Ouroboros

Chapter 5

A drifter suddenly rushing into the forest like a lunatic early in the morning was already unusual.

With the addition that the other party probably suffered from some sort of disease and his appearance was too terrible, everyone present was rendered speechless.

Song Qinglan took the flashlight in Ji Yushi’s hands and turned it off.

Once again falling into darkness, Ji Yushi heard him say, “Alright, I should’ve checked my fortune for today before leaving. To think that we broke the record of being discovered by the original residents of the land the fastest. No one is allowed to report about this when we go back. If we get any more points deducted, those bastards in the ninth squad will surpass us.”

Ji Yushi: “………..”

Song Qinglan’s tone was the same as usual, pulling everyone out of the strange atmosphere.

It was a reminder to them: They are Guardians and are currently in a time and space where they shouldn’t be.

“For now, leave that person nearby. Someone will naturally find him and call the police.” Song Qinglan said, “We can’t see anything in this darkness so we will need to get out of here to find a way to contact the Tianqiong in this time period. When we go out, pay attention to your surroundings. Be very vigilant as you may come across a murder scene.”

Everyone: “Yes sir.”

Before leaving, they distributed the weapons as per usual.

Zhou Mingxuan opened the storage which carried long and short guns, daggers, sabres, everything. Guardians would always have the most advanced weapons, and everyone has their own preferences. It was necessary to be prepared as anything could happen.

It was Ji Yushi’s first time carrying a weapon during a mission. When it was his turn, he chose a pistol he had often used lately in the training rooms.

The body of the gun was silvery white and the gun itself was small and easy to carry and hide.

“Diamond Bird.” Song Qinglan stood beside him and said the guns name, “Designed after the PPK style from the last century, Hitler and Bond have used it. Advisor Ji, you are very retro.”

“What?” Ji Yushi didn’t understand. Just a single gun and he could tell that he’s retro?

Song Qinglan however didn’t explain why he said this. He just said, “If it was me, I would try to choose something that can protect myself better. But it suits you.”

Ji Yushi: “……..” He knows that there are people who call the Diamond Bird a woman’s gun.

Song Qinglan was proficient with close combat and his firm and well-proportioned muscles also proved this point.

He methodically picked up two military knives first , strapping it to his calf, and the picked up a pair of gloves, a pair of fist hooks and a shotgun.

Shen Mian (KKnotes: lit. God Sleep)

—— That was the name of this gun. It wasn’t light in weight and it has great lethality. Just like the feeling Song Qinglan gives people, it was unruly, domineering and hard to ignore.

After selecting their weapons, Song Qinglan asked, “Weapons should be used when they need to be used. It is best that they don’t leave your side, but do you know what you should say if you are discovered by the original residents?”

His dark eyes moved over to Ji Yushi. There seemed to be a hint of teasing in his tone, “Tell them you are the police.”

*

Walking out the forest, everyone saw that the place they had arrived at was a park.

Song Qinglan was right. Just as they reached the main road by the park, they found a corpse under the streetlamp. Although they say that it was a corpse, it actually wasn’t a complete one and only half was left. The wound looked like it had been bitten by some animal, which quickly reminded them of that crazy drifter.

Combining this with those pieces of flesh on the drifter just now, everyone felt a little sick.

Could this person have been eaten?

This was not only the first time they were discovered by the original residents so quickly; it was also the most distasteful encounter.

It was a moderately sized forest park located in the middle of the city and surrounded by tall buildings. It was already five o’clock in the morning. There should normally be morning exercisers and elderly people taking walks, but they didn’t run into anyone the entire time they were there.

Garbage were scattered about everywhere; on the lawn, the benches, everywhere. It was as if it had not been cleaned by the sanitation team in a long time. In the middle of the road, there would also occasionally be dry dark red blood stains. It seems that more than one murder had happened here.

Not only that, the windows of all the tall buildings in the distance were completely dark. They stood lifelessly under the dark grey sky.

Without the hustle and bustle of traffic and the familiar noises one would hear early in the morning, the city was terribly quiet, as if it had fallen into dead silence.

What was even stranger was that the further they were from the forest, the more obvious the rancid smell in the air got. It was as if there were more things waiting for them in places they couldn’t see.

What on earth happened here?

A wisp of paleness appeared in the skyline. The sun was soon about to come out.

The lifeless park was however still shrouded in shadows, appearing extremely gloomy.

Sensing danger, Song Qinglan silently made a gesture.

Everyone was on guard. They stood in line and looked around at their surroundings.

On Song Qinglan’s left was Ji Yushi. His beautiful fingers held the gun and his act of holding it looked very well practiced. With tacit understanding with his teammates, he similarly looked around but, in view of his reaction when they encountered danger in the forest, Song Qinglan tilted his head towards him.

The meaning in Song Qinglan’s dark eyes was obvious: Go to the middle of the team.

Ji Yushi however had no self-consciousness of his flower vase identity. As if he didn’t understand his meaning, he continued moving forward.

A few seconds later, he said quickly in a suppressed voice, “Cap Song, eleven o’clock, park management office.”

Song Qinglan squinted in the direction he had pointed out. It was completely dark there. He couldn’t see anything.

Ji Yushi again spoke, “There seemed to be lights inside.”

The minimum requirement for a scout was to have good eyes and ears. Song Qinglan regarded the previous scout of the team, Old Yu, as their eyes and never doubted the scout’s judgement.

And so, Song Qinglan said solemnly, “Go and see.”

