Chapter 00004: Blood and Dreams (Seeking Follow up Reads!)
# Blood and Dreams (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)
Chapter 4
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 4: Blood and Dreams (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)
In the remote outskirts of Yacheng, North Mountain Region, a solitary house stood behind a police cordon.
Several officers sought respite from the afternoon heat beneath a shady tree, occasionally glancing towards the house, but nothing could be seen from their vantage point.
Sighing, they exchanged whispers of the rumors circulating in the precinct.
An atmosphere of unease hung in the air.
Only one figure leaned against the door, motionless throughout.
A motorcycle jacket draped over her shoulders fluttered slightly in the wind, her eyes concealed behind dark sunglasses, preventing anyone from discerning her expression.
Her uniquely striking figure amongst ordinary men commanded attention, yet the sharp aura surrounding her made anyone hesitant to stare.
"My apologies, Sister Wen, I'm late!"
A young girl with a sun hat hopped out of a taxi, clutching two cups of milk tea.
After flashing her badge to the officers, she confidently crossed the police line, striding towards the woman at the door.
"There was a traffic jam on the way, and I heard there was almost an accident. It was so thrilling! I caught a glimpse of the scene—a massive truck nearly crashed into us..."
Tonghua animatedly described the event to her superior: "I saw it! The driver was nearly pinned down by an old lady. If the patrol officers hadn't arrived so swiftly, he would have been in deep trouble. Just like that idiot from the last case you had to restrain..."
Unfortunately, the woman at the door didn't seem interested in her enthusiasm.
With a glance at Tonghua, she tilted her chin towards the interior of the house.
"Have you finished? Let's take a look inside."
"Hey, Sister Wen, you're so serious! I just got here from the last scene, haven't rested in over ten hours, and I even brought you milk tea."
Tonghua feigned a pout but quickly perked up again.
"But I've learned about gait analysis lately. Let me check it out..."
Donning gloves, she stepped inside, lowered her gaze to the entrance of the living room, her expression suddenly grave.
"Someone's been here."
"Hmm?"
Wenwen's expression tightened.
"It looks like it was a woman," Tonghua crouched down, squinting at the dusty footprints.
She inhaled deeply.
"A rare find—a height of about one nine, likely around twenty-five. Ha! Caught her! She even smoked here..."
"Were they smoking White Star?" Wenwen's lips curled into a faint smile.
Tonghua turned back in shock.
"How can you tell the brand?"
The answer came as a slap to the back of her head, nearly knocking her off balance.
"That damn well is me!"
Wenwen was furious, pointing towards the living room.
"Forget gait analysis; you might as well report my driver’s license number. Just focus on the scene."
Tonghua felt as if her head might fly off and wisely refrained from boasting about her newfound skills during Wenwen's fiery mood.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for her leader—being this fierce must make it hard to find a boyfriend...
Murmuring to herself, she looked up at the crime scene, inevitably letting out a sigh.
"I really don’t want to see this.”
Couldn’t it be someone else?
A damp breeze blew in from outside, dust had settled thickly on the table, where a sumptuous dinner lay untouched, already attracting flies.
And beside the dining table, an absolute mess—five mangled corpses lay scattered all around, limbs in disarray, blood splattered everywhere, as if a wild beast had torn through in a frenzy.
An old man, a child, a man, a woman...
All dead in under a minute.
Tonghua reached out and placed her hand on one of the remaining heads on the table, closing her eyes.
Waves of unbearable pain surged through her mind, instantaneously piercing deep into her soul, causing her to spasm.
In the resulting phantom, a bloodstained figure burst in through the window, lunging at the dining table.
Feasting.
A male, in his forties, with a left-hand disability and a face covered in dark tattoos.
His eyes burned bright red.
Then, the feeling of being torn apart, the terror of having one’s insides devoured, and the despair of losing everything flooded in.
"Fourth one."
Tonghua opened her eyes, suppressing the urge to vomit.
"It’s not the same as before..."
This week in Yacheng, the fourth murder committed by a victim of Blood Thirst disease.
Blood Thirst, a strange plague originating from the Middle Land.
It’s said that a ritualist, the White King, was cursed for betraying the path of the chosen, leading to this calamity.
The mode of transmission is bodily fluids, with the symptoms being, quite literally… a thirst for blood.
In the early stages of infection, victims gradually experience an uncontrollable hunger and an intense craving for blood products.
Once the disease reaches the second stage, they’ll begin to lose their sanity, their appetites shifting to living beings, while their physical attributes become enhanced, with canine teeth gradually protruding.
When they lose interest in poultry and livestock, turning their gaze towards their kind, that marks the official onset of the third stage...
"That makes at least four," Wenwen muttered softly.
But there’s an old saying—when you find a cockroach at home, there are, at the very least, a nest nearby that you can’t see.
"We need to speed things up."
Tonghua continued, "At this rate, we could have a patient reaching the fifth stage next week."
