Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Paranormal Special Affairs Office's directly-administered hospital admitted a group of unusual patients.

These patients, upon initial inquiry, seemed to have nothing in common. However, every time Zhuang Yufeng purified them, their contamination levels would return to peak values overnight—a phenomenon never before observed.

Zhuang Yufeng had been vexed by this for several nights.

He even held emergency meetings with several healer-type ability users from the Special Affairs Office, but they consistently failed to reach any conclusions.

"New investigation results are in," Director Liu announced as he entered with a file. "After tracking these individuals' movements over the past five years, we discovered a commonality: they all passed through a remote, uninhabited mountain range called Guming Mountain."

"Guming Mountain?" Zhuang Yufeng tried to dredge up any memories of Guming Mountain.

Unfortunately, he found nothing.

After his rebirth, leveraging his past life's experiences, he had swiftly altered the outcomes of several paranormal incidents. Yet, whether due to the butterfly effect or not, many events that had not occurred in his previous life were now emerging.

Zhuang Yufeng wasn't overly surprised. The world was never static; even the slightest flutter of a butterfly's wings could stir a storm, let alone the significant actions he had taken since his rebirth.

"What's on Guming Mountain?" Sheng Tianzong, also present at the meeting, asked curiously.

"We're not sure yet. Our probes become ineffective beyond a certain range. We've sent several drones in, but found no anomalies," Director Liu said, rubbing his temples in frustration. "We'll have to send people to investigate."

An unknown place, potentially harboring formidable anomalies, would require thorough preparation before sending ability users.

Director Liu immediately began making arrangements.

Zhuang Yufeng continued his rounds in the ward. Unsure if the recurring contamination could infect ordinary people, these special patients were isolated in dedicated rooms.

As Zhuang Yufeng approached, he heard a commotion outside and paused, asking, "What's going on?"

His assistant went to investigate and quickly returned. "It's a patient's family member, insisting on seeing the patient."

"Have Xiao Zhao calm them down." Xiao Zhao, a psychic-type ability user with the power of [Dream Calm], was often employed by the Paranormal Special Affairs Office as a pacification specialist.

"Understood."

After addressing the situation outside, Zhuang Yufeng turned and walked into the ward.

He routinely checked the patients' contamination levels.

As expected, even though the levels had dropped to safe values the previous night, they were now rising again in all patients, and the rate of increase was accelerating.

"Dr. Zhuang, when can we be discharged?"

"Yeah, I feel perfectly fine—no cough, no fever, and I'm in great spirits. The only thing is these occasional black lines on my arm, but they don't affect anything. Why do I need to be hospitalized?"

"I have an important exam coming up. Dr. Zhuang, can I go back to school to take it first?"

Amid the chorus of voices, Zhuang Yufeng listened patiently and reassured them, "We are actively investigating the cause of your conditions. We've made progress, so please don't worry."

As he left the ward, his phone rang. Seeing it was Lin Juan, he answered, "Mr. Lin?"

"It's me," came Lin Juan's clear voice over the phone. "Dr. Zhuang, could I ask for your help with something?"

What could possibly prompt Lin Juan to ask for help? Considering his formidable combat prowess, and the fact that even he couldn't resolve the issue—

Zhuang Yufeng's expression turned serious. "What is it? If we can help, we certainly will."

Lin Juan had already provided them with significant assistance twice, so Zhuang Yufeng agreed without needing to consult Director Liu.

Hearing the solemn tone on the other end, Lin Juan quickly explained, "It's nothing too troublesome. I just wanted to ask if you know where any paranormal entities are."

After much thought, Lin Juan concluded that instead of blindly searching the world, the quickest method would be to directly ask the Paranormal Special Affairs Office.

If anyone knew about paranormal activity, it would undoubtedly be them.

"Paranormal entities? Mr. Lin is looking for them?" Zhuang Yufeng was puzzled. "If it's convenient, could you tell me why you're looking for them?"

There was no reason to hide it. Lin Juan said, "I met someone here who has strange black vines growing on her body. These vines are very unusual—they evade detection by the host. I want to find a robust paranormal entity to see if it can lure them out."

Dealing with something hidden inside a person was truly difficult.

"I'll need to ask for her opinion." Lin Juan had always been someone who deeply respected his clients' autonomy.

"Alright. If you're willing to come, I'll send someone to pick you up." Zhuang Yufeng had a strong intuition that the perplexing situation with the several patients would soon be resolved.

Lin Juan didn't hang up but held the phone aside and asked the girl sitting across from him, "I have a doctor friend who says he has several patients with conditions similar to yours. He asked if you'd like to go see them."

"Similar to me…?" Su Min had always believed she was the only one with this strange condition. Hearing that others also suffered from it lessened her fear. "So I'm not an isolated case?" she murmured.

