N-A-A Chapter 5 Anomaly
Chapter 5 Anomaly
In the afternoon, sunlight slanted down through the gaps in the clouds, hitting the clear stream and refracting it into a shimmering, golden light.
A black minivan stopped at the end of the tributary.
The car door opened, and two people got out.
One male and one female.
The man's name was Yuan Rui. He was tall and had sharp eyes; he didn't look like the kind of person who was easy to deal with.
The woman's name was Tian tide. She was petite and had a long wooden sword at her waist, but there was a calm sharpness in her eyes.
The two walked to the junction of the tributary and the ring canal, and both fell silent for a moment.
Yuan Rui narrowed his eyes, a hint of black yin energy emanating from them—a trace left by the ghost he controlled.
"Strange...it's disappeared?"
It's not that it's weakened, it's that it's completely disappeared.
The place where they stood was the fork in the artificial tributary that extends inward from the city's ring canal.
To the right is the main canal surrounding the city, its surface a dark green, with a faint, malevolent aura floating on the water. A chilling, fishy aura drifts in with the wind, and the B-level eerie presence within remains. Even in the surrounding culverts and the deep, stagnant pools downstream, scattered water evil spirits and the remnants of drowned souls have not yet dissipated.
To the left is this man-made tributary, which is less than 100 meters long.
Clear.
Crystal clear.
The fine sand, pebbles, and even the swimming fish at the bottom of the water are clearly visible.
Tian tide squatted down and put her hand into the water.
Slightly cool.
But this coolness is completely different from the bone-chilling coldness of a body covered in yin energy. It is the temperature that a clean water source should have, without a trace of malevolent energy or ghostly aura.
"Something's not right." Tian tide stood up and said in a low voice, "Within a hundred meters of this tributary, the yin energy is completely gone, and there's no evil energy at all. It doesn't look like the traces of something being strangely cleared away by an external force... It's more like something grew out of there and... devoured all the yin energy."
"Was a water spirit born?"
Yuan Rui shook his head: "Where did this water spirit come from? The water in this world only contains water demons and water ghosts."
Tian tide didn't shake her head; she just stared at the clear water, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
"But in known cases, there are almost no water-based evil spirits that can prevent the leakage of yin energy," she said slowly. "Once the supernatural entity can completely control its own yin energy, its corrosive effect on humans will be minimized..."
She paused for a moment after saying this.
Yuan Rui took it: "The Demon-Controller."
After the two words were spoken, both of them fell silent for a moment.
The name "Deceptive Master" is not a secret within the Bureau of Abnormalities.
Nineteen years ago, the enormous Yin-Yang symbol in the sky, with black slowly swallowing white, is an indelible memory for every person who witnessed it.
After that day, the world changed.
Ghosts have truly descended upon the human world.
In just a few years, the number of people who died due to the strange occurrences exceeded ten million. Ghost tides once swept across the entire north, and the whole city was sleepless all night.
Fortunately, humanity's counterattack came relatively quickly.
The Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain was the first to awaken the legendary spiritual energy, and the talismans in the ancient books were revitalized. Taoist priests, monks, and extraordinary people were recruited into the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs from all directions.
Then, a certain adult deduced a method from an ancient remnant.
It can resonate with specific eerie phenomena, using people as guides and ghosts as weapons.
The term "master of deception" originates from this.
The higher the degree of control the strange creature has over Yin energy, the less it will erode the host, and the higher the potential of the creature tamer.
However, almost all the spontaneously awakened water-based anomalies are mud that are single-mindedly devouring and cannot be controlled.
The things in this tributary are an exception.
"Should we try to make contact?" Tian tide asked.
Yuan Rui frowned: "How can we make contact? Who dares to go down there? Even if we can control the yin energy, what if it's someone bloodthirsty? We'll be dead on the spot."
"...That's true." Tian tide thought for a moment, "Report this to the captain and let the ghost inside him check it out first."
