Chapter 8

A quarter past ten

The objective is to jump out of the window

Bring it to me to take a look

Xuanji remained silent; at this moment, maintaining those few chains required all of his strength

The Archives Department! Xiao Zheng shouted, "Focus on the cases related to 'parasitism'!"

In the next moment, a whirlwind suddenly appeared out of nowhere, enveloping the large "butterfly". Immediately after, three operatives hidden on the rooftop leaped down, deploying a large net from the air, tightly ensnaring it in the middle

Leader! Director Xiao contacted and asked if you know the solution to the "Mirror Flower, Water Moon, Butterfly" riddle

Xiao Zheng: "What did he say?"

Assuming that "one thousand" live sacrifices is not an approximate number, if we simply calculate based on "one thousand people," it would require sacrificing these individuals within a lunar cycle, averaging more than thirty people to be killed each day, which even a slaughterhouse may not be able to achieve with such efficiency

Please check your water meter, as the property management notified us yesterday

The words of the "ritual text" burst forth one by one from Xuanji, never having spoken so much in such a short time in his life, "It is the 'offering'."

The headquarters immediately notified the local branch, and the field personnel mobilized en masse

"Stop your nonsense!" Xiao Zheng said in a deep voice, "The low-temperature surgery must first render the butterfly inactive; otherwise, once this cursed thing senses an external force intruding, it will perish along with its host. This process takes at least twenty-four hours. Where am I supposed to steal twenty-four hours for you?"

The process of sacrificing "living beings" is certainly not as simple as wielding a kitchen knife and indiscriminately attacking people. In daily life, "dying an unnatural death" is certainly not a high-probability event, but when expanded to a national scale, the number of "unnatural deaths" remains a significantly considerable figure

As "living beings," it is impossible for them to be so "ordinary"; their manner of death must be more complex and more brutal, which increases the difficulty of the operation

Director Xiao, we have found the records in the archives of the General Administration. It seems that we once lost a canister of Mirror Flower Water Moon Butterfly Eggs in our storage, and it has not been located since.

Xuanji felt a shiver run through her

Report, we have contained the target! Upon inspection, it has been confirmed to be an infected individual of the Mirage Butterfly. Please advise on the next course of action from the headquarters

But she possesses that indescribable feeling

So how is this achieved

Among a thousand living sacrifices, only one mother sensed something amiss—yet she was a perverse individual filled with a controlling desire for her son

Then she said: "Later, the original poster replied once, but it was deleted as soon as it was posted. The content was probably about how she considered herself a failed mother, who would sneakily go through her child's things while he was at school. During this time, there had been several strange symbols in her son's diary. At first, they were just doodles made with a ballpoint pen, and she didn't think much of it when she saw them. However, recently, those symbols became increasingly dense, and yesterday, they were even drawn with blood, filling the entire notebook, which was alarming to anyone who saw it. The child's behavior has also become increasingly strange, and she even took photos of those images... The child's behavior has also become increasingly strange, and she even took photos of those images... ... Me. ... ... Hiss ... ... ."

"However, it is not without a solution," at this moment, Sheng Lingyuan spoke, as if the impending ritual had stirred something within him, a faint trace of blood color appearing at the corners of his eyes and lips. "The last sacrifice must die at the stroke of midnight; if the timing is wrong, the spellcaster will be in trouble. Since the sacrifice is already in your hands, it would be best to resolve it in advance. You cannot save the person, but surely you can kill them?"

It turns out that a person can disappear so painlessly and without a trace, then the so-called "soul" of a person is nothing but a great joke

Wait a moment, the concept of midnight refers to twelve o'clock at night, which is influenced by modern Western calendars. In ancient times, the period of Zi (子) started at eleven o'clock!

Moreover, one must also innovate and stand out.

They are parasitized by butterflies, and their consciousness is painfully forced to observe, while what is even more despairing than this helpless chronic death is that no one around even notices it

At this moment, if an fMRI scan is conducted on the brain of the infected individual, it will reveal a significant increase in the activity of the amygdala. Other evidence also indicates that the brain of the infected individual still possesses its own consciousness, but the generated neural impulses can no longer be transmitted to the relevant effectors. The butterfly, which is a mere illusion, does not possess its own intelligence, yet it exhibits a high capacity for imitation, adeptly using the other individuals surrounding the infected person as templates. After the brain of the infected individual has ceased to function, the butterfly completely replaces the brain of the infected individual and can survive and reproduce in this capacity for an extended period, even for decades, without being noticed by those around. Isn't this essentially akin to watching one's own body being controlled by something else?

Either ... the so-called sacrificial "living victims" do not appear to be dead, nor have they gone missing, but continue to live among the crowd without any abnormalities

Director Xiao! The boy who was parasitized by the butterfly began drawing the ritual text sixteen days ago. If we count back one day, that should be the time of infection. On that day, he spent the entire day in the internet café in a state of confusion. We have obtained the surveillance footage from the internet café and identified this person

What? Ping Qianru did not understand what he was saying, but as soon as her ears caught that sound, she instinctively trembled like a small animal encountering a natural enemy. "Did he, did he speak? Is he chatting or cursing me?"

He softly "recited" the eulogy with a sigh, and then exclaimed, "Ah, this is quite interesting"

Only a blurry screenshot from the video shows a small mustached man holding a cigarette

10 o'clock

Tell Lao Xiao, "Xuan Ji forcefully pried open her jaw, saying, 'The demon said it says 'Help' on it.'"

In the blink of an eye, the "boy" has already leaped down from the window, and something flashes behind him—seemingly a pair of enormous butterfly wings, soaring into the night sky

People engage in the same activities every day, repeating the words spoken yesterday, melting into the school, company, and society. Those friends who share the same space day and night casually exchange a few trivial words with a butterfly harboring ulterior motives, coming and going without any genuine connection

At that moment, the doorbell rang, and her hand trembled as she came to her senses: "Who is it?"

