Chapter 60: The Ghost of the Imperial Capital

Sunday, afternoon.

The weather in the Imperial Capital changes at a moment's notice. The morning was clear and sunny, but at noon, dark clouds suddenly gathered, and in the blink of an eye, a torrential downpour began to pour. At this moment, in the remote outskirts on the perimeter of the Imperial Capital—already the most secluded area of the city—puddle-filled, potholed ground was covered with accumulated water everywhere.

"Plop." A black boot stepped into a puddle, splashing water as a silver dragon flashed across the sky amidst a roar of thunder.

A man and a woman, both wearing black raincoats, walked past the old, dilapidated buildings around them, entered a narrow alley, and arrived at a somewhat worn-down old courtyard.

"Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump thump—"

Two long and two short knocks, followed by three rapid ones, sounded like a secret code. Soon, the sound of a lock being unlatched came from the iron gate, and it slowly swung open.

The two stepped inside, and then locked the gate behind them.

Once inside, the two took off their raincoats, revealing their true faces. If Xia Yu had been present, he undoubtedly would have recognized the man as Xu Xiu, who had appeared in the mystic realm a little over a month ago.

No one would have expected that Xu Xiu, who was already a wanted fugitive, had secretly made his way into the Imperial Capital without anyone being the wiser.

The woman beside him was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, her face adorned with exquisite makeup and striking red lips that made an instant impression.

"Weren't you followed?" a middle-aged man's voice came from inside the room, his face obscured by the dim lighting.

Xu Xiu shook his head, casually sat down on a nearby chair, and said, "I had Zoroark disguise itself as me and stay in the southwestern region, showing its face from time to time to run those investigators in circles. No one knows I'm here."

At that moment, the other woman also spoke. Her voice sounded somewhat strange, not like a native of Hua, and she said in halting Chinese, "Don't worry, no one knows I've come to Hua."

"Let me tell you some good news. The payment is already on its way, and you should have received word by now. According to estimates, it will reach the designated location by tomorrow at the latest. The security force isn't strong; you just need to launch an attack to snatch that batch of goods. Remember not to let a single person get away," the middle-aged man said, as if discussing something utterly trivial. He paused for a moment and continued, "Now that we've covered the payment, let's talk about our mission requirements."

"I need you to go find something," the middle-aged man's raspy voice came through. "We don't know the exact location of that item ourselves, but we can find the people who do. This is a blacklist; everyone on this list is a suspect who might have come into contact with that item. You'll need to investigate them yourselves."

As if remembering something, the middle-aged man hurriedly cautioned, "Also, the Imperial Capital is unlike other places. You'd better not cause trouble recklessly. If taking action is truly necessary, remember to cover your tracks completely."

"Understood," Xu Xiu replied.

Looking at the thick blacklist, Xu Xiu and the other woman slightly frowned. "This is no simple task. There are at least several hundred people on this list."

"That is why I am paying you, and paying such an exorbitant price. We are under a lot of pressure over this as well," the middle-aged man said, staring intently at Xu Xiu and the woman. "The risks we are taking are not small either."

"We will need at least a month, and at most no more than three months," the woman stated. "We'll take the mission."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

…………

The sudden and violent rainstorm interrupted Xia Yu's training schedule, forcing him to shift from outdoor to indoor training. He trained until around five o'clock in the afternoon, and just as he was about to wrap up for the day and head home, he heard Long Yanning's phone ringing.

"Hello." Long Yanning stood by the window, answering the call with a solemn expression. "I am Long Yanning."

"Are you sure?" Panic flashed across Long Yanning's face, followed by a dazed moment of disbelief as she said, "When did this happen? I'm heading there right now."

It wasn't hard to tell from Long Yanning's expression that something extremely serious had occurred; otherwise, her complexion wouldn't have been so grim.

"Xia Yu, just stay in the laboratory and don't go anywhere," Long Yanning cautioned Xia Yu with a solemn look. Then, she quickly grabbed her raincoat, summoned her Noivern, leaped onto its back, and vanished into the rainy night.

"Beep, beep."

At the same time, Xia Yu's phone also rang. It was Elder Lin calling. "Xiaoyu?"

"Grandpa," Xia Yu answered.

"Stay in the lab for now. Someone will come to pick you up shortly so you can come home first," Elder Lin said in a serious voice, leaving no room for argument.

"Has something happened?" Xia Yu asked cautiously. Judging by Long Yanning's reaction just now and this phone call, it was clear that some major event had shaken the Imperial Capital.

"Just come back first. It's not something that can be explained clearly over the phone."

…………

Upon returning home, Old Madam Qin immediately hurried over, affectionately taking Xia Yu's hand with eyes full of worry.

"Grandma, Grandpa, what on earth happened?" Xia Yu couldn't help asking aloud.

"Take a look at the news first," Elder Lin said without offering any explanation, merely motioning for Xia Yu to look at the television screen.

"Yesterday, another terror-ghost incident occurred in the Ping'an District of the Imperial Capital, resulting in three deaths. We urge the general public to mind their personal safety and avoid going out at night unless strictly necessary."

Xia Yu frowned as he watched the news report. He remembered a similar broadcast a few days ago. At the time, it was suspected that Ghost-type Pokémon were wreaking havoc, and experts specializing in Psychic, Dark, and Ghost types had already been dispatched to investigate the matter.

It still hadn't been resolved? And now three people had died?

Yet, the death of three people alone shouldn't have been enough to throw Long Yanning into such a panic.

Seemingly sensing his grandson's confusion, Elder Lin slowly began to explain, "Among the three dead, one is a trainee from the Dragon-type mystic realm training class, and the other two are bodyguards and a driver. They went out after lunch today, heading toward the Dragon-type mystic realm, but both the vehicle and everyone inside went missing along the way. It was only an hour ago that the wrecked vehicle and the three corpses were found, and the authorities were notified."

So that was it. No wonder Long Yanning had worn such a panicked expression. As the head instructor of the training class, with her students falling victim on their way to the mystic realm, she bore a certain degree of responsibility no matter what.

"Will this incident affect the Long family?" Xia Yu asked.

"Certainly," Elder Lin replied without hesitation. "Whoever entered that training class definitely has influential backing, but as long as Long Fan is still around, it won't have a massive impact on the Long family. It's just that girl Long Yanning might take a bit of a hit."

Xia Yu nodded and continued, "Grandpa, have the police found any clues?"

Elder Lin shook his head. "The specific details haven't been made public yet, but it's rumored that the scene was horrifying, bearing obvious traces of a battle. Several Pokémon were dismembered and hacked to pieces, and the three human corpses were sucked dry into mummies. It was likely the work of some extremely vicious Pokémon, though whether they were artificially controlled remains unknown."

With that, Elder Lin also cautioned him, "Training classes have been suspended for the time being. You should just stay home and train. Don't go out under any circumstances."

"Understood," Xia Yu nodded. Given how dangerous the situation was, he certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to venture outside, and this happened to give him a good opportunity to spend the next few days working on his paper.