By the ti everyone finished their stroll around Data Square and returned to the bus station, it was already 1:23 AM. Although they had left around 10 PM, the newly renovated Data Square had greatly expanded areas with the use of underground spaces, making it take a considerable amount of ti for visitors to explore it completely.
Combined with the fact that the three people walked and stopped leisurely, they ended up staying for a few hours.
At this hour, the night was deep. Although there were still so custors celebrating the holiday in the underground shopping district, it couldn’t cover up the late-night emptiness.
The bus stop, crowded during the day, was now deserted except for Feng Yuan and his friends.
Even though the additional all-night buses were still running after the normal last bus, the intervals were adjusted to be quite long, with a bus to their area only every half hour.
"Um, Qi Chen, you take her ho. I plan to return to school; it’s too late now."
Scratching his head, Feng Yuan said to Qi Chen, although under normal circumstances during a holiday, they would go ho. But it was too late now, and Feng Yuan didn’t want to disturb Qi Chen’s family.
Qi Chen glanced at Feng Yuan and shook his head, saying,
"We also plan to rest at school tonight; it wouldn’t be convenient otherwise."
He didn’t really care, having always studied in Maomu City and occasionally staying back during holidays didn’t affect him. Besides, both Qi Xiaoshuang and his parents had gone out to play, so he naturally didn’t feel like going ho.
On Dou Yanlan’s side, her relationship with her father was sowhat delicate. Although she had forgiven him, but...
Moreover, her mother said she would accompany him during the next few days, though it was just for a special patrol task over the National Day period. She also didn’t want to disturb them.
Though her mother’s Beast Taming abilities were not strong, possibly even slightly weaker than ordinary people, the man was no ordinary person.
Besides, it was due to his previous missions that Dou Yanlan’s family encountered issues later on. After he ca back, he received a lot of compensation and rewards. Using those resources, he managed to boost Dou Yanlan’s mother’s Beast Taming skills to a level above ordinary people.
He even found a Spirit Beast to protect her, so Dou Yanlan said nothing about her mother going on duty with him.
For Dou Yanlan, her safety was evidently more important. If not for his actions upon his return, she wouldn’t have gradually forgiven him.
Neither Dou Yanlan nor Qi Chen had an urgent reason to return ho tonight, so upon hearing Feng Yuan’s words, they both decided to stay at the school for the night.
The temporarily added night bus, unsurprisingly, had very few passengers. Besides Feng Yuan and his friends, only a handful of people were on the bus, most of them appearing to be young.
Feng Yuan wasn’t surprised by this; after all, only young people like them were wandering outside at such an hour and taking the bus.
The street was extraordinarily quiet. Besides the noise from the bus, the entire street seed asleep. Feng Yuan sat by the window, looking out, and said,
"It looks a bit eerie. Hey, what if we asked Long Boduo to open a passage to and from the Netherworld at this ti?"
Sitting in the back, checking the health of the Hao Chun Bird, Qi Chen rolled his eyes at Feng Yuan and said,
"Don’t ss around, or you’ll attract the Special Duty Team."
Even though the streets were empty at this hour, it didn’t an no one was patrolling. In fact, because of National Day, patrol density had notably increased, and they were especially strict with anyone causing trouble.
Even Feng Yuan would definitely be in trouble if he dared to ss around at this ti, Qi Chen could imagine.
"Speaking of which, why didn’t Long Boduo co today?"
Rembering sothing, Feng Yuan curiously looked at Veronia. He had agreed with Long Boduo to go out and play on National Day but hadn’t heard from him during this ti. Could Veronia have communicated with it?
Seeing Feng Yuan look at her, Veronia paused and said,
"The Netherworld seems to have a bit of a disturbance. Kui Shan Town over there is indeed not simple."
"Don’t tell the Netherworld disturbance is due to sothing happening at Kui Shan Town."
A bad premonition struck Feng Yuan, and he urgently asked. Maybe because of his anxious tone, the passengers on the bus curiously turned to look at him.
"Sothing happened at Kui Shan Town?"
