Chapter 85.2 Ghost Market
Lin Banxia woke up from his dream, turned around and saw Song Qingluo’s sleeping face. Behind Song Qingluo was the sky bathed in the sunset, like a flame, burning up the entire sky.
Song Qingluo’s expression was peaceful, like a sleeping child. His long eyelashes cast a faint shadow under his eyes, making him look particularly cute. Lin Banxia stretched out his hand and touched it lightly. When he was about to touch him a second time, his wrist was grabbed.
The person who grabbed his wrist hugged him without opening his eyes, and gently rubbed his chin against his hair.
Lin Banxia said: “Get up, I’m so hungry that my chest is touching my spine.”
Song Qingluo hugged Lin Banxia and acted coquettishly: “Well…”
Lin Banxia kissed his chin.
“I’ll cook.” Being satisfied, Song Qingluo then slowly and leisurely got up, Lin Banxia wanted to get up as well, but he really couldn’t after a few days of back-to-back work. Song Qingluo, this guy, relying on that strong physical fitness, didn’t know the word moderation at all, causing him to almost think he was going to die in bed.
After struggling for a long time, Lin Banxia finally chose to give up and lie on the bed pretending to be a lifeless corpse.
Xiaohua and Small Cave had been hiding in the bedroom for a day, and were now finally able to come out, but they didn’t dare to enter Lin Banxia’s bedroom. Instead, they were looking outside with their heads poking out.
Lin Banxia called Xiaohua to come in. Xiaohua ran in and whispered: “Is my brother being bullied by Brother Song?”
Lin Banxia’s face turned red: “You… what did you hear?”
Xiaohua said: “No, Small Cave and I were playing in the closet. The house number told us.”
Lin Banxia was so angry that he got up from the bed, rushed to the door and cursed at the house number.
Song Qingluo didn’t know why, until Lin Banxia finished explaining, he stared at the house number for a while and said calmly: “It’s okay, have dinner first, and then we’ll clean it up after eating.”
House number: “…” I hate humans!!!
After Song Qingluo cooked a sumptuous dinner, Lin Banxia ate with satisfaction. Halfway through the meal, Li Su’s call suddenly came. As soon as Song Qingluo answered the call, he heard Li Su’s extremely anxious voice on the other end of the phone: “Something big has happened, Song Qingluo!!!”
Song Qingluo looked serious: “What?”
“The thing you captured is just a part of this heresy. No, to be precise, there should be two heretics!!” Li Su said anxiously, “Now the people in that residential area are all going crazy. There are so many ants crawling out of their bodies. I can only suppress some of them. Come here quickly!!”
Song Qingluo immediately said: “Okay.”
Lin Banxia also heard the conversation between the two, and immediately stood up and wanted to go with Song Qingluo. However, after spending the whole night doing that, his back was sore and his legs were so weak that he couldn’t help but stumble.
“Just wait at home.” Song Qingluo said, “I’ll go over.”
“No, I’m not that squeamish.” Lin Banxia could not allow Song Qingluo, who had such a pale face, to go to the battlefield alone. “Let’s go together.”
Song Qingluo wanted to refuse, but saw Lin Banxia’s determined look and said, “Okay, but you can’t go in.”
Lin Banxia said: “It’s okay, I can just wait for you outside.”
Song Qingluo nodded.
The two changed their clothes and quickly went out.
It was now six o’clock in the afternoon and the sun had just set. The earth that had been scorched by the sun for a day was steaming with heat. By the time they went out and got in the car, Lin Ban’s back was wet. He didn’t know if he had gone too far last night. There was a very strong feeling of discomfort.
Song Qingluo noticed that Lin Banxia’s expression was strange: “What? Are you feeling uncomfortable? Do you want to go back?”
Lin Banxia shook his head: “It’s okay. Maybe I’ve been using the air conditioner for too long. Come on, the situation must be serious over there, otherwise, Li Su wouldn’t have called in such a panic.” Lin Banxia had never heard that tone coming from Li Su’s mouth.
Song Qingluo said: “Okay.”
The two went straight to the scene. Unfortunately, they got caught in the rush hour traffic and were stuck on the road for more than three hours. By the time they arrived outside the old city, it was already ten o’clock, the sun had completely submerged under the horizon, and darkness was coming again.
As soon as Lin Banxia got out of the car, he heard a thin buzzing sound in the air. The sound was very light, like the sound of tiny insects vibrating their wings. Lin Banxia said: “Did you hear anything?”
