Absolute Gate

Chapter 10 Night Wanderer

When Wu Zhong saw the Taoist priest draw his spear, he couldn't help but retort, "Spear techniques are also a kind of magic, right?"

The Taoist priest smirked: "You've fought ghosts before, managing to get away with punches and kicks. But this one shot from me, even a ghost can't withstand it."

Wu Zhongxin agreed, even though he had broken the old man's door by relying on his welding skills.

But the prerequisite is that he can break it; if he can't break it out of the doorway, he can't trigger the ability.

That old ghost is really weak; he's just a wisp of water vapor. His true form is less threatening than possessing others to hunt him down.

However, since ghosts exist in the world, it's not surprising that there are departments that catch them.

This group of people is really strange. Wu Zhong was very nervous because he wasn't a normal person either.

"What exactly do you mean? Just say it."

The head of the administration smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, my name is Lu Guangqi."

“You can call me Captain Lu… Well, we just want to know why you are being chased by those ghosts and spirits.”

Wu Zhong pouted: "I don't know either. I was just sleeping when suddenly a ghost came chasing me. It was so strange."

"I've never encountered anything like this in my life, I'm still completely baffled."

He was genuinely bewildered. Putting aside his superpowers, he asked himself honestly how he could have wished for a peaceful and normal world, where everything would be normal, and ideally, only he would be the one experiencing something unusual. So how did he end up encountering a ghost?

“Actually, this isn’t the first time you’ve encountered something like this.” Lu Guangqi, the administrative staff member, suddenly turned on the projector and displayed several surveillance screenshots.

Wu was shocked to find himself trapped in the elevator.

This gave him a jolt; it was the first thing he noticed when he discovered his superpowers. Clearly, they had investigated him, combining the elevator incident from this morning with their own investigation, considering both events simultaneously.

"The incident where you were trapped in the elevator this morning was not simple either; that should have been the first time you were being hunted down."

"The ghost's abilities were very weak at the time. It probably wanted to use the elevator to kill you, but even that failed."

Lu Guangqi spoke eloquently, leaving Wu Zhong astonished.

"Huh? Ah?" Wu Zhong blinked.

He found it strange that the other party thought the elevator incident that morning was also the work of ghosts.

To be honest, Wu Zhong himself thought so at the time, believing that he was possessed by an evil spirit or something.

The surveillance footage did not capture him secretly pressing the door open button. At the time, the crowd was so dense that he had to reach the door by pushing through several people underneath.

Lu Guangqi continued, "Don't be surprised. You probably think it was just an ordinary elevator accident."

"But we have inspected it carefully and there is no malfunction in the elevator itself."

"If it were just an isolated case, that would be fine, but you also had a car accident this afternoon. That's the second time that ghosts and gods are chasing you."

Lu Guangqi switched the projection, this time showing the scene of a truck hitting him on the side of the road.

Wu Zhong stared wide-eyed: "Is this also the work of ghosts and monsters?"

Lu Guangqi nodded: "Yes, even in a torrential downpour, the driver shouldn't have rammed straight into us like that."

"The driver has not been driving while fatigued recently, and his family also said that he never drinks alcohol."

“We conducted an autopsy, and there was no alcohol in his blood. Instead, we found strange hydrocephalus in his brain, indicating that he had been controlled by a ghost.”

Wu Zhong gasped.

He knew the elevator incident was due to the awakening of his superpowers, and that the other party had misunderstood.

But he really didn't know that the car accident that almost killed him that afternoon was also caused by a ghost possessing him and trying to kill him.

If a passerby hadn't pulled him away, he would have been hit and killed!
"Why? Why is a ghost trying to kill me?"

Wu Zhong grew anxious. This ghostly chase that night was the second time, so there would definitely be a third and a fourth.

Just as the other party said when he entered: He will be haunted by ghosts and accidents will happen frequently!
You can run away on the first day of the month, but you can't hide on the fifteenth. Who can withstand someone constantly plotting to kill him, both openly and secretly?
I can't live a normal life anymore. Wherever I go, I have to be on guard against people who are suddenly possessed by ghosts and are ready to kill me.

