still want to go and help?”

Jiu Chao quickly shook his head.

He didn’t want to inadvertently cause harm by trying to help, endangering the cub and the demon clan.

Jiu Chao thought for a moment and then hesitantly asked Elder Chen, “Could the reason the cub is free of evil influence be related to his ability to manifest as a natural demon?”

After all, the demon clan’s fortune had almost vanished, yet a cub had managed to become a natural demon. That was highly unusual.

Elder Chen nodded. “It’s possible. In any case, we should observe the situation. We must not intervene in the incident unless absolutely necessary.”

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  although he currently has six tails