STG 30
Chapter 30: The Rain Stops
Inside the house.
Auntie stared blankly at the clock on the wall.
The dining table before her was still laden with dishes, now cold—unchanged from when Lin Qiye had left.
After an unknown stretch of time, Yang Jin picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of meat in Auntie’s bowl.
“Mom, eat something.”
“Ah…” Auntie shook her head and sighed deeply. “Your brother ran out in the middle of dinner. Why hasn’t he come back yet? Do you think something happened?”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Maybe his classmates insisted on taking him out to celebrate his eyesight being restored,” Yang Jin reassured her softly.
Hearing this, Auntie’s expression relaxed slightly, but then another worry surfaced.
“But he didn’t take an umbrella.”
“Mom…” Yang Jin stood up and pointed out the window, his voice calm.
“The rain… has stopped.”
.
.
The rain had indeed stopped.
Hazy moonlight pierced through the clouds, spilling over the silent, empty night. All was still.
On the nearby empty lot, the broken signboards had been removed, and the scattered flesh and blood had been cleaned away. Only the jagged gashes in the ground remained, silently recounting the events of the previous night.
Perhaps by morning, someone would notice these mysterious marks and spin countless theories—but the truth would forever elude them.
A few raindrops slid from the eaves, landing in the muddy puddles and sending ripples across the water’s surface.
Splash—!
A paw stepped into a puddle, sending droplets flying.
In the darkness, a small black mongrel dog trotted leisurely across the scarred lot, its neck adorned with a tiny cloth pouch.
It weaved through the gashes before stopping beside a clean patch of ground.
Here, just minutes ago, a man’s body had lain.
The dog lowered its head, its dark eyes shimmering with a faint glow.
Then—
It spoke.
Its voice was deep and resonant, echoing like a chant from ancient times.
“Soul… return home…”
.
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Heping Bridge, Cangnan City.
Heping Bridge was a large overpass in the suburban outskirts of Cangnan, arching over the Jiangnan Grand Canal that wound through the city. Countless pedestrians and vehicles crossed it daily, making it one of the city’s landmarks.
At the bridge’s entrance, rows of small shops lined both sides. Among them, one particularly unremarkable storefront bore a faded red sign:
—Heping Agency.
Like the other shops nearby, it wasn’t large—just over 200 square meters, slightly bigger than a typical school-side Lanzhou noodle joint.
What made it inconspicuous wasn’t just its generic name, but the stark contrast of its neighbors.
To its left stood a gaudily decorated wedding planning company, “Heping Weddings,” awash in red and gold.
To its right was a funeral service shop draped in white silk and wreaths, “Heping Funeral Services.”
On one side, joy and celebration; on the other, mourning and grief.
Sandwiched between these extremes, the Heping Agency was practically invisible.
If it had any distinguishing feature, it was its name. Most agencies specialized in something—law firms for litigation, detective agencies for investigations, accounting firms for finances…
But this place bore no prefix. Just “Heping.” No one could guess what it actually did.
Now, beneath the Heping Agency.
In a spacious, brightly lit hall, a young man sat on a sofa, head bowed, silently staring at the floor tiles.
Six others occupied the room with him.
“So, you’re the Seraph’s agent that Lao Zhao was assigned to recruit?” Wu Xiangnan, seated across from him, studied Lin Qiye.
“That’s right.”
After a brief silence, Wu Xiangnan spoke again.
“I’m Wu Xiangnan, deputy captain of Cangnan’s Night Watch Team 136. The guy in black leaning against the pillar is our captain, Chen Muye.”
Lin Qiye followed his gaze to a man standing by a pillar, hands in his pockets, silently observing him.
Meeting Lin Qiye’s eyes, Chen Muye gave a slight nod.
Wu Xiangnan turned to the remaining four. “Quit standing around. Introduce yourselves.”
The woman curled up alone on a single-seater sofa, her hair still damp, lifted her head slightly, revealing red-rimmed eyes.
“Night Watch Team 136, frontline combatant. Hong Ying.”
Lin Qiye recognized her—she was the one who had brought him here.
Next to her, a man holding a towel smiled warmly.
“Night Watch Team 136, frontline combatant. Wen Qimo.”
Beside them, a girl hugging her knees, also tear-streaked, spoke softly.
“Night Watch Team 136, combat support and field medic. Si Xiaonan.”
“Night Watch Team 136, long-range fire support. Leng Xuan.” The man cradling a sniper rifle spoke coldly.
With introductions done, Wu Xiangnan turned back to Lin Qiye.
“Lin Qiye, was it? Regarding Zhao Kongcheng’s death… is there anything else you’d like to add?”
“I’ve said all I need to,” Lin Qiyue replied calmly. “Zhao Kongcheng deployed the [Boundless Void], fought the Ghostface King alone, and they killed each other.”
“Were you present during their fight?”
“I was.”
“How did you enter the [Boundless Void]?”
“I glared at it, and it opened.”
Wu Xiangnan’s mouth opened slightly, his brow furrowing. “Can you describe the battle in detail? For instance, how exactly did Zhao Kongcheng kill the Ghostface King?”
“He swung his sword, unleashing a massive black crescent that severed the Ghostface King’s head,” Lin Qiye stated plainly.
“Black crescent…” Wu Xiangnan mused.
Then, Chen Muye, silent until now, spoke up.
“[Annihilating Lunar Flash]. Lao Zhao used Ghostgod’s Gambit… and awakened his Forbidden Ruin.”
Wen Qimo’s eyes widened. “Sequence 083, [Annihilating Lunar Flash]? That’s a high-risk Ruin!”
“I never thought… Uncle Zhao’s boasting would actually come true. I always thought he was just narcissistic…” Si Xiaonan murmured.
“No, he was narcissistic.” A faint smile touched Chen Muye’s lips, his eyes distant with memory. “I bet even he couldn’t believe it when he saw his own Ruin.”
“If we’d been there, he’d have bragged nonstop about how his Ruin was the coolest of all…” Hong Ying’s lips twitched upward briefly before her expression dimmed again.
Wu Xiangnan fixed his gaze on Lin Qiye. “One last question. From the Ghostface King’s corpse, the fatal wounds appear to be a series of slashes and unexplained burn marks… but [Annihilating Lunar Flash] doesn’t have those properties.
What happened?”
Lin Qiye’s eyes narrowed. He met Wu Xiangnan’s stare and spoke slowly, each word deliberate.
“I’ve made myself clear. Zhao Kongcheng faced the Ghostface King alone… and fought to the death.
In the end… he killed it single-handedly.”
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