Chapter Forty-One: Night Journey

Late at night.
In the darkness of the underground sewer.
A furtive sound echoed, and a pair of crimson eyes appeared within the gloom of the pipes.
It was a ghoul.
Its body was charred and covered with scattered bullet wounds, limping as it wandered through the sewer.
At that moment, a sudden flash of silver pierced the darkness behind it.
A figure holding a steel blade materialized abruptly.
With a sharp slash, the ghoul’s head was separated from its body.
Lin Lei, wearing a black hooded cloak, sheathed his blade.
Under the enhancement of the Night Walker ability, his strength had increased by at least thirty percent, rendering his already terrifying power even more formidable.
He pulled out his PDA, switched on the flashlight, and took several photos of the ghoul’s corpse. Then, activating the Mouth of the Invisible, the body vanished instantly.
From his pocket, he produced the Source Energy Radar and shook his head:
“There’s nothing unusual in the surrounding area anymore…”
With the radar’s support and the Night Walker’s ability, his speed in searching for and killing ghouls had greatly improved.
He roamed the underground tunnels near his home, eliminating the remaining ghouls one by one.
Yet there were not many left nearby, and those that remained were scattered.
Even with the Source Energy Radar, after several hours, he had not managed to kill more than twenty ghouls.
Finding them was becoming increasingly difficult.
There was little he could do; their nest had been destroyed, and few had escaped.
“I’ve almost cleared the area of ghouls. If I continue, I doubt I’ll find many more. It’s time to move on…”
He licked his lips and exited through the nearest sewer outlet.
He took out his phone and opened the map app.
He had already marked the locations and planned his route, confirming his next target nearby.
“Two days will be enough to cover these places.”
The Source Energy Radar could detect the energy fluctuations of ordinary second-tier anomalies, but if the fluctuation was too strong, it would become chaotic.
Unless the anomaly had a special method to conceal its presence, as one Lin Lei had encountered before,
Lin Lei wasn’t worried about encountering anything truly dangerous.
It was nearly midnight. Rather than requesting a vehicle from the Bureau of Investigation, he chose to hail a taxi.
After some effort, he flagged down a night cab.
The driver was a middle-aged man, clearly the talkative type.

“Hey, kid, where are you headed this late at night?”
Lin Lei, dressed in a black trench coat and hood, with a knife bag slung over his shoulder, forced a shy smile onto his pale face:
“Jinshui Cemetery.”
Hearing this, the driver shuddered and his mouth twitched:
“Hey, kid, don’t joke with me at this hour…”
Lin Lei’s attire, combined with his late-night destination, unsettled the driver deeply.
Lin Lei let out a fake laugh and glanced at his map app:
“The Ziyuan Grand Hotel, next to Jinshui Cemetery!”
The driver breathed a sigh of relief and clicked his tongue:
“Young man, you’re brave—staying at a hotel right next to the cemetery…”
Though the hotel and cemetery were close in reality, the psychological gap was vast.
Moreover, Jinshui Cemetery was in the neighboring district—a costly ride.
“Heh.”
Lin Lei got in, refusing the driver’s attempt at conversation, and closed his eyes:
“Sir, I’m exhausted. I’ll sleep for a bit… Please wake me when we arrive.”
The driver, hoping for a chat, frowned and fell silent, finding the situation dull.
In truth, Lin Lei did not sleep.
He was full of energy, but didn’t want to waste time talking.
His gaze was fixed intently on the radar in his hand.
He monitored its readings.
Unfortunately, along the way, he encountered few abnormal fluctuations.
Anomalies were rare, and unless a source energy user activated their ability, their energy wouldn’t show.
If he saw a deep color—anything above a red dot—Lin Lei might stop to investigate.
Yellow dots weren’t worth his time; there were far too many to check.
After about half an hour,
the driver spoke, “Kid, we’re almost at the Ziyuan Hotel.”
Lin Lei raised his brows, checked his phone’s GPS, and said, “Don’t go to the hotel just yet. Turn left at the intersection ahead.”
The driver was confused but followed Lin Lei’s instructions, taking a detour.
Soon, Lin Lei began issuing new directions.
As the driver circled, cold sweat started to bead on his brow.
He realized Lin Lei was having him drive circles around the cemetery…
After a while, Lin Lei shook his head in disappointment and put away the radar, “Sir, I got the location wrong. My hotel isn’t here…”

He’d spent so long circling the cemetery, and not a single red dot had appeared. Clearly, this wasn’t a ghoul nest.
He then gave another location, this time near the funeral home…
Ghouls favored corpses, so anywhere close to them was a likely spot.
The driver’s expression grew more complicated, as if he’d guessed something from Lin Lei’s choices, his mouth twitching again:
“Kid, I suddenly remembered something urgent at home. I need to head back. Maybe… you should get another cab?”
Lin Lei’s behavior was too strange, unnerving in the dead of night.
Though the driver tried to sound calm, Lin Lei could hear the tremor in his voice.
Lin Lei sighed, got out, and hailed another taxi at the roadside.
“I really need to get my own car…”
Although he could have called Chen Ning,
at times like this, Lin Lei preferred to act alone.
He switched cars and continued to his next target, but still found nothing.
That night, he visited seven or eight marked locations, changed drivers several times, and with dawn approaching, had found nothing.
He felt a deep sense of disappointment.
Even though ghouls were the most common anomaly, they were still rare and not found everywhere.
Biyang City was vast—even with the Source Energy Radar, finding a second ghoul nest was no easy task.
“Jia Gaoyue, as a third-tier member of the Free Alliance, is ambitious. She wouldn’t raise ghouls only in the Upper District…” Lin Lei did not lose patience, and set off for his next destination.
This was another cemetery, located in the outskirts of Biyang City.
The cemetery was in the mountains, with rough roads—the most likely place for ghouls to appear.
He followed the mountain path, nearly reaching his destination, when he encountered a landslide blocking the road.
“Kid, should we head back?” The driver looked at Lin Lei in the back seat.
Lin Lei frowned, got out, and stared at the pile of rocks and soil blocking the road, feeling frustrated.
Biyang City hadn’t seen any rain or bad weather recently, and yet such an obstacle appeared…
He checked his map and saw the cemetery was only a few kilometers away.
He paid the driver and asked him to wait, then, with his knife bag on his back, crossed the landslide alone.
It was around four in the morning, the sky still pitch black. Using Night Walker, Lin Lei quickly vanished into the darkness.
Five minutes later,
Lin Lei had crossed several kilometers and arrived at the cemetery.
His eyes shone as he looked at the Source Energy Radar in his hand.
Even before entering the cemetery, the radar was already showing red dot activity!