Or perhaps they would manipulate the driver to cause a car accident or plane crash for themselves.

Lu Guangqi tapped his finger on the table: "We also want to figure out why these ghosts want to kill you."

"To be honest, we discovered these ghosts before you did. Aside from some fighting, you were the first person they actively came out to hunt them down!"

Wu was dumbfounded. Was he the ghost's first prey?
"What the hell is this?!"

"And what did you say? A group? There wasn't just one ghost!"

Where did these ghosts come from?

Lu Guangqi explained, "Well, it's a group. I can't tell you too much about their origins, but I can only say that they should all be beings from myths and legends..."

As he spoke, he picked up the old ghost portrait from before.

"For example, the one that chases you at night is called 'Ye Zhong,' and it's a night-wandering spirit."

Wu Zhong's eyes widened: "Night Wanderer?"

The young Taoist priest next to him interjected, "It is said that they were born in the southern wilderness. They hold hands and form a chain, and they disappear during the day. Because they only appear at night, they are called Night Wanderers."

"Physically, he's short-cheeked and sallow-shouldered, the kind of sleazy, wicked kid you'd see at night."

According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there were 28 gods whose arms were linked together, and they served as the night watchmen for the Heavenly Emperor.

"There are a total of sixteen. The leader of them has a name, called 'Ye Zhong,' which is the one you encountered. He is the leader of the Night Wanderers and the strongest one."

Wu was stunned. So that's what the old ghost meant when he called himself a minor god.

He really is a god, a night-wandering god!

"The boss? And the strongest one? He seems so weak, not even as powerful as the ghosts in the movies."

The Taoist priest stroked the gun, then packed it back into its case: "Hmm, it is indeed very weak."

However, Lu Guangqi solemnly said, "Although they are still weak now, do you know? They only emerged this morning."

"Initially, even the wind could blow them down, and the sun could kill them. They even failed to kill you by causing an elevator accident."

"But by the afternoon, they were able to possess people and cause car accidents, killing the drivers."

"Tonight, it possesses more than a dozen people who are chasing after you, and four patients have died."

"They've been absorbing resources to grow stronger, and this is only the first day!"

"And so on, what about the second day, the third day? Next month, the month after that? What will it be like a year or two later?"

"Until a complete solution is found, this is tentatively classified as a Delta-class catastrophic object, capable of causing the end of humanity." Upon hearing this, Wu Zhong was horrified.

Yes, although that brat Nono was weak tonight, he almost killed me.

Meanwhile, the other party is getting stronger. Compared to the car accident in the afternoon, the latter showed a clear improvement.

If I didn't have superpowers, I would be dead tonight!

Even earlier, if it weren't for luck and a passerby pulling him out, he would have been turned into mincemeat by the afternoon!

If this cycle continues to intensify, won't it eventually wreak havoc on the world?
Lu Guangqi said, "Right now, only Ye Zhong can travel this far at night to kill you, but by tomorrow, other little devils might be able to do it too."

"It won't be long before all the day and night patrol gods are able to mobilize..."

"I don't know where their potential for advancement lies, but these are, after all, gods who 'guard the night for the Heavenly Emperor,' and legend has it that they can form a vast expanse that blots out the sky."

"And this... is just an insignificant little ghost among the ghosts and spirits that appeared this morning, standing like a lackey."

Wu Zhong felt a chill run down his spine. Did ghosts and gods really exist in this world, and why did they insist on killing him?

"Are we just going to let them get stronger and not solve the problem?"

"You must have special methods to eliminate ghosts, right? Um, do you have superpowers?"

He couldn't help but ask these questions, after all, after what happened today, he realized that he was probably not the only one in the world who possessed strange powers.

Lu Guangqi did not answer directly, but said only: "For the time being, we can suppress them from harming people, but we have no way to stop them from becoming stronger."

Wu Zhong frowned: "Suppress them? But they still managed to harm people!"

"Can't you control the Night Wanderer?"

Lu Guangqi said, "The Night Wanderer is an exception. His ability is very unique. As long as it is night, he can roam freely and cannot be stopped."

