Maybe the equipment got waterlogged from excess moisture.
He frowned slightly, feeling awkward.
“Mr. Xu, why’d it stop suddenly?”
“Should I call the staff?”
This movie was jinxed.
It was fine just now, but now it stopped playing.
Weird.
Xu Qinglai, seeing the Tree of Defiled Soil’s corrosion energy suppressed by Bo Ting’s eerie aura and stuck in the screen: …
Heh.
Looks like that stupid thing’s resurgence would fail again.
Without sympathy, he glanced over, not planning to intervene.
When Bo Ting made two calls that didn’t go through, Xu Qinglai spoke up. “Signal might be bad here.”
“Besides, the rest isn’t that interesting anyway.”
“Doesn’t matter if we watch or not.”
Huh?
Mr. Xu thought so too.
Bo Ting scratched his head slightly. Honestly, he’d been lost in the later parts.
The hospital got sealed off in the end, then a young filmmaker doing a graduation project stumbled in, got lured by some seed buried under the morgue, and took it out.
Then made it into a movie…
Cough.
Such a classic trope.
So after all that, the seed under the morgue was The Bud?
Was this seed the culprit behind the missing bodies at the hospital?
Bo Ting stared blankly ahead, already able to imagine the ending.
The only good news was that the horror movie wasn’t all that scary. He had maintained a good image in front of Mr. Xu.
He turned off the dehumidification function and breathed a sigh of relief that they were finally leaving the cinema.
At that moment, Mr. Xu looked over at him.
“Want to go grab some food?”
“I felt like you were getting a bit hungry just now.”
The influence of the Tree of Defiled Soil did indeed amplify feelings of hunger.
Even with Xu Qinglai’s abilities, he still hadn’t detected whether Bo Ting had been affected or not.
But it was normal to eat after watching a movie anyway.
Bo Ting nodded immediately, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry.”
“I only had a serving of xiaolongbao for breakfast this morning.”
That was clearly not enough for a young man’s appetite.
Bo Ting found it a little strange.
“Mr. Xu, aren’t you hungry?”
Mr. Xu didn’t seem like someone who partook of mortal food.
He hadn’t drunk much of the milk tea earlier either.
Xu Qinglai’s gentle eyes turned toward him, and he smiled faintly.
“I am a bit hungry too.”
“That’s why I booked a restaurant earlier.”
He pointed at his phone, immediately diverting Bo Ting’s attention.
On the screen was the Garden Restaurant, separated from Tianxin Mall by just one street.
Hmm, that looks pretty nice.
In Changling District:
Outside the tomb where the Tree of Defiled Soil had first been detected:
He Chengfeng wore a raincoat as he gazed at the sky outside, his expression grave.
“What’s the current life activity reading inside the tomb?”
The technician nearby looked at the screen.
“Sixty-five.”
Sixty-five…
That was already a very high number. Once it reached seventy percent, the Esper Squad would have to report it immediately and handle it on the spot.
He Chengfeng breathed heavily as he and the members of the Third Esper Squad watched the readings continue to climb.
Sixty-five percent.
Sixty-six percent.
Sixty-seven percent…
The numbers kept rising, and Bai Xia couldn’t help but frown.
“Hasn’t the Sixth Esper Squad stopped it at Tianxin Cinema?”
The life activity in the tomb kept increasing, clearly indicating that the corrosion had spread outward.
Everyone held their breath.
He Chengfeng was reporting “sixty-nine” into his earpiece, already prepared to act first and report later.
But then the technician’s voice suddenly changed.
“It’s stopped!”
Something had happened over there?
Bai Xia jerked her head up.
A few minutes later, the life vitality in the tomb carrying the Tree of Defiled Soil dropped from over sixty percent to forty—a massive plunge that no one had anticipated.
“It’s still dropping.”
He Chengfeng glanced at it again, somewhat surprised.
Had Old Lu and the Sixth Esper Squad been that reliable today?
They all monitored the changes intently.
The Tree of Defiled Soil, which had nearly risen from the dead moments ago, saw its condition plummet straight down.
He Chengfeng’s taut heart finally eased a bit. He let out a breath and picked up his phone to call the other side.
Si Ning had just noticed the mold receding when he received the call from Captain He in Changling District.
He answered subconsciously and heard He Chengfeng’s rapid questioning.
“What’s the situation on your end right now?”
“Did you destroy that movie?”
Otherwise, why had the readings dropped so suddenly?
Si Ning glanced over.
“No.”
“It probably has nothing to do with us.”
He hadn’t even had time to mention that the anomaly from Taiping Luxury Garden had gone inside.
Then he heard He Chengfeng exclaim “Holy shit!” on the other end of the line, instantly tensing up.
“Captain He?”
“What’s wrong?”
Had something gone wrong?
Xue Hengfu and the others crowded around, hearts in their throats.