The symptoms of the fourth stage lead to organ devolution, changing the host into something inhuman.
By the fifth stage, the rapidly developed host gains infectious capability, becoming able to spread Blood Thirst to new victims.
"The backyard will catch fire," Tonghua scratched her head.
"Where’s the director? Isn't he back yet?"
"The turmoil in the Spring City caves is growing more severe. There might be disasters spilling out. All the higher-ups in Haizhou are focused on that, so they can’t spare any attention here for the time being."
To say something ungrateful—compared to the potential disaster of the cave spilling over, which could drown a third of Haizhou, a few mad dogs bred from Blood Thirst don’t even compare, just a side concern.
"That first team is so full of themselves, acting tough all the time, but when it actually counts, they're utterly useless," Tonghua sighed.
"Is there any support from the other teams?"
"From the second team's seven groups, five are just waiting for me, this clueless rookie, to mess everything up so they can divide our North Mountain group’s spoils... At this point, I'm just hoping they won’t make things worse."
Wenwen lowered her head to light a White Star cigarette, suddenly asking, "Should I go find Lu Shenzhou to get you reassigned? Better than sinking with me on this leaky boat."
"Shut up! Selling out big sister? You’d have to pay dearly for that!"
Tonghua jumped in agitation, gesturing dramatically.
"I’m sticking with you—trust me!"
Yet the only reply was another slap to the back of her head.
"You’re an officer with the safety bureau, not some petty gang girl. What do you mean by ‘sticking together’?"
Even so, the harshness on Wenwen's beautiful, stern face softened slightly as she muttered through the curling smoke, "Have you found any leads?"
Tonghua smiled.
"It's a rookie; they didn’t even bother to hide it—easy to spot, like running through the day without pants on."
"Good. Call in Old Zhang and Xiao An," Wenwen dismissed further delay with a wave.
"You two pursue this lead first; if anything goes wrong, listen to Old Zhang."
"And you?" Tonghua asked, momentarily puzzled.
"I’ll go meet some 'old acquaintances' for a chat."
Wenwen finally revealed a smile, bright and honest, an undeniable fierceness creeping back into her eyes.
"There might be new findings to uncover."
In the Northern Federation, in one of the seven states, Yacheng was among the nineteen significant cities.
The North Mountain Region within was the most chaotic and disordered, with a resident population of four million and over one million undocumented immigrants.
In the gray industry, mixed with unsavory gangs frantically vying for power, it was filled with all sorts of vermin.
From west to east: the Victory Alliance, the Eastern Soil Society, the White Stripe Gang, and the Brotherhood...
Among this refuse, there must be a few ready to give an account for this situation, right?
The motorcycle's throttle twisted.
The engine roared, exhaling thick smoke as it tore through the sea breeze.
To hell with being bound by rules or obligations—
One by one, eliminate them, family by family, end them all!
Ji Jue felt an unearthly calm wash over him.
For a fleeting moment, he genuinely believed he had died, only to realize the afterlife seemed no different from life—only colder, so light.
In a haze of confusion and drowsiness, he lost track of his whereabouts.
His spirit seemed to rise.
Detached from the mundane, the noise faded away, ascending towards the sky, all traces of dust vanished.
It felt similar to soaring.
Gazing down at the earth, looking towards the heavens.
Yet once freed from his physical shell, what lay ahead wasn’t a paradise; rather, it was undeniably... hell!
The ground heaved chaotically, raging flames and fog swirled together, gaping fissures cracked open.
The canopy above shattered, collapsing and falling.
Like rain and meteorites.
Scattered stars burned bright in the dark, erupting in fierce light.
Thus, the heavens ignited, darkness scattering in all directions as the clouds swept away, leaving behind nothing but infinite brightness.
Amidst that light, something began to emerge gradually.
Vague outlines overlapped yet remained distinct—like pillars, they supported the world between earth and sky while appearing omnipresent, enveloping all within.
One like a blood-soaked sun; one vast as mountains and seas; one of bones entwined with blood forming a throne; one ever-changing like fire and lightning; one soaring high above what mortals could touch; one square-shaped, imposing like a city fortress; one radiating freedom from its center...
Ji Jue gasped for breath while looking up in awe.
They, he, no, they—
—were all watching him!
At that instant, Ji Jue felt a splitting headache, as if his soul and consciousness were on the verge of burning away from that exalted perspective, heaving to last moments, finally staring into the blinding white light.
It engulfed everything.
"Damn it, I'm...!"
Ji Jue startled awake, sitting up in shock.
From his bedroom, he struggled for breath.
In the stillness, the morning rain pattered against the window, only the faint ticking of ancient clocks echoed through the room.
A slight chill spread through the air, mingled with a persistent musty smell.
After quenching his thirst with the cold water from two days prior, Ji Jue finally awoke from that inexplicable long dream, remembering where he was.
This was his home.
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There will be another chapter at five o'clock.
(End of Chapter)