"The same goes for the day-roaming gods. The one who killed that driver this afternoon was the day-roaming god 'Youguang'."

"So you'd better stay with us. We can protect your safety and arrange accommodation for you at our base."

Wu Zhong scanned the group of people; they were clearly from a special official department, but he wasn't sure.

"Um, what exactly is your department?"

The group remained silent, waiting for Lu Guangqi to speak: "All you need to know is that we are a fire department."

Wu Zhong frowned: "Fire department? You're firefighters?"

Apart from the administrative man and the Taoist priest, the rest of the group were indeed wearing firefighter uniforms.

Lu Guangqi smiled and said, "Firefighting is about preventing, controlling, and eliminating all kinds of disasters."

"The firefighters you know are those who deal with natural disasters."

"And we, on the other hand, deal with unnatural disasters."

Wu Zhong then asked, "What's the name? I don't know of such a department. If it's an official unit, shouldn't they show their credentials?"

Lu Guangqi said calmly, "Don't ask so many questions. Although we are a formal department, for security reasons, we can keep our operations confidential."

"As for the credentials, I have credentials from seven major law enforcement agencies: public security, national security, urban management, market supervision, ecological environment, cultural market, and emergency management. I can show them to you."

He opened his briefcase, rummaged through it, and pulled out a stack of identification documents, including a whole bunch of police-related ones.

Wu Zhongyu concluded, "Wow, that's impressive, holding so many official positions."
The other party didn't even tell him the name of the mysterious department, yet they were able to produce credentials from all the publicly known departments, which shows how powerful this department is.

"Then...what exactly do I need to cooperate with you on?"

Lu Guangqi said, "You need to cooperate with all our operations at designated locations and at unpredictable times, and keep the entire process confidential."

Wu Zhong couldn't help but ask, "Can I refuse?"

“It’s possible for now.” Lu Guangqi frowned slightly. “But I think I’ve made myself clear. If you don’t accept our tightest protection, your life will be in danger.”

Wu Zhong tilted his head: "Temporarily?"

Lu Guangqi stared at him: "That's right, because if we determine that you are strongly correlated with the influence and harm of certain 'disasters,' then we can take coercive measures."

Wu finally understood that he was actually a victim now.

A group of ghosts suddenly appeared and tried to kill him; he was incredibly unlucky.

It's possible that these ghosts randomly choose someone to hunt, and after killing them, they go on to hunt down the next prey.

However, if the origins of these ghosts and the reasons for their mischief are strongly related to him, then he wouldn't be so polite.

As for what constitutes a 'strong correlation', that's hard to say.

Does his superpower count as a strong correlation? And does the ghost possibly know him... count as a strong correlation?
Thinking of this, I temporarily suppressed my original intention to confess.

To be honest, Wu Zhong still couldn't understand why Ye Zhong would address him with honorifics. Was it just a habit, or did he mistake him for someone else?
For a moment, Wu was in a state of confusion, not knowing exactly what "cooperating with all their actions" meant.

He felt very uncertain because no one told him anything.

But it seemed that I had no room to refuse, nor any reason to do so.

After all, he was being hunted by ghosts and gods. These people were willing to protect him. Why would he go out and seek death on his own?
He had originally planned that once he had a million dollars, he could quit his job and take care of his grandfather, living a carefree life.

But tonight's events made him realize that he needed to stay away from his grandfather and could no longer stay by his side to take care of him, otherwise he would only harm his grandfather.

"Sigh... I understand. Whatever you say goes."

The other party had anticipated his choice and immediately took out a document and pushed it in front of Wu Zhong.

Upon closer inspection, Wu found a confidentiality agreement plus a separate agreement for strict protection.

This behavior suggests they're not some wild, uncivilized group; otherwise, there would be no need for such elaborate measures.

He looked at it and saw that it was full of technical terms, with even a simple sentence being convoluted and complicated.

Wu Zhong wasn't very well-educated, and after reading for a while, he got a splitting headache; he'd already forgotten half of what he'd read before...

"Forget it, I had no choice anyway." He was too lazy to pretend to read it carefully.

He picked up a pen and signed it on the spot.

……

　P.S.: Sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)