The Eldritch Files

”You remember now?”

The white monster—or rather, Bai Shixing—who had been staring intently at Han Su’s expression, finally showed a look of agitation and excitement. His malice toward Han Su was palpable, but that didn’t stop him from trembling with excitement the moment Han Su recognized him:

”You never should have forgotten me!”

”Remember how you threw me in a corner like a piece of trash?”

Unable to contain his emotions, he took a step forward, his single remaining eye locked on Han Su:

”Remember how you beat me for no reason?”

”Remember how you said your whole family died at my family’s estate?”

As he said this, his furious gaze overflowed from his eye socket like lava from a volcano. ”...After I fucking got back, I even went to investigate!”

”Thirteen servants died in my family’s garden—men and women, old and young—but not a single one was related to you!”

”...”

”He... he’s also...”

At this moment, Wei Lan, beside Han Su, also seemed to realize something from the conversation, her voice trembling slightly.

But she didn’t recognize him. They hadn’t crossed paths back at the Ancient Castle.

Nearby, Pot Lid Head also narrowed his eyes, watching the white monster with a cold detachment, seemingly uninterested in him.

”Mr. Bai Shi, you should at least let me die knowing why...”

Amidst the silent trembling and animosity, Drunkard roared in fury.

He even desperately mustered his remaining Spiritual Power, merging it with the water of the Black Lake and sending it surging viciously toward the figure in the white suit.

If the initial assassination plot by Han Su and the members of the Queen’s Organization, Pot Lid Head’s betrayal, and Rong Qiyue’s arrival were all things he could still manage without completely losing control, then the white monster’s words were now causing his entire worldview to shatter.

”You...”

As for Han Su, he found it incredibly difficult to speak.

Of course, he wanted to respond to the white monster, but how could he?

’The whole relative thing was just an excuse to beat him up. Am I supposed to try and explain that now?’

But what threw him into even greater turmoil was the shock of this person’s identity.

’So, the enemy in the shadows... was him?’

’Has he been the one watching me this whole time?’

’The children in the Ancient Castle... besides the ones I saved, there was also him...’

’Why did Miss Ai help me set this trap to lure him out? Did she know his identity all along?’

’Or... do a lot of people actually know who he is?’

He had already been prepared to fight this monster; he had been waiting all night for him.

But at this very moment, his desire to question the monster outweighed his desire to kill him.

”CRACKLE!”

As Han Su shifted his feet, the white monster listened to Drunkard’s Howl, not even bothering to answer. He just snapped his fingers impatiently.

From among the countless now-active Mechanical Ghosts, sharp machinery stacked up, instantly extending into midair.

The tip, like a sharp spear, accompanied by countless blue electrical arcs, instantly pierced the black tide. It skewered a figure that had merged with the dark waters, hoisting it rigidly into the night sky.

Drunkard coughed up mouthfuls of blood as the machine rapidly drained his life force, his face filled with confusion.

From his high vantage point, he could clearly see the people on both sides and the irreconcilable hatred between them.

But he didn’t understand why they all wanted him dead.

As the last of the Black Lake dissipated, countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He suddenly raised his head. ”Teacher, I know I was wrong...”

At that moment, the seal Wei Lan had set was forcibly broken.

Drunkard’s Spiritual Power had triggered some kind of resonance. This abnormal Activity traveled through a secret channel, traversing space to arrive at the ancient and luxurious Dingxiang Mansion in Qinggang.

But at that moment, Dingxiang Mansion’s main gate was shut tight, and not even the lights in the courtyard were on.

Only in the master’s bedroom, facing a worried-looking female security guard, the old man of Dingxiang Mansion had already changed into his sleepwear. He spoke in a low voice, ”Go rest. Whatever is happening outside has nothing to do with Dingxiang Mansion.”

”If you dare to take a single step out of Dingxiang Mansion before dawn, then you, just like him, will be cast out!”

”...”

The female security guard couldn’t understand. ”But after all, he’s...”

”He always thought he was very clever, that he made the right choices time and time again.”

For the first time, the old man of Dingxiang Mansion offered an explanation for his actions. ”But he never understood.”

”To an ordinary person, he knows a great deal. To an ordinary Investigator, he knows quite a bit. But when it comes to the true Mysterious World, he knows nothing at all.”

”...”

The female security guard despaired. She could hear Drunkard’s cries for help from outside the city, but now, she could only pretend not to.

Receiving no response from Dingxiang Mansion, Drunkard then looked toward Qinggang City’s Central City.

’If Teacher won’t answer me, then what about the man for whom I’ve taken the fall so many times...?’

’You...’

...

Just as Drunkard was despairingly thinking of this man, back in Qinggang City, Xu Ji was huddled in a corner of an old study, head drooping and eyes heavy with sleep. He watched his father, a man who was rarely home and who, even when he was, would immediately sequester himself in the study to handle his affairs.