After Xuanji finished listening, he felt it was somewhat familiar, and then he realized that he had come across this post while on the plane. He had only glanced at it briefly and had received a barrage of insults such as "crazy" and "internet troll" directed at the original poster. Before he could scroll down for further updates, he lost track of it.

Isolate all personnel related to the archives; after this matter is resolved, each one will be reviewed! Why was the loss of such dangerous items not reported!" Xiao Zheng coldly squeezed out a sentence between his teeth, barely suppressing his anger, "Contact the on-site aftermath department.

If this boy is not some ancient ghost capable of reciting ancient evil incantations by heart, then why is he able to draw such symbols

Moreover, the mastermind behind the scenes cannot possibly commit crimes in a single location, as this is not a trivial number. In a short period, a sudden surge in the number of unexpected disappearances and deaths in the same area would undoubtedly attract the attention of various local security departments

Ping Qianru tasted the metallic tang of blood, and at the same time, felt an itch under her nose. When she reached up to touch it, she discovered that at some point, two streams of nasal blood had flowed down. The cold, damp air had torn through the mucous membranes of her mouth and nose. She could no longer move, and with a forceful push, her laptop slid across the smooth floor to the doorway, coming to a stop there, with the screen facing into the room

Xiao Zheng listened to this account, first stunned for a few seconds, and then suddenly realized what Xuan Ji meant, his hair standing on end: "Find this boy, and have the local branch immediately bring him back, by any means necessary! Hurry!"

Outside the family lounge of the hospital, Ping Qianru, while wiping her nosebleed, asked in a muffled voice: "Director Xuan, what does 'help' really mean? What did Director Xiao understand?"

A dozen or so inconspicuous black SUVs silently surrounded an ordinary residential building, and the well-trained operatives filed out in succession, splitting into several groups to ascend the building

Ping Qianru, possessing a naturally delicate and soft voice, was afraid that he could not hear her. While she struggled to push forward against the unbearable chill, she roughly read through the post.

Note: fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging, the amygdala is considered to be related to negative emotions and fear

I found it! Ping Qianru, trembling, pulled out a tablet from somewhere and demonstrated her impressive search capabilities. She quickly turned the archives of the headquarters upside down. It is a type of butterfly, scientifically named 'Mirage Butterfly.' It states that its larvae are only the size of sesame seeds, and if ingested by a person, they will develop into maturity within twenty-four hours and then control the human nervous system through a special secretion.

The woman opened her mouth wide, letting out a silent scream—this is the eighth floor

Only he has become the "sacrifice"

Sheng Lingyuan glanced at the thick fog outside the window and suddenly said, "There is still a moment."

"Mirror flowers and water moons, are you referring to the 'human-faced butterfly'?" Sheng Lingyuan imitated Ping Qianru's tone and repeated the term in Mandarin, then seemed to smile with a hint of schadenfreude, "This is not good; the human-faced butterfly is quite troublesome."

Oh... they have arrived, I didn't see the notification, it must have been torn by some mischievous child. The woman muttered to herself, got up to open the door, and was startled by an external officer in a black uniform standing at the door. She instinctively tried to slam the door shut, but one of the officers was quick to block the door frame, making a "shh" gesture at her. The woman, terrified, covered her throat and realized she could not make a sound.

At 9:35, the Bureau of Abnormal Control finally identified the identity and location of the poster. It was a boy in the second year of junior high school, living with his controlling single mother, and he should be at home at this time

The ritual text is nearly complete, with just one more participant needed. The spellcaster only needs to randomly scatter the processed butterfly larvae among the crowd—what is most chilling about this matter is the nine hundred and ninety-nine individuals who have already been sacrificed

Cryosurgery

Director Xiao, we have retrieved all the files related to 'parasitism' from the archives. There are a total of thirteen dangerous species with parasitic capabilities, most of which are mutated plants. However, these plants typically do not possess cognitive abilities; they quickly drain their hosts, leading to the host's death before seeking the next target. The only parasitic organism that matches your description is a type of butterfly

He knows his situation, but strangely, while he draws alarming distress signals in his notebook, he continues to live a routine life every day, even "turning over a new leaf," transforming from a troubled youth into a good child

So the question arises, who is this "good child" ...? ... Or rather, what is it?

Ping Qianru covered her mouth and said: "Sister Bi! Sister Bi is with them!"

Either the mastermind behind the scenes is a large organization with ample financial resources and manpower—this possibility is quite small. As Xuanji said, those who are wealthy, capable, and hold social status have many ways to solve problems. Who would be foolish enough to engage in such trivial matters?

Director Xiao, this is the 'hiker' who was just rescued from the Chiyuan Grand Canyon, the one who was the team leader

The anxious mother, in a state of desperation, is frantically searching online for the contact information of so-called "masters," her shopping cart filled with items labeled "blessed" and "evil-repelling." Her son, who sends chills down her spine, is in his bedroom, the door not fully closed, and from the living room, his silhouette can be seen—he is wearing headphones, playing on his phone while doing his homework, appearing no different from a "normal" teenager.

Before Xuanji could turn around to see clearly, Sheng Lingyuan had already spoken first

The field workers stealthily slipped into the room like cats, their footsteps silent. However, the "boy" inside the room, wearing headphones, seemed to have ears growing on his back; without turning his head, he jumped up and ran away

"There are also forty-eight hours," Xuanji lifted her eyelids, her beautiful phoenix eyes hazy with moisture, yet it seemed that there was still a spark of fire in her pupils. "The demon said, as long as you capture the spellcaster before the 'midnight hour.'"