A minute later, He Chengfeng’s voice came through, sounding strange.
“The Tree of Defiled Soil’s life vitality has dropped to ten percent.”
The air fell silent in an instant.
“Ten percent?”
“Did I hear that right?”
Xue Hengfu mouthed the words.
Ten percent?
It had been at thirty percent when they first detected signs of it rising, and now… it had failed to rise and was even gravely injured?
But how was that possible?
Destroying the source of The Bud, capturing the director who made the movie—it would only block the Tree of Defiled Soil’s growth, not injure it.
The only possibility was—that person inside had made a move?
Xue Hengfu wasn’t the only one who thought of it.
Si Ning thought of it too, and his breathing grew subconsciously heavier.
Si Ning inexplicably recalled the last time outside Taiping Luxury Garden, when he had locked eyes with that existence through the wall.
So… was the anomaly from Taiping Luxury Garden even more dangerous than the Tree of Defiled Soil?
Or higher in rank?
Even with the good news from Captain He, the Sixth Esper Squad felt no relief whatsoever.
After hanging up, Si Ning quickly messaged Lu Jingshan to stop him from approaching further!
Lu Jingshan had actually already reached the top floor.
They had followed the corrosion fluctuations of the Tree of Defiled Soil all the way and finally found a special entrance.
“So that one went in through here?”
Wang Dong asked quietly.
Lu Jingshan nodded.
“Most likely.”
He was just about to continue exploring when he was suddenly called off.
And it was Si Ning urgently stopping him.
When the message came through, Lu Jingshan puzzledly opened it, and his normal expression froze solid.
“What’s up?”
Wang Dong leaned over, confused.
Lu Jingshan looked up, his mood complicated.
“Stop the exploration.”
“Getting any closer is going to cause trouble.”
He didn’t know if that one was still inside now.
But… thinking of the message Si Ning had just sent, Lu Jingshan couldn’t help drawing in a cold breath.
…
The atmosphere inside Tianxin Mall was silently eerie.
Meanwhile, across the street, Bo Ting and Mr. Xu had already arrived at the restaurant under their umbrella.
The exaggerated weather from earlier had improved a lot by now. After the dark clouds had gathered for several hours, it had only ended up raining lightly.
The pattering raindrops hit the windows, and Bo Ting immediately liked this street-facing seat.
“Let’s sit here.”
The prime spot near the street corner was perfectly shielded by the bushes—even the servers outside couldn’t see in.
And the chair to the right was just hidden behind a pillar.
Bo Ting could take off his headgear smoothly while eating without worrying about scaring anyone.
Xu Qinglai glanced over.
“Then we’ll take that spot.”
“Alright.”
The server didn’t bat an eye at the two men coming to a couples’ restaurant and politely led them to the window corner before speaking.
“You can order via phone.”
“If you need anything, just ring the bell anytime.”
The smiling server left, and Bo Ting finally breathed a sigh of relief as he removed his headgear.
But as he turned his head, he spotted the census workers from midday who had given him a ride—right across the street.
Huh?
Had their tickets finally come up?
Bo Ting was puzzled, wondering if the cinema had notified them that the movie had paused due to a malfunction.
If not, wouldn’t that mean they’d come all this way for nothing?
Xu Qinglai had just finished ordering and followed his gaze. He too saw the Resurgence Management Office personnel stationed outside Tianxin Mall.
Seeing Bo Ting’s curiosity, he explained, “They’re probably here to handle the aftermath.”
Huh?
Federal census workers handling this too?
Bo Ting was surprised; Mengjia City felt a bit different from what he’d imagined.
But just as he thought that, his phone rang.
Bo Ting gave Mr. Xu an apologetic smile before answering. He heard the familiar tired voice on the other end.
“Ahem.”
“Mr. Bo, your Federal ID has been processed.”
“We’ve already mailed it to Yunhe Convenience Store for you. Remember to pick it up.”
The voice of the weathered middle-aged staffer from the window echoed in his ear.
A smile spread across Bo Ting’s face.
“Really?”
“That’s great.”
It had really come that fast.
He could swing by to pick it up on his way back after the date today.
As Bo Ting pondered this, he thought of the cinema malfunction.
Hmm. Even though Mr. Xu said they were handling things, what if they weren’t?
He didn’t have those staffers’ numbers across the street. Telling his colleague would be the same, right?
“Oh, right—one more thing.”
Just as the other side was about to hang up, Bo Ting suddenly said,
“The movie at Tianxin Cinema paused.”
“You guys don’t need to go watch it anymore.”
Bo Ting dutifully relayed the situation on-site.
On the other end, Zheng Shangyun’s heart skipped a beat as everything fell into place.
Sure enough, it had admitted it outright.
—The revival of the Tree of Defiled Soil at Tianxin Cinema had failed because It made a move!
