The Eldritch Files

”So many familiar faces...”

Song Chushi walked out of the cake shop and was met by the cold gazes of the people carrying cases, and the countless gun barrels hidden behind armored vehicles and on the rooftops of various buildings.

The street had been cleared, leaving a whole block in the middle completely empty.

The sharp killing intent was almost like a blade scraping against one’s face. But under so many gazes, he showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he faced the crowd, gave a slight nod, and even offered a smile.

But outside the cake shop, the countless cold gazes only grew more vigilant. No one responded.

Song Chushi didn’t seem to mind. His expression unchanging, he picked up his case and turned to walk in a certain direction, but suddenly heard a shout from the crowd:

”Halt!”

”...”

Song Chushi obediently stopped and turned to look. He was met with countless searchlights. Under such conditions, an ordinary person would find it difficult to even open their eyes, let alone see the figures behind the lights.

But Song Chushi merely squinted, and all the searchlights suddenly dimmed. He smiled and said, ”Mr. Hong, how may I be of service?”

The voice of the woman who had spoken earlier was chilling as she said coldly, ”Why did you enter Qinggang?”

Song Chushi chuckled. ”The food outside isn’t great. I came into the city for a bowl of wonton soup.”

”Mr. Song!”

The woman’s voice suddenly cut him off. She said in a low, serious tone, ”Qinggang is not a place you can just come and go as you please. Right now, there are at least a hundred guns pointed at you and twenty Investigators watching you. I ask that you show us some basic respect.”

”So, I ask again, why did you enter Qinggang?”

”...”

RACK! RACK! RACK!

As if to confirm her words, the sound of gun bolts being racked echoed in the darkness. In the places untouched by the light, several flashes of electricity crackled—the sound of an unknown number of Investigators who had already drawn their weapons, unleashing their hostility.

”I said I came to Qinggang for a bowl of wonton soup, but you refuse to believe me.”

Facing the immense hostility, Song Chushi smiled, his expression gradually turning cold. ”But if I were to state the issues I truly care about, would any of you dare to discuss them with me face-to-face?”

His voice still sounded polite, but the question was so pointed that the interrogator’s expression changed abruptly, and she didn’t dare to respond.

After his smile vanished, Song Chushi no longer held back, his cold gaze simply sweeping over them.

There were so many people opposite him that he shouldn’t have been able to see them clearly. And yet, for some reason, as his gaze swept over them, an unknown number of hearts pounded in their chests. They subconsciously looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.

”You wanted an answer, so I’ll give you one.”

Song Chushi began to speak slowly. ”I returned to Qinggang to see if this place is still the same as it was.”

”Or if it’s gotten worse.”

At this, he couldn’t continue, just shaking his head slightly and saying softly, ”Give Mr. 5 a message for me. The Qinggang of today can’t even stop me. How will it stop the things that are manifesting in reality?”

”As for all of you...”

He stopped, his gaze sweeping across them as he said slowly, ”I’m leaving now. With your hundred guns and twenty Investigators... does anyone dare to make a move?”

As he finished speaking, a stir went through the countless shadows.

An unknown number of faces darkened. To be taunted so brazenly to their faces—which of these Investigators, known for their pride and arrogance, could possibly feel comfortable?

In the crowd, the Red Windbreaker’s expression also darkened.

She subconsciously looked up, her gaze seeming to pierce the night sky toward the tallest building in Qinggang City.

The entire building was unlit, save for the highest floor. This made the structure look like a Ghost hidden within the city, with its top floor an eye floating above it.

Her orders did not include engaging him.

And yet, despite this man’s blatant provocation, the person in that building still showed no reaction?

Across from them, Song Chushi said no more. His gaze also seemed to flick toward that building. Seeing no unusual phenomena, he actually looked disappointed.

He waited a second. Then two.

Everyone was watching, observing, as if some invisible pressure was tormenting them all. On a distant high-rise, a sniper tracked his movements, but the order from their superior was slow to come. The sniper’s palms were soaked in cold sweat.

In the shadows, an Investigator stared at Song Chushi, gripping an electric baton tightly. A rush of hot blood surged to his head, and his lips moved, about to recite some kind of Spell.

