Her sudden appearance came without any warning or presence, which surprised Jiang Huai.
From Yue Qinshan, Jiang Huai had learned that his perception was now comparable to that of the Tianqi Association. Only awakeners with a rating of four stars or higher could evade his sensory ability, and even then, they had to consciously suppress their aura.
Though Jiang Huai hadn't encountered many awakeners, only Yue Qinshan had been able to silently appear beside him.
"State your code name."
The young girl's cold voice, together with the sharpness of the blade, lowered the temperature around them.
Jiang Huai slowly raised his hand, signaling that he meant no harm.
"I just recently joined the Night Demon Patrol, I don't have a code name yet."
"Then tell me your real name."
The girl remained insistent.
Jiang Huai found it odd. He had already told her he was a newcomer, and he had never participated in any assessments. Even if she knew his real name, what could she do? There was no way to contact the outside world to check his information.
Suddenly, Jiang Huai recalled the strange looks that Mo Yu had given him twice before. It was as if a hunter, sensing its prey, grasped every opportunity to track its target.
Could it be... she sensed the beast's aura on me?
"Speak."
The girl pushed the knife a few inches closer.
"Jiang Huai."
A wise man doesn't court trouble. Jiang Huai had no reason to make an enemy of her right now, so he calmly spoke.
When Mo Yu heard the name, she froze for a moment. Jiang Huai even felt her knife quiver slightly in her hand.
"Turn around."
"Mo Yu, I think we should cooperate."
Jiang Huai didn't move and patiently said.
"I told you, turn around."
The girl's warning came again.
Jiang Huai sighed, then slowly turned around while still holding his hand up.
In the dim attic, Jiang Huai saw that the young girl's eyes were glowing with a faint purple light. But in that glow, he didn't sense any hostility—only astonishment.
"..."
Mo Yu slightly parted her lips as if she wanted to say something.
At that moment, Jiang Huai suddenly lunged at Mo Yu, knocking her to the ground.
For a brief moment, Mo Yu was stunned, but she quickly reacted. She raised her hand, and with a swift motion, her long blade slashed out.
However, she didn't strike Jiang Huai, but instead aimed at the rift in mid-air, and the pale blue tentacles emerging from it.
Mo Yu's attack was precise, slicing through the tentacle cleanly.
The moment Jiang Huai moved away from Mo Yu, the girl flipped and slashed again.
But the beast inside the rift had already pulled back, and a strange, high-pitched laughter echoed from the rift.
The rift slowly closed, then opened again over the pile of corpses. This time, countless pale blue tentacles emerged, connecting to the necks of every body.
Jiang Huai and Mo Yu were shocked to see that the corpses were instantly transformed into infected. However, these creatures were different from ordinary infected.
These beings lacked their own consciousness, and all their movements were controlled by the tentacles.
"Let them become part of us."
Suddenly, Jiang Huai seemed to understand what the strange sound in the rift was saying. He turned to Mo Yu and spoke.
"This beast itself isn't strong in combat. If we can eliminate it directly, these infected controlled by it should lose their ability to move."
Mo Yu wiped the pale blue liquid from her blade.
"Vanguard-class beast, code-named 'Mother of Bugs.' This thing appeared during the last beast tide."
Mo Yu's voice was indifferent, but her expression showed that this beast would not be easy to deal with.
At that moment, the infected slowly began to stir. Their bodies twisted, and some groups of three or five merged together, slowly surrounding Mo Yu and Jiang Huai.
"During the entire beast tide, it never revealed its true form, but it was the beast that caused the highest casualties among low-tier awakeners."
"Can't we enter the rift and kill it?" Jiang Huai asked.
Mo Yu turned her head slightly to look at Jiang Huai, then sneered. "I don't know if you're pretending to be ignorant, but you noticed its ambush before I did, and yet you don't understand the basic principle of the rift."
Just then, five twisted infected suddenly lunged at Mo Yu.
The girl quickly turned around, her blade slashing through the air, cutting the five infected into pieces.
"Humans can't enter the rift. Even awakeners can't. Once they enter, they will immediately become infected."
Jiang Huai thought for a moment before asking, "If it leaves the rift, can you kill it before it escapes back inside?"
Mo Yu wiped the blood from her blade, nodding. "If it dares to show itself in front of me, even for a second, I'm confident I can kill it."
"Good." Jiang Huai nodded.
He then quickly rushed towards the group of gathered infected.
"What are you doing?!"
Mo Yu, seeing this, tried to rush over to stop him, but Jiang Huai shouted back.
"I'm a regeneration-type awakener. Let me distract them, you focus on dealing with the beast!"
Jiang Huai moved so fast that he almost instantly plunged into the crowd of infected.
Mo Yu raised her blade to follow, but was blocked by several figures.
She froze, for standing before her were members of the Fearless Squad, now turned into infected.
"Captain..."
"Why didn't you save us..."
"You're always so selfish..."
The twisted faces before her had once been her comrades, even her senior and uncle.
But in this moment, Mo Yu didn't hesitate. Her long blade slashed with a swift motion, cutting through the infected without any resistance.
"The dead should not hinder the living."
Mo Yu said coldly.
But when she looked back at the infected, Jiang Huai was already gone. Only a pool of blood slowly spread beneath their feet.
The girl tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, her face grim. She knew that even though Jiang Huai was a regeneration-type awakener, it was too late for him. Even if she saved him now, he was likely already infected.
The high-pitched screech echoed again from behind her.
The rift slowly opened, and the beast, unseen but present in the darkness, watched her with cold, contemptuous eyes.
It had done this before during the last beast tide—there was no need to reveal its true form. It merely hid in a safe spot, letting its puppets do the killing and feeding off the nutrients, growing stronger in the process.
Mo Yu took a deep breath and slowly turned to face the rift.
"You really think I can't deal with you?"
The beast's screeching sound mocked her words as she unsheathed her blade, her eyes growing colder.
Then, with a deliberate movement, she placed the blade back into its sheath, her hand resting on the hilt.
Using this power here could put the entire mall and everyone outside in danger.
Without communication, she couldn't have her colleagues evacuate the crowd.
But rather than watch this creature grow stronger, she decided…
At that moment, Mo Yu felt a powerful, inexplicable presence rise behind her.
Her pupils contracted, and her hand trembled slightly on the hilt of her blade.
"This... How is this possible?"
Mo Yu took a deep breath and confirmed that the presence was only growing stronger.
No, this wasn't her imagination. It was here, at this very moment.
"Another beast...?"