Song Qingluo: “What?”
“…Like many insects?” Lin Banxia described, “The sound of vibrating wings together.”
Song Qingluo shook his head: “No.”
Lin Banxia was surprised: “Can’t you hear it?”
Song Qingluo shook his head, and then Lin Banxia asked the surrounding staff. Facing Lin Banxia’s question, they all looked at a loss and had no idea what Lin Banxia was talking about.
Time was running out at this time. Even though he knew something was wrong, Song Qingluo didn’t have time to think too much and said, “Li Su can’t wait too long. I’ll go in first to check the situation.”
Lin Banxia: “Okay.”
Song Qingluo turned around and walked away, his back blending into the black night. Lin Banxia stood there, feeling the hot wind blowing on his face. He reached out and wiped the bridge of his nose, only to feel that there was sweat all over his face. The uncomfortable feeling was extremely strong all of a sudden. Lin Banxia’s body swayed suddenly, and he grabbed the car door next to her, and then managed to steady himself.
“Hey, are you okay?” Someone’s voice came from beside him in the hazy state. Lin Banxia shook his head and turned to look, and found that it was Shen Junyan who had worked with them before.
Shen Junyan changed out of her long skirt and put on clean work clothes and said, “Why is your expression so ugly?”
“No…I’m just a little uncomfortable.” Lin Banxia said.
“Then you’d better get in the car and rest.” Shen Junyan said, “I heard that you have been busy for a few days.”
Lin Banxia smiled reluctantly.
“Then I’ll go in first.” Shen Junyan waved to Lin Banxia and turned around to enter the old city.
Soon, Lin Banxia noticed that many staff members wearing the same uniform were rushing inside one after another. Lin Banxia had a vague feeling that these people should not be ordinary record-keepers, but monitors like Song Qingluo.
He sat in the car, leaning weakly on the steering wheel as the buzzing of wings in his ears became louder and louder.
After many people entered, the intersection was blocked. Many armed men with guns came and began to evacuate the surrounding people. It looked like the situation was not good.
Lin Banxia took a while to recover from his bad state. He looked in the rearview mirror and found that his face was pale, like a patient who had lost too much blood.
Just when he felt a little better, there was a sudden commotion in the middle of the crowd. He saw a person in work clothes stumbling out of the old city, screaming as he ran. The scream was shrill and terrifying. It was like the cry of a dying person. It frightened the people around him, and everyone was shocked for a moment and didn’t dare to approach him.
“Help!!! Help!!!” he shouted as he rushed out of the blockade and happened to arrive in front of the car where Lin Banxia was sitting. He raised his head and shouted to Lin Banxia, laying himself across the front hood of the car.
Only then did the people around him react and prepare to step forward and take him away.
Lin Banxia looked at his drooping face and felt that something was wrong, so he hurriedly shouted: “Don’t touch him…”
However, it was still too late. The hands of those people had already touched the man’s body. The next moment, the sound of flapping wings that had disappeared sounded again, and a slight “puff” sound came from the man’s body. In front of everyone his face turned into a ball of dark smoke.
No, it was not smoke, but countless invisible insects. Lin Banxia saw with his own eyes that the insects swarmed towards the people around him and attached to their bodies. However, the other people seemed to be unable to see those things, and were just startled by the person disappearing in front of them.
Lin Banxia hurriedly rolled down the window and said, “You have bugs on your body.”
“What bugs?” The staff member didn’t know Lin Banxia, but he knew Song Qingluo and knew that the two came together, so his attitude was very respectful. However, he didn’t understand what Lin Banxia meant and looked confused, “What?”
Lin Banxia was silent for a moment, then stretched out his hand, trying to gently remove the bugs attached to the staff. However, unexpectedly, when he stretched out his hand, the insects seemed to be very scared and fled around. When Lin Banxia saw this, he stretched out his hand and patted the staff a few times, and the air surrounding the staff became shrouded in a faint layer of black mist and the insects flew away.
“You can’t see them?” Lin Banxia confirmed.
The staff member shook his head in confusion, having no idea what Lin Banxia was talking about.
Lin Banxia didn’t say anything. He slowly got out of the car and said, “I’ll go in and have a look too.”
Probably because his expression was too ugly, the staff tried to persuade him. Lin Banxia waved his hand, indicating that it didn’t matter, and turned around and walked down the alley. He didn’t know what these bugs were, but if he thought about it carefully, maybe he and Song Qingluo had the wrong idea from the beginning.