But in the instant before the Spell could leave his lips, he suddenly saw what looked like a vast shadow rising like a tidal wave. An endless darkness seemed to appear before him, and a colossal hand reached for his face.

His heart seized violently, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground. The people next to him, not knowing what had happened, crowded around to check on him, prying the dangerous Mysterious Sword from his hand.

They felt a hint of contempt. ’What a coward. He fainted just from looking at that guy from a distance?’

But the commotion in that corner didn’t draw much attention from the front. They just remained nailed to their spots, staring intently at Song Chushi.

Song Chushi carried his briefcase, seemingly waiting for something as well. He didn’t deliberately slow his pace, but he didn’t speed up either. And yet, even by the time he reached the mouth of a small alley, no one had made a move.

He let out a low sigh. No longer waiting, he calmly turned and walked into a small alley beside the hotel.

An indescribable look of disappointment flickered across his face. ’Did that thing get smarter because of this metamorphosis?’

’I wanted to buy you some time, but it looks like that’s not possible now...’

’...’

The moment his figure was completely swallowed by the shadows of the alley, a voice, inaudible to anyone else, reached Han Su’s ears back in the cake shop:

”Half a month!”

”Its metamorphosis this time was too successful. Even I... am beginning to feel a sense of fear toward it...”

”...”

”Half a month?”

As Song Chushi’s words reached his ears, the frozen, stagnant feeling around Han Su suddenly vanished completely. His thoughts, which had seemed somewhat affected, began to function again.

With no time to rejoice over Mr. Strange Bird’s sacrifice, his newly freed mind first focused on memorizing Song Chushi’s words.

’That monster only needs half a month to complete its metamorphosis?’

’Song Chushi said it’s always watching me, which is why I couldn’t find anything I was looking for back then. The world before my eyes was so unnervingly rational, as if everyone was following the rules except me, the lone madman...’

’In another half a month, will this formless distortion descend upon me again?’

’No wonder Zhang Chiguo guessed I would be targeted after joining the Disaster Management Bureau. But so far, the targeting I imagined never actually happened. Is it because the thing is undergoing its metamorphosis?’

’...’

As a tense feeling tightened in his chest, he took a deep breath and recalled the other thing Song Chushi had told him: ’The mechanical creation that the Crystal Skull is looking for...’

His memory had been hazy, but Song Chushi had mentioned that all the kidnapped children should remember this machine.

This sentence suddenly triggered a long-dormant memory in his mind.

He remembered.

In the Crystal Skull’s memories, he had seen its goal: to find some kind of mechanical component. Both the photograph and the tone of their discussion had felt exceptionally familiar to him.

Now, he finally remembered.

He had seen that photograph before, and he had heard similar discussions.

But not in reality. It was ten years ago.

Ten years ago, before the kidnapping, he had seen that photo. It was on a promotional flyer.

At the time, the reason the children in his class had all boarded that bus to the science museum was because the museum was exhibiting some new technologies. Among them was this recently unearthed mechanical component, and the flyer used the exact same photo.

Because of this, when they returned to the Ancient Castle, he had even heard some children asking about it, thinking the ”big machine” the teacher mentioned was inside the castle.

The reason he hadn’t remembered it immediately was because every time he went back, he started from the Ancient Castle. Each instance of Flashing meant a ten-year gap, and it had been far too long since he had seen that promotional flyer.

Why was the Crystal Skull looking for this thing?

...

...

Only after Song Chushi’s figure had completely vanished into the alley did the woman in the red windbreaker give a cold-faced order. Finally, heavily armed personnel, rifles at the ready, began to advance cautiously toward the alley.

But as they drew near and shone their flashlights into the alley, everyone froze on the spot.

The alley was shallow, only seven or eight meters deep, and they could see to the end at a glance. But it was completely empty. Not a single person was in sight.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one said a word.

Behind the crowd, the Lady in the Red Windbreaker looked at the empty alley, appearing somewhat furious. But those who knew her could tell that in that instant, she let out a soft sigh, seeming to relax quite a bit.

”Hey...”

But just as they were all lost in their own strange thoughts, waiting for the next command amidst the dead silence of the street, a voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone jumped in surprise and whipped their heads around in unison. They saw another figure walk out of the cake shop, holding something up in his hand.

”Seniors, I just picked something up. Does anyone want to come take a look?”