Mandala

Chapter 64 Mandala

When the Ash Gang's floor exploded, Sick Tiger went into the dark room.

Just as he was about to go downstairs, the first loud bang came from beneath his feet. The entire building seemed to have been kicked from below, and it suddenly jumped up. Before he could react, he was thrown into the air by the blast wave, crashing through the glass and falling straight down from the third floor.

The moment he landed, he heard that two of his ribs had broken. It hurt a lot, but thankfully he didn't die.

He lay on the ground and glanced back.

He watched as the five-story building collapsed layer by layer before his eyes, concrete debris raining down like rain, and thick smoke mixed with flames shooting out of every window, tearing the night sky to shreds.

He got up and ran into the alley next to him without looking back. He ran for three whole blocks before he stopped and leaned against the wall, looking down at himself.

My right hand was slashed open by glass, and blood was flowing down my arm.

I broke two ribs, and it hurts to even breathe.

My pockets were empty, my phone was gone, my wallet was gone, I had nothing left, except for the gold watch on my wrist. After more than ten years of hard work, it was all for nothing.

He leaned against the wall, and after catching his breath, his stomach started growling.

hungry.

I was starving.

He touched the watch, thinking he'd find a place to pawn it later and get some money to buy something to eat.

Just as I turned the corner of the alley, a few people walked towards me.

The sick tiger paused, those faces were all too familiar to him.

The Wild Dog Gang.

Last time, because of a turf dispute, he had Scarface lead his men to wipe out one of their strongholds, killing two of their underlings. The other side has held a grudge about that.

"Hey, isn't that Lame Tiger?"

The leader grinned, a hint of excitement in his smile. "I vaguely heard an explosion coming from Ash Gang territory just now. I was wondering if some big shot had wiped them out in one fell swoop. I didn't expect my dream to come true."

The tiger didn't speak.

He glanced down at his own body, then at the number of people on the other side.

His face was cold and filled with murderous intent.

"Tsk, that's fierce~"

The leader chuckled contemptuously, but instead of making a move, he ordered his men to surround the other man while glancing behind him. "You're the only one who escaped? Perfect, we'll settle all our scores today."

As soon as he finished speaking, five people surrounded him.

The sick tiger took a step back.

Then he suddenly lunged forward, grabbed the leader by the neck, and slammed him hard against the wall.

boom!

Blood splattered on his face.

The man behind him lunged forward, stabbing him in the side with a knife, causing him to convulse in pain. He didn't dodge; instead, he snatched the knife, plunged it into the man's stomach, and pulled him out horizontally.

In an instant, the man's intestines spilled out, and the remaining three were stunned.

The lame tiger stood there, a hole in his body, blood flowing all over the ground, but his eyes were fixed on them, like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.

"Come."

His voice was hoarse, but unusually fierce: "Who the hell wants to die?"

No one dared to make a move.

The sick tiger stared at them, retreating step by step. Reaching the alley entrance, it turned and ran.

After running two blocks, he couldn't hold on any longer and slid down the wall, blood still oozing from the hole in his waist.

He tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't obey him.

Just then, footsteps came from deep within the alley.

It was very light. Sick Tiger barely managed to lift his head and saw a young man with a schoolbag standing not far away. The beam of a flashlight swept over him, shone on his face, and then moved down to the wounds on his body.

The young man stood there, looking at the sick tiger, and then at the bleeding wounds on his body.

He then turned his gaze to the back of the sick tiger.

From the alleyway entrance, faint sounds of cursing could be heard. Someone was shouting, "You bunch of useless trash! He's just one person; he could bleed to death. What are you afraid of?!"

The young man stared in that direction for a few seconds, then looked down at the lame tiger.

A moment later, the young man took a step back into the alley and waved to the tiger.

"If you can walk, keep up."

The young man's voice was very soft, but Tumor Tiger felt as if he had been injected with adrenaline. He gritted his teeth, got up, and staggered after him. He didn't ask the man why he had saved him.

But he knew that this young man seemed to have a grudge against the Wild Dogs.

That's enough.

Special Service Bureau of Hanjiang District, Director's Office.

Jiang Yu's teacup froze in mid-air. "What did you say?"

"The Ash Gang's stronghold is gone, completely gone."

The team member who reported the news swallowed hard, seemingly shocked by the news.

Several years have passed in Dongqing City, and it's been a long time since anything this big has happened.

Jiang Yu put down her teacup, her brows furrowed. "What happened? We haven't even made a move, and they're already gone?"

"Yes."

A Secret Service agent placed a report on the table: "Last night, the building completely collapsed, suspected to be caused by an explosive device."