Song Qingluo noticed the body of the heretical object several times but failed to capture it. Later, he found the huge source in the basement. So, was Song Qingluo wrong? No, maybe not, maybe there were two heretical objects from the start.
One was responsible for hunting, and the other was responsible for making puppets, just like ants tending aphids. Lin Banxia remembered that he had seen such a pattern in the animal world. Ants would look for aphids in nature and trap them on plants. Later, the honey produced by the aphids would be used as food by the ants. This was a very rare symbiotic relationship. So now, had they also encountered such a situation? When the heretical object that represented the aphid was forcibly sealed away by the humans, it seemed understandable that the remaining heretical object would go wild.
While thinking, Lin Banxia had already reached the end of the alley. It was different from the scene of fierce fighting he had imagined. There was no one in sight in the empty old community. The sweet aroma that filled the air had completely disappeared. The entire city became more and more like a cemetery for the living.
Lin Banxia knew that the entrance to the underground was on the 18th floor, so he started walking towards it. As he walked, he observed his surroundings and saw many clothes on the ground around him. Some were worn by ordinary residents, and some were work clothes embroidered with the word “€€”[1.]. When thinking of the scene he just saw by the car, the fate of the owners of these clothes was obvious.
Lin Banxia arrived in front of Building 18. The black buildings were like tombstones in a graveyard, standing upright in front of him. The remaining battlefield was probably inside. Lin Banxia stood at the door and looked at it for a while, then planned to go in.
For some reason, before entering, Lin Banxia suddenly raised his head and glanced at the sky. The next moment, his whole body was frozen in place like a statue.
It was a cloudless and sunny day, with a bright moon high in the sky. Stars shining like diamonds were densely scattered across it. Lin Banxia liked stars and the way they twinkled in the dark night, but at this time, these stars that should have been colorless actually all had a strange green tinge.
Just like the aurora seen on TV, the stars illuminated the entire sky with green. He raised his eyes, and the stars reflected in his eyes, turning his eyes the same color.
The sky was so low that it seemed as if it was about to collapse. Lin Banxia even felt that he could touch the end of the sky by stretching out his hand. He thought so and planned to do it. However, as soon as he raised his hand, someone suddenly called his name from behind him.
“Banxia?”
Lin Banxia’s movements paused slightly.
“Lin Banxia, what are you doing?” It was Li Su’s voice. He walked behind Lin Banxia and patted him on the shoulder like an old friend, “Why are you so dumb?”
Lin Banxia retracted his hand and said, “No… I was worried about Song Qingluo, so I came in to take a look.”
“They are down there.” Li Su said, “The situation is under control.” He looked at Lin Banxia’s face and was stunned for a moment, “You…”
Lin Banxia said: “What?”
Li Su rubbed his eyes: “No, I must have seen it wrong. Do you want to go down?”
Lin Banxia said: “Okay, let’s go together.” After talking to Li Su, he raised his head again and found that the stars that were emitting dark green light had returned to their original appearance, and the dome was already hanging high, so far away yet so close.
Li Su looked at Lin Banxia and hesitated to speak. When he saw Lin Banxia from behind, he had a strange feeling. This person was obviously standing only two or three steps away from him, but it felt as if he and Lin Banxia were separated by a world. This feeling forced him to call out to him in a hurry. Fortunately, Lin Banxia turned around, and in the blink of an eye, the feeling completely disappeared.
“They are still dealing with the aftermath.” Li Su said, “Let’s go.”
Lin Banxia said: “Okay.” He paused, with a serious tone in his tone, “Li Su, I have something to ask you.”
Li Su also became nervous: “You can ask…but I may not be able to answer.”
Lin Banxia quietly asked his question: “Was my takeaway delicious?”
Li Su: “…”
Lin Banxia: “Speak.”
Li Su: “The weather is really nice today. Oops, Song Qingluo, why are you here?!” After he finished speaking, he looked behind Lin Banxia.
Lin Banxia turned his head reflexively and saw that there was not even a fart behind him. He turned back around angrily and saw Li Su running away like a wild rabbit. He couldn’t chase after him, so Lin Banxia was so angry that he yelled at his back and said, “Just wait for me.”
The author has something to say:
Lin Banxia: You run! You run again…
Li Su: Hehehehe, come after me~ If you catch up with me, I will let you hehehehe
Lin Banxia: I’ll let Li Ye chase you!!
Li Su:……………………
Li Ye: I can have a try, right? I’m coming…
Li Su:????
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