Turned out, Ji Yushi’s eyesight was excellent.

With his notice, everyone walked a certain distance before finally distinguishing a building hidden by the bushes. A sign hung at the entrance of the building: PU-31 Central Park Management Office.

“What’s PU-31?” Someone whispered, “I don’t remember a place called this?”

Everyone was puzzled. The current time coordinate was Star Era 1470. Although they came from more than ten years ago, they shouldn’t be using something like that as a place name in just ten years?

At such a long distance and such small writing, they didn’t know how Ji Yushi managed to see it.

After entering, Song Qinglan realised that the so-called light was just a lamp sitting on the wooden desk in the corner of the room.

Did this person’s eyes have the ability to zoom in?

The park management office was empty and was completely silent like the outside world. Several teammates started to check the rooms while Song Qinglan picked up the communicator on the administrator’s desk which had turned off because it had run out of power. The desk was also a complete mess. Keys, newspapers, registration books, takeaway boxes, everything was there.

Very soon, Tang Le appeared, “Cap Song, a body was found in the bathroom!”

The corpse found in the bathroom wore a uniform and appeared to be one of the staff here.

The corpse was lying down facing the floor and there was a large bloody hole on the back of his neck. Through the rotting flesh, arteries and veins were clearly visible. Song Qinglan casually picked up a towel and turned that person over. As expected, this person was just like the drifter and his face was pale, covered with blue and green blood vessels. The only difference was that this corpse had a stiff face and closed eyes, but he still retained the state of screaming. Through his opened mouth, maggots could be seen squirming around, making the onlookers feel disgusted.

There was no airflow in this small space. The smell was very strong and there was even the sound of someone quietly retching.

Song Qinglan didn’t look back, “Li Chun, I dare you to vomit again.”

The group standing in the bathroom turned their heads back angrily. Li Chun innocently raised his hands, “It’s really not me this time!”

Ji Yushi who was standing by the door covered his mouth and quickly walked away.

Finally couldn’t stand it? Song Qinglan thought this.

But, no matter who it was, he didn’t have the time right now to worry about their mental state.

He examined the corpse in thought for a few seconds. Instead of touching it directly, he used a military knife from his calf to pry open the eyelids of the deceased.

Sure enough, just like the drifter, the eyes were grey and turbid. It was even difficult telling where the pupil was.

Li Chun said, “Fuck, the same as that madman just now. What is this? An infectious disease?”

Li Chun recalled the moment he was almost bitten. It basically meant that he was almost infected just now. Li Chun shuddered.

Song Qinglan said, “It’s possible, but we can’t be sure.”

Adding to that the corpse in the park and those other blood stains……Could a mad drifter cause so many murders? He expressed his doubts.

Ji Yushi didn’t really vomit.

When Song Qinglan returned to the administrator’s office, Ji Yushi was examining a communicator which had no signal. Except for the slightly pale face, he appeared to have mostly recovered.

Seeing them come out, Ji Yushi said, “I found a video.”

“I found the communicator’s charging port in the drawer.” Ji Yushi didn’t seem to be very used to expressing his opinions in front of everyone. He continued to explain without any emotion, “After turning it on, I saw a video that was downloaded a month ago.”

The communicator projected the video.

A man with a pale face and skin covered in blood vessels appeared on the screen. His slightly bulging eyes were grey and at this moment, he was rushing desperately at the camera. The person filming it screamed and the scene shook. The man’s neck had been violently scratched and bloodied but, even so, that man continued to let out growls.

The person filming this scene was female. In the video, you could hear her cries: “Help! Help me……..My husband has mutated! And outside, there are more of them out there! Save me, I don’t want to die! I haven’t been bitten! Someone save me!”

The video ended on the man’s grotesque face.

Everyone shuddered.

“Zombies!!”

“If it’s really a zombie, how many of them are out there?!”

“Fuck, no wonder it’s so weird here!”

“That was a video from a month ago!”

After watching such a realistic horror film, Ji Yushi’s expression was also strange: “The communicator has no internet but I just received a message. It was probably sent to us.”

Zhou Mingxuan was confused, “The message was sent to the deceased’s communicator, but the message is for us?”

He placed emphasis on the word ‘us’.

That was too ridiculous.

Ju Yushi however affirmed it, “I think so.”

Song Qinglan was calm, “Open it.”

The blue light on the screen flashed slightly and a holographic projection gradually lit up.

[Welcome Guardians from Star Era 1456. Welcome to PU-31.]

The familiar welcoming voice from the Tianqiong system should have made them feel relieved but everyone just felt a chill down their back as they wondered what was going on.

Not only was this message really sent to them, several more lines of words appeared one after another.

[The transfer this time has been locked in. Unlocked after mission is successful.]

[Mission mode: Ouroboros.]

[Mission rule: Death elimination]

“Everyone, look!” Tang Le who was standing by the window suddenly pointed outside and shouted.

Everyone quickly walked over.

They were all left dumbfounded.

A large black wall suddenly appeared, connecting the sky with the ground. It spread all the way from the direction they had just come from.

No, it cannot be described as a black wall.

If it had to be described, it was like a black screen one would see when a game loads. It moved very quickly, submerging everything in sight before finally coming to a stop before the park management office.

“Beep——–” The communicator let out a reminder.

The last line of words had appeared in the projection.

[Mission objective: Chaser of darkness.]

KK has something to say:

Apologies to those with a weak stomach…