Qi Chen, surprised, asked Feng Yuan. He hadn’t forgotten Feng Yuan’s interest in the Kui Shan Town ruins. Could sothing have happened because of that?
"No, technically, you rember we talked about Kui Shan Town before? Long Boduo ntioned it to other Netherworld Divine Beasts, and one curious guy went over and brought back an ancient stone statue, and then things went awry."
Seemingly recalling sothing amusing, Veronia said with a quirky smile. To be honest, she had only one comnt on the actions of those Netherworld Divine Beasts: asking for trouble.
Knowing that the ruins in Kui Shan Town had issues but still insisting on bringing sothing from there back to the Netherworld related to death or Netherworld traits was asking for trouble.
"Did the stone statue co to life?"
Feng Yuan asked uncertainly, pondering. He didn’t know what strange effects bringing a statue from Kui Shan Town into the Netherworld would have, as typically, the intersection between the Netherworld and reality was minimal.
"No, it’s just that the statue vanished into a space they couldn’t easily touch and caused an insomnia effect within a certain range of Ghost Series Spirit Beasts."
Agunas flicked its tail and said, puzzled by what to make of those beings. Curiosity was fine, but bringing sothing unknown to a place where Ghost Series Spirit Beasts gathered was truly asking for trouble.
The Netherworld was vast, with most areas being rare for Ghost Series Spirit Beasts or even plants. Creating trouble in such a place would have minimal effects.
Now they had no choice but to contact Gitalien to help resolve it.
There was no other way. The statue had apparently involved a special spatial layer, though it would have been more appropriate for Kong Qing to deal with such spatial matters, but Kong Qing’s strength was just not up to the task.
They feared Kong Qing lacked the strength to handle the statue, so they asked Gitalien for help.
Unfortunately, Gitalien was busy at the ti, so they had to deal with Ghost Series Spirit Beasts unexpectedly affected by the statute’s insomnia state.
No one knew where the statue’s power originated. If Netherworld Divine Beasts hadn’t intervened, the Ghost Series Spirit Beasts afflicted with the insomnia effect would’ve been unable to dispel it themselves.
If it had been another state with less impact on life, it might have been bearable. However, a prolonged insomnia state is a nightmare for nearly all Spirit Beasts.
Even Divine Beasts can’t do without rest, let alone Ordinary Spirit Beasts, yet the insomnia state’s duration was unexpectedly long.
Before the Netherworld Divine Beasts intervened, several of the afflicted Ghost Series Spirit Beasts had already been in insomnia for days.
After listening to Agunas’ explanation, Feng Yuan touched his chin and said,
"A prolonged insomnia effect? Tsk, while it doesn’t directly impact battle, it’s indeed terrifying. Fortunately, it happened in the Netherworld; otherwise, who knows what chaos it might have caused."
In regular battles, such a prolonged insomnia effect has little practical use, potentially serving more as an immunity to moves like hypnosis.
Yet, looking at power struggles or conflicts like those between Great Xia and its neighbors, if one were to inflict this near-perpetual insomnia effect on the opposition, it would be quite the spectacle.
Ordinary people, even strong Beastmasters, experience more than a simple significant drop in combat power from prolonged sleeplessness, with potential other dangers arising.
If such an effect appeared in the real world, many illegal organizations and countries would undoubtedly pursue it.
Still, Feng Yuan felt uneasy, suspecting it wasn’t a good thing since its powers manifested in the Netherworld, yet seed to be a possible human creation. This led him to doubt if the ancient ruins had so Netherworld-related elents.
"Forget it; this issue can wait until after National Day. Is Long Boduo unable to co?"
Sighing, Feng Yuan asked and looked at Veronia, who shook her head and replied,
"Not quite. Today, Gitalien has already gone to the Netherworld to help bring the statue back to the real world. According to it, it intends to let Lorraine Tower handle the matter, so Long Boduo should co over tomorrow."
"Sending it to Lorraine Tower? Well, it’s the one with the most experience handling such things,"
Feng Yuan mumbled quietly in surprise. Due to its authority, Lorraine Tower frequently dealt with bizarre items; hence, it had considerable experience in managing such peculiar objects.
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