"What we can confirm at the moment is that this thing doesn't seem to have any obvious malicious intent towards people." Yuan Rui glanced at the crowd that was beginning to gather around him. "I heard it even saved someone last night."
"Um."
As the two were talking, a hurried figure swept past them, almost bumping into Yuan Rui's arm.
He was a young man, clutching a handful of incense in his arms. He walked quickly as if he were on a journey, but his eyes were fixed on the stream ahead, his expression filled with an indescribable sense of amazement and urgency.
It is the river and the sea.
He passed by this ditch on his way home from get off work yesterday. It was filthy, black, and smelly, and he quickened his pace.
Today I came again—the water was crystal clear, and fish were swimming around.
Jiang Hai stood by the stream for half a minute without saying a word, then silently took out a lighter, pulled out three incense sticks from the bundle in his hand, and lit them.
Holding incense sticks in both hands, he slowly knelt down.
"May the River God bless my wife with a smooth delivery and protect our family."
The voice wasn't loud, but it was very earnest.
Behind him, Yuan Rui curled his lip and said, "Feudal superstition."
Tian tide glanced at him but didn't say anything.
"Don't laugh. You've heard about that Dragon King in Luoyang—using the name of the River God to demand human sacrifices every month. This kind of weirdness, once it becomes a belief, is a real problem." Yuan Rui lowered his voice. "If what's inside really starts heading in the direction of the River God..."
"I know," Tian tide said, "but we need to confirm what it is before drawing any conclusions."
"Okay. I've already sent a message to the captain. He'll come over once the pig at the slaughterhouse is cleaned up."
As soon as he finished speaking, more and more people gathered on the shore.
At first, neighbors saw Jiang Hai praying and came over to listen for a bit. They learned that a pregnant woman had been attacked the night before and that the river god had saved her. Everyone had different expressions, but since they were already there, they didn't care.
You can't lose anything by offering a prayer.
The incense stick in Jiang Hai's hand was quickly borrowed by others.
If there is no incense, one should put hands together, close eyes, stand by the stream, and silently make a wish.
Some prayed for a smooth delivery, some for a safe and healthy baby, some for improved business, and some for the good health of the elderly…
No one noticed that a tiny red dot of light would quietly appear above the head of each person who clasped their hands in prayer.
The light swayed and drifted across the stream with the wind before quietly sinking into the water.
[Incense offerings +6]
At the bottom of the water, Mu Yuan stared at the line of numbers and remained silent for a moment.
There were at least a dozen people kneeling and offering incense on the shore, and it was only six o'clock.
He originally thought the incense offerings would arrive sooner.
It seems this matter is not as easy as he thought.
It's just a formality, a token gesture, it doesn't count.
What truly unites people in the flame must be a heartfelt belief—the kind that stems from genuine faith, gratitude, and care.
This can't be rushed.
Mu Yuan wasn't too disappointed. His gaze extended upstream, and his senses spread along the water's flow.
Right where the tributary connects to the main canal surrounding the city, a heavy, ominous aura swept over us.
Thick, deep, carrying a stench intertwined with decay and resentment.
It's strange.
It's much better than that vengeful spirit that fell into the water last night.
Grade B.
Mu Yuan sensed it for a moment, then quietly withdrew his consciousness.
With his current strength, he would most likely be no match for the other party in a head-on confrontation, but if the other party dares to invade the area under his jurisdiction, he will not back down.
Forcibly suppressing 30% of one's strength is no joke!
One hundred more merits are needed to advance to the ninth rank of the blasphemous ruler.
Blasphemy is the first step to entering the ranks. At that time, not only will new divine skills be unlocked, but one's control over the entire tributary will also be deeper, and one's authority will be more stable.
We'll deal with the upstream side later.
Mu Yuan closed his eyes and quietly felt the flow of water.
The shallow, clear stream was flowing gently past him.
A body of water shelters the creatures of that land.
How much merit can one gain?