Scarlet Descent
Ch. 87 - More Heartbeats

“Phew…”

“Finally settled.”A man in a hoodie, appearing frail, emerged from the underground parking lot with three “lambs” in tow. Behind him, the dimly lit garage was silent, littered with corpses. Only four people remained alive. The others were pale and lifeless, with no signs of struggle.“Though I prepared money for the transaction, it’s better to kill them all.”He thought to himself:” The cleaner the scene, the safer it is, with less risk.”If this can still be discovered, the world isn’t fair...Just as he thought this, he noticed something and spun around. His body hair stood on end, his scalp tingling as if electrified. He saw a person standing quietly in the shadows nearby, silent as a corpse.“Hello, friend.”The figure suddenly spoke, emerging from the darkness with a gentle smile. “I’m the Supernatural Events Security Officer of Scrap Iron City. I suspect you’re involved in using demonic powers to harm lives and illegally purchasing humans for sacrifices.”“These are first-class dangerous activities prohibited by the Administrative Hall, so I need to take you in for investigation.”“Do you have any objections?”The hooded man felt a mix of relief and tension. Good, it’s not that psycho Rainy Night Butcher.He was like a trafficker relieved to encounter police instead of a serial killer.“Is this within your jurisdiction? We’re outside the city,” he asked cautiously.The officer didn’t respond immediately, his eyes scrutinizing the man.“Near the Dark Night Bar’s alley, you kidnapped a woman. On a rainy night, you drugged a pair of sisters in their room. At the shoe factory entrance, you controlled a female taxi driver…”The hooded man’s eyes widened in terror. How did he know? These were his recent experiences hunting for “lambs.” No one had seen him, not even the sacrificers, who only received the lambs without knowing how they were hunted.The officer seemed to confirm something, smiling warmly yet unnervingly.“I can indeed hear your heartbeat.”The hooded man panicked. The officer’s smile twisted into a grotesque, demonic grin in his eyes. He’s not a security officer; he’s the butcher!He pulled out a glass bottle and tried to smash it on the ground, but it stuck to his hand. The officer swiftly closed in, punching him in the stomach, bending him into a shrimp-like posture. He disarmed the bottle and broke the man’s limbs one by one. The hooded man screamed in agony, unable to cry out as his jaw dislocated.…“Plague Demon?”Wei Wei examined the bottle, guessing the man’s powers were those of a Plague Demon, infamous for their ability to collect diseases and use them as silent killers.The bottle contained a disease, likely capable of instant lethality. This explained how the frail man had killed the others in the garage without a fight.Wei Wei turned to Captain Ouyang, who approached with a curious expression.“Captain, I’ve got him.”“Alive?”Captain Ouyang’s eyes widened in surprise. “Do you always follow this procedure closely during missions?”Wei Wei nodded. “To prevent misuse of supernatural powers and abuse of authority, isn’t following protocol necessary?”Captain Ouyang’s face turned peculiar. “Then why don’t I usually see you bring back live captures?”Wei Wei hesitated. “Captain, it’s because they resisted…”Captain Ouyang sighed, looking at the hooded man’s mangled form and the three vacant-eyed women beside him. His suspicions were confirmed.“Are you sure he’s the one?”“Very sure,” Wei Wei replied. “I heard his fearful heartbeat.”He glanced toward Scrap Iron City. “And I think I can hear more.”…Captain Ouyang nodded, concern etched on his face. “Let’s return immediately. We can interrogate him to find the next sacrificial site. If we mobilize the team, we might locate it before dawn and dismantle it in one go.”Wei Wei paused, then suggested, “Captain, I think you should take him back for questioning first. I suspect there are others hunting, and I want to investigate.”Captain Ouyang frowned. “You’re going to investigate alone?”Wei Wei spoke before he could object. “If there’s hunting, it means there are victims. Can I just stand by and do nothing?”Captain Ouyang looked at Wei Wei’s resolute eyes, feeling a mix of surprise and concern. From the demon summoning incident to the Brain Girl case, and now this, Wei Wei had consistently pushed him to the edge.But at this moment, Captain Ouyang realized he had overlooked something. Wei Wei saved a baby, stood up for the Brain Girl, rescued seven innocent girls from the Love Demon, and even brought back a pair of small white shoes from the massacre site...This realization complicated Captain Ouyang’s feelings. He didn’t want Wei Wei to get into trouble, but how could he stop him from saving people?“Alright, I approve your request. Be careful, don’t overdo it, and request backup if needed. And try to leave more survivors.”Wei Wei beamed with joy, saluting seriously. “Yes, Captain.”Captain Ouyang watched him, then made an unusual decision. “Wei, I don’t mean to pry into your secrets, but I need to warn you. I don’t know how you heard that heartbeat, but demonic powers can do incredible things. However, they have limits. They can disrupt logic but can’t create it out of thin air...”“If others know about your abilities, then never mind. But if they don’t, it’s best not to tell anyone... including our team members.”Wei Wei nodded, understanding. Looks like my thousand yuan wasn’t wasted; I met a good captain.He saluted and stepped back, disappearing into the night.Captain Ouyang shook his head, muttering, “Are all training camp graduates this unusual?” He dialed the office.Fortunately, the call connected quickly. “Hey?”“It’s me. Wei and I found a lead on a new sacrificial site. Gather everyone for interrogation.”The voice on the other end, Uncle Gun, was surprised. “Captain, you’ve made progress so quickly?”Captain Ouyang frowned, looking in the direction Wei had disappeared. “Not me, Wei did. He’s gone back to the city to investigate more leads.”Uncle Gun  was shocked. “Captain, you trust him to act alone?”Captain Ouyang sighed. “What can I do? He just put me on the moral high ground...”Wei Wei walked swiftly through the market, his expression calm. He picked up a black raincoat from a stall, bought a Pleasant Goat mask for five yuan, and selected a sharp sickle from a farm tool vendor.At the market edge, he saw a menacing man with a rifle and submachine gun, stopping his motorcycle and cursing loudly. Wei Wei smiled and nodded as he passed by, then jumped onto the motorcycle and sped away.Captain Ouyang’s warning about theft proved true. Behind him, bullets whizzed by, accompanied by curses. How pleasant...As he approached Scrap Iron City, more heartbeats echoed in his ears, growing louder and more numerous. 

Note:

Pleasant Goat Mask: It’s the goat from the Chinese Animated cartoon Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf

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