After drawing cards, the evil god became my source of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of humorous commentary/criti

Chapter 4 The Lamplighter

An Jing's heart pounded like a drum as she gritted her teeth, her eyes fixed on the five mysterious creatures.

The room temperature plummeted, and the dark shadows on the mysterious body writhed on the floor like maggots struggling to crawl into her body.

One second, two seconds.

She hesitated no more.

"【Shadow Walking】".

The card exploded with light, and shadows engulfed her body, swallowing her inch by inch like flowing water. An Jing instinctively bent down and lunged into the shadows behind her.

The world fell silent for a moment.

There were no footsteps, no breathing, and none of those eerie, bone-chilling creaks.

She entered the world of shadows.

The surrounding space was entirely gray, as if the entire reality was shrouded in a fog.

The five eerie figures outside now appeared to her like giant black spider shadows, slowly pressing towards her previous location.

She held her breath and moved swiftly through the shadows, plunging headfirst into another patch of shadow in the corner.

[Time remaining: 57 seconds.]

She carefully adjusted her breathing.

Then, almost at the same instant—

She flipped over another card.

"The Paper Umbrella Girl".

She didn't know how strong the woman with the paper umbrella was, or how long she could hold out.

Hopefully, it can hold on a little longer!
A red paper umbrella blooms at her feet, like a drop of blood slowly dripping in the air.

A woman in a cheongsam emerged from under the umbrella, her posture elegant, but her head was lowered and her black hair covered her face.

The air suddenly became even colder.

The woman with the paper umbrella tilted her head slightly, as if sensing hostility. Suddenly, she opened the red umbrella, its ribs sharp as blades, and with a "whoosh," she sliced ​​through the approaching shadows of the mysterious figures.

“Protect me,” An Jing whispered. “Don’t let them find me.”

The woman with the paper umbrella didn't speak, but simply raised her hand and pointed at one of the mysterious figures that had already stepped into the threshold.

The next second, the eerie creature seemed to have its neck grabbed, and it twisted violently backward, letting out a non-human roar.

The other four immediately became alert, turning their heads to look at their companion, their eyes flashing with hostility.

They are not close to each other.

Taking advantage of the brief chaos, An Jing quietly slipped out of the shadows, ran out of the room, and quickly moved through the darkness to find her next hiding place.

The room was in complete chaos. The woman with the paper umbrella and several other mysterious creatures were entangled in a fierce struggle. Her red umbrella sliced ​​through the air, sweeping across one of their faces and leaving behind a trail of ink-like blood.

The fourth mysterious creature sensed An Jing's movement, its nostrils flared as it sniffed her alluring scent, and it slowly moved toward her hiding place like a wild dog.

An Jing watched the countdown reset to zero.

[Shadowwalk complete. Entering a weakened state. Cooldown: 2 hours.]

Her legs were weak, her heart was racing, and her hands were ice-cold. She knew that she wouldn't be able to run anymore, even if she wanted to.

Looking around the empty rooms in the corridor, An Jing's eyes lit up when she touched a corner.

Found it, a real safe house.

The wooden door at the entrance of the safe house was still the same style as the one in the villa.

An Jing immediately ran inside, closed the door, and locked it, all in one swift motion.

The mysterious creature that had been chasing her almost caught her when she closed the door.

"You saw me?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

My heart almost jumped out of my body.

And at this moment——

"clatter."

A crisp sound of a shoe sole hitting the ground came from outside the door.

Then came a deep voice: "Confirm coordinates, proceed to the scene."

Immediately afterwards, a loud noise erupted, and An Jing could feel something hitting the door. Black liquid, like blood, flowed into the room from outside.

What's outside the door? Has the lamplighter arrived?
Several figures swept past the high wall of the villa's outer courtyard at that moment. The night wind suddenly became stronger.

The light in the courtyard suddenly seemed to be blocked by an invisible veil of darkness, and the surface of the swimming pool, which had been tinged with the stench of blood, began to ripple with pale blue. It was as if some external force had suppressed the expansion of the eerie magnetic field.

A tall figure stood at the entrance of the villa, the hem of his coat billowing in the wind, the cuffs gleaming with a faint silver light.

"Tsk tsk," he looked around and clicked his tongue softly, "It's really lively, is it a banquet?"

The remains on the ground were of indistinguishable origins from any human. A girl's short skirt was mixed with a broken boy's sneakers, and there was even a severed arm resting on the doorknob, as if to say "Welcome."

"That's about enough. Time to eat at the buffet. Looks like we've really had our fill of the strangeness of this magnetic field."

The shadowy figure raised his hand, and a female voice came from the walkie-talkie pressed against his ear.

[Lamplighter 001 has arrived at the target location, villa number A14. Confirm entry?]

He whispered, "We've entered and are clearing the area. We suggest other teams stand by on the perimeter."

Another male voice quickly interjected: [Received, 013 will provide immediate support.]

001 raised his hand, and a beam of cold, bluish-white light shone from his palm. A metallic disc floated in his palm and slowly rotated.

"Optical domain interference deployment".

A wave of energy spread out, and the air in the villa seemed to freeze. The strange figures who were tearing at the paper umbrella woman abruptly stopped for a second, as if their thoughts had been forcibly interrupted.

An Jing was still pondering what had just been outside the door when she suddenly felt her breathing become easier and the pressure in her mind lessen.

She could even see the perspective of the paper umbrella woman in her mind. The mysterious creature that had been laughing the most triumphantly just now suddenly stopped—and then had its neck broken by the paper umbrella woman's red umbrella.

"Sister Paper Umbrella is really good at fighting," An Jing muttered in admiration.

Even so, the paper umbrella woman's umbrella was already a third broken, and the phantom was flickering violently, about to disappear.

She glanced down at the card, and sure enough—

[Remaining time: 00:07]

So they immediately recalled the woman with the paper umbrella and sent her back to Kari to recuperate.

The woman with the paper umbrella on the card looked much dimmer. An Jing tilted her head and saw a progress bar at the bottom of the card.

"What is this, the system?"

[Pollution level.]

What happens when it's full?

[When the paper umbrellas are full, the girl is free.]

"...Are you serious? You mean she might kill me even if she's free?"

Yes, and it's in a berserk state.

An Jing: "..."

"I suspect you're looking for a way to release all this stuff. System, I've already seen through your scheme."

[...pollution levels can be controlled.]

"How to control it?"

Have you forgotten the holy water you drew?

"I did not see."

An Jing took out the glass bottle of holy water and looked at it from left to right.

Isn't this just an empty bottle?

Seemingly afraid that An Jing would accuse it of playing a trick on her, the system immediately explained before An Jing could ask: "Holy water is holy water, and the holy water bottle is a glass bottle. You need both to use it."

"As expected, all you gacha merchants are scoundrels."

An Jing gently wiped the paper umbrella girl's card.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Umbrella. Get some rest."

Unbeknownst to her, the paper umbrella woman's card suddenly lit up slightly at that moment.

A cold female voice rang out from outside the villa:
"Is this the 'primordial source of the magnetic field' that Director Cheng mentioned?"

The sound pierced the air, carrying a hint of pressure.

"Find it. If there are any survivors in the villa, bring them back." She paused. "If not... just clear the area."

(End of this chapter)