In her moments of despair, she had even wondered if she had committed some wrongdoing, and heaven was punishing her with this strange illness.

She was the only one who could feel the pain. Everyone else couldn't see it, thought she was lying, and believed she had mental issues.

At first, her parents were willing to accompany her to the hospital for check-ups, but after several fruitless attempts, they grew weary from the emotional strain, suggesting she see a psychologist instead.

Had she not gone?

Of course she had.

She saw doctors, took medication, but nothing worked.

This time, seeking out Lin Juan was a desperate, last-ditch effort.

To her surprise, he didn't doubt her or dismiss her as delusional. Instead, he told her that others were experiencing the same strange phenomenon.

"I'll go!" Su Min agreed without hesitation.

Lin Juan relayed Su Min's decision to Zhuang Yufeng, who asked for their address. In less than half an hour, a seemingly ordinary but discreetly modified black car pulled up not far from the café.

Lin Juan stood up. "Lu Mingxuan, are you coming?"

"Yes, I am!" Having experienced several paranormal incidents, Lu Mingxuan's curiosity now outweighed his fear. Besides, with Lin Juan present, he wasn't worried about safety at all.

The three of them got into the car.

On the way, Su Min expected to feel anxious, but strangely, she felt unexpectedly calm.

It was a sense of finality.

Compared to the wild guesses she had made when everything was unknown, now she could at least find out what was happening to her body.

They did not go to the First Hospital.

Zhuang Yufeng was waiting for them downstairs.

Seeing Lin Juan step out of the car, he approached and said, "Mr. Lin."

Su Min got out of the car a step behind Lin Juan. Standing in front of the completely unfamiliar building, she looked anxious and uneasy.

Ever since the car passed through a metal tunnel, Su Min felt as though she had traveled through time. As the car drove further in, the buildings outside appeared highly futuristic, with unknown metals gleaming coldly under the sunlight, giving her the illusion of having stepped into the future.

Lin Juan was also looking around. He asked curiously, "Is this the headquarters of your Special Affairs Office? I thought we were going to the First Hospital."

Their previous meetings had all taken place at the First Hospital.

"Not the headquarters—it's a research institute," Zhuang Yufeng explained. "The First Hospital has been relocated. There's residual anomalous contamination there, making it unsuitable to continue operating as a hospital. The headquarters plans to renovate it for anomaly-related purposes."

Lin Juan remarked, "This place looks very new."

Zhuang Yufeng replied, "It was just completed and is just barely usable. Many areas inside are still under construction. We didn't have enough time this time. Once it's fully built, you're welcome to visit, Mr. Lin."

The ability user escorting them was taken aback by this.

This was the research institute with the highest level of secrecy within the Special Affairs Office for Anomalies—not some casual place that could be visited upon request. What kind of background did this Mr. Lin have to be treated so seriously by Dr. Zhuang?

He had just returned from a mission and was unaware of Lin Juan's recent remarkable achievements. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so puzzled.

Zhuang Yufeng didn't linger and led them to an express elevator.

The few special patients had initially been placed in the new hospital alongside other contaminated individuals. However, due to their unique conditions, they were temporarily moved here.

The ward was spacious and well-lit, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun. If not for the strange equipment in the room, one would hardly have guessed these people were hospitalized.

Zhuang Yufeng first had his assistant test Su Min's contamination levels. As expected, they were at a dangerously critical level.

"It's caused by an anomaly," Zhuang Yufeng concluded. "It's similar to the conditions of the patients here. Miss Su, have you passed by Guming Mountain in the past few years?"

"I drove past it once. During the last holiday, my friends and I went on a road trip, and one of the routes took us near there," Su Min recalled carefully. "Is it related to that? But we never went up the mountain."

Online, there were often videos about how dangerous Guming Mountain was. She and her friends were too scared to get close.

"The only common factor we've identified so far is that all of you passed close to Guming Mountain. We highly suspect that your unknown infection is related to Guming Mountain," Zhuang Yufeng stated.

"My friend passed by there too," Su Min exclaimed, alarmed by his words. "Does that mean my friend could also be…"

"We will arrange for someone to examine your friend," Zhuang Yufeng noted, taking the matter seriously. When it came to anomalies, no detail could be overlooked.

Lin Juan wanted to find an anomaly, but all the anomalies in the research institute had been killed. When Zhuang Yufeng informed him of this, Lin Juan frowned. "A dead one probably won't work."

"Why?" Zhuang Yufeng asked, puzzled.

"Look, this thing parasitizes living people. If you bring a dead anomaly, it definitely won't take the bait," Lin Juan explained his plan. "I want to use a fresh, highly contaminated anomaly to lure it out."

The ability user who had escorted them in became increasingly bewildered. They always avoided anomalies at all costs—how could someone treat anomalies as bait? No, using anomalies as bait?!

This was truly unconventional!

Author's Note: