893 A Million Times for You 255 (2/2)

She then left together with Jin Qingyan.

Finding that her words had made sense, Chief of Staff Lin immediately reported the incident to Tuoba Gucheng.

The average human was bound to be less informed about such superstitions. Tuoba Gucheng thought the same after hearing An Xiaoning's words, which had been relayed to him. Hence, he immediately summoned the reverends.

”Did you guys say that there were too many spirits who stopped you from performing the ritual?” he questioned.

The head nun answered. ”Yes, there were way too many vengeful spirits.”

”Why were there so many even when the reapers and soul-catchers were present?”

”Well… maybe the reapers took pity on them and decided to let them stay behind for a few more days to look at their beloved ones…”

Tuoba Gucheng squinted and said, ”I've already sent An Xiaoning on a task to visit the disaster sites. If she tells me that there aren't that many vengeful spirits, what do you think I should do with you?”

The reverends looked at each other in dismay, not sure how they should answer him.

”If you don't come clean and tell me the truth, I'll execute all of you,” he threatened, glowering at them menacingly with his hands behind his back.

All of a sudden, they dropped onto their knees in front of him. The head nun kowtowed and said, ”Your Majesty, it's not that we didn't want to do anything. Rather, that place was just too spooky and we couldn't perform any rituals at all. Whenever we tried to, our setup would be ruined time and time again. Nothing helped even after we tried every possible solution. After discussing in private, we came to a consensus that there was a strong evil presence that was continuously obstructing us. However, we're only human and had acquired the skills from our masters. We can't see any supernatural beings at all.”

Tuoba Gucheng gestured for them to leave and said, ”You're dismissed.”

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

They retreated with cold sweat all over their bodies.

―

In L City, the weather began to get breezy in the evening, and heavy, gray clouds had gathered in the sky. An Xiaoning was worried that the rain would spread to L City too.

However, the more worried she was, the more her dreaded outcome would happen.

Not long after, it began drizzling.

The rain would be disadvantageous and bring about a great hindrance to the rescue team.

Soon, the rain got heavier and showed no signs of stopping.

An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan were wearing ponchos while treading along the ruined pavement. Jin Qingyan was holding onto a big bag that was not quite heavy despite being stuffed with several items.

An Xiaoning was holding a torchlight in her hands and leading the way.

She began to sense that something was amiss upon realizing that she had yet to see a single vengeful spirit despite having walked for so long.

Could it be that the reapers were extremely efficient and had gathered all the spirits?

An Xiaoning did not have a clear idea.

”What's going on? I didn't see a single spirit at all.”

Jin Qingyan said softly, ”Let's continue walking for a bit more.”

The pair proceeded along the route and arrived at a remote territory where there was not a single human in sight. They walked past the sidewalk and made it onto the main road.

There was a shallow canal beside the main road. On the other side of the canal was a hill.

Moments later, An Xiaoning quickly grabbed Jin Qingyan's raincoat, switched off her torchlight, and pulled him toward the other side of the road. ”Don't move.”

Jin Qingyan stood beside her near a boulder on the hill, filled with tension while remaining still and listening to her instructions.

In the darkness of the night, the two of them stood still, perfectly camouflaged.

Less than a minute later, Jin Qingyan heard uniform footsteps approaching them slowly. However, he could not see any humans in the area where the noises were coming from.