’What is this old man thinking, waking me up in the middle of the night to attend a meeting in the study?’

’What’s going on? Is the Xu Family going bankrupt or something?’

In response to Xu Ji’s silent questioning, his father simply smiled and said, ”It would be best if you participated in certain matters.”

Xu Ji didn’t get it. ’Isn’t it usually Special Assistant Xu who handles this stuff?’

’Why is it that for today’s meeting, even Special Assistant Xu isn’t qualified to enter the study and listen in, yet I have to be here?’

Amidst his confusion and dissatisfaction, Mr. Xu used the old telephone in his study to dial a number. Hearing the weary voice on the other end, Mr. Xu smiled gently and said, ”Mr. Zhou, do you plan to attend this meeting?”

”I’ve been listening to Zhang Chiguo’s reports.”

The man on the other end of the line gave a hoarse laugh. ”How interesting. Did you call just to ask me that?”

Mr. Xu chuckled. ”For one, I wanted to make sure you weren’t doing anything impulsive.”

”And second, I actually wanted to ask for your opinion...”

”The Disaster Management Bureau... is there any need for it to exist anymore?”

”...”

”...”

Outside the city, in the wasteland, the howling wind whipped the wild grass back and forth, like crowds of wailing ghosts.

Drunkard was now fully in the physical world, his body slumped and devoid of all strength. He had cried out to his teacher for help, to the man he served, but received no response. He was even forced to think of the other three of the four great Investigators.

But those three had long been locked away next to the black notebook; they couldn’t come either.

And everyone else... was dead. They were all dead...

In that moment, he was like a man holding a phone, staring at countless numbers, yet not knowing who to call.

No matter where he looked, there was only dead silence. The space between heaven and earth felt vast and empty. Even his own screams didn’t echo.

He finally understood that he had been abandoned.

Han Su and Wei Lan watched, completely unfazed, as Drunkard’s life force rapidly faded before the white monster cast him aside like a piece of trash. Pot Lid Head, however, who was standing nearby, suddenly had a cold, vicious glint flash in his eyes.

This was a target he’d had his eye on.

He was the type to focus on one thing at a time.

He liked to see things through from beginning to end.

Last time, while investigating the D7 attack, he had just pieced things together when Han Su went and killed his target.

He was displeased, but he held it in.

This time, with Drunkard, he had been worried his prey would be snatched away. Thankfully, Han Su and the others didn’t seem interested.

But now...

...

”Regardless, we’re old acquaintances meeting again!”

Also at that moment, Han Su suppressed the endless questions surging in his mind, clenched his jaw, and forced himself to remain calm. ”I know you hate me, and I don’t like you either.”

”But since we’ve run into each other, you...”

He struggled to keep his voice even, carrying his briefcase as he approached the white monster step by step. ”You at least have to talk with me, right...?”

But as his steps drew nearer, the white monster suddenly took a step back. He looked at Han Su with a strange expression and asked in a peculiar tone, ”Are you going to hit me again?”

Han Su paused. ’That tone... like a victim of bullying...’

”You think I don’t know about your conspiracy with that mechanical thing?”

The white monster’s voice suddenly turned shrill. ”You think I didn’t know you were waiting for me here? You think I don’t know about Song Chushi’s plan?”

He fired off a series of questions, his voice growing more venomous with each one, yet his body kept retreating.

As he created distance between himself and Han Su, he raised his hand.

In the gloomy atmosphere, Han Su felt a palpable malice radiating from the monster. Countless motes of Spiritual Activity gathered and swirled, and he could vaguely discern their core.

It was a gun.

A gun formed by his hand—thumb up, index finger out, the other three fingers curled—with the index finger pointed straight at him.

’Not good!’

The instant Han Su saw that ”gun,” alarms blared in his mind, and he quickly dodged back.

But in that same instant, the white figure suddenly made a sound with his mouth:

”BANG!”

With that sound, an infinite amount of Spiritual Power was instantly compressed into a single point, whistling as it shot across several hundred meters.

In its wake, the waist-high grass in the wasteland was uniformly flattened to either side.

Han Su had already started to dodge, but he still felt a sharp pain in his chest as his body was flung uncontrollably through the air. He tumbled for a good four or five meters before he could slam his left hand down, digging his fingers into the earth and carving a deep trench as he skidded to a halt.

Wei Lan rushed forward to help him. Han Su pulled open his shirt, but there was no wound—not even any redness or swelling.

Yet the feeling of being shot was unmistakably clear.

He ignored the sensation and looked up, only to see an empty night sky.

The white monster had vanished along with the last of the Mechanical Ghosts. Only his voice remained, carried on the night wind: ”Now that you’ve left your comfortable cradle of reality, what’s the point of hiding out here?”

”When old friends reunite after a decade, we should naturally find a place where we won’t be disturbed. You have no idea how I’ve been thinking of you, down to my very bones...”