Jiang Yu opened the report and glanced at it:

On-site investigation report: Time: Night of March 31st; Location: Ash Gang stronghold, Parrot District; Incident: Building completely collapsed, suspected explosive detonation; Anomaly:

Cutting marks caused by non-explosive materials were found at the epicenter of the explosion.

Multiple corpses were cut in half at the waist, with clean cuts, which could not have been done by ordinary weapons;

High concentrations of residual abyssal miasma were detected at the scene, far exceeding normal levels.

Preliminary conclusion: Suspected involvement of pseudo-humans/abyssal creatures; case has been transferred to the Arbitration Bureau's Sword Orchid Arbitration Team for further investigation.

Jiang Yu slowly raised her head and asked, "Are there any survivors?"

The team member paused, shook his head, and said, "That's it. They're all gone. One hundred and twenty-seven bodies were found at the scene. One matched Scarface's features. Another looked very much like Tumor Tiger, but the former's DNA matched, while the latter—is still being verified."

Jiang Yu tapped her fingers lightly on the table. One hundred and twenty-seven bodies, not a single survivor.

With a creak, Jiang Yu put down the report and leaned back in her chair. "Based on initial observations, it was done by the Abyss Calamity Beast."

The subordinate nodded: "Then I'll arrange for people to track down the Abyssal Beasts."

"No rush."

The subordinate was taken aback for a moment.

Jiang Yu tapped her fingers lightly on the table. "First, check who the Ash Gang has offended recently."

7

The subordinate was even more stunned.

"Chief, if it was done by the Abyssal Beast, then what's the point of investigating this?"

Jiang Yu raised her eyes and looked at him.

That look made his subordinate's back tense slightly.

Jiang Yu said calmly, "Although the Ash Gang may have been killed by the Abyss Beast, it cannot be ruled out that someone deliberately lured the Abyss Beast to their territory."

The subordinate's eyes were filled with disbelief.

Jiang Yu withdrew her gaze and slowly said, "This kind of thing has happened before. Abyssal monsters have no intelligence, but humans do."

To use someone else to do one's dirty work.

These four words swirled in the subordinate's mind, and then his eyes slowly widened.

"Understood."

He turned to leave.

"etc."

The subordinate stopped.

Jiang Yu leaned back in her chair, her gaze fixed on the window, as if she were thinking about something else.

After a few seconds, he spoke.

"Find out what Bai Yuzhe was doing that night."

The subordinate was taken aback for a moment.

Bai Yuze?

That student from Holly University?

He wondered why his boss valued this little brat so much, but he had no right to ask.

"clear."

The door closed.

Jiang Yu remained seated, her gaze still fixed on the view outside the window.

To use someone else to do one's dirty work.

If that's the case, then the knife is quite sharp. However, he doesn't think the kid can wield it properly. The main reason is that he doesn't like the kid and just wants to cause him trouble.

When he gets busy, he might just forget about the other person.

After all, the other person is just a student with slightly better grades in school.

Thinking this, he made a phone call, and soon his adjutant came in.

"Hiroshi Takeda, has the Ash Gang sent anyone to clean up?"

The adjutant nodded. "All of our special operations teams have been deployed. Several key locations are under control, and the people from the Adjudication Bureau can't see them."

Jiang Yu nodded slightly. "Don't touch these things yet. Wait for instructions from above."

The adjutant nodded: "Understood."

After a long silence, Jiang Yu continued, "Since it involves the Abyss Miasma, what happens next will mostly be irrelevant to our Special Operations Bureau. Take advantage of this time to go to the Parrot District and see if there's any gang there willing to take things a step further."

"I don't care about their morality, ability, or strength... I only care about whether they obey me."

"clear."

"Go down."

The adjutant nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

Jiang Yu leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the view outside the window; he paid no attention to the Ash Gang.

He wouldn't even glance at those small gangs, no matter how many died.

He's concerned about the people behind the Ashes Gang, those big shots, who are probably reading this report right now.

The ruins of the Ash Gang.

Night had fallen, but the police tape was still in place.

Secret Service agents were cleaning up the scene, and occasionally someone would carry out a stretcher covered with a white sheet.

Several figures slowly descended from mid-air.

Mandala was the first to land. She was not tall, and when she stood at the edge of the ruins, she almost blended into the collapsed concrete blocks.

Her long, silvery-white hair reached her waist, the crimson tips of which stood out starkly in the twilight.

She walked slowly into the ruins, but the corpses in the ruins were reflected in her amber eyes in the blink of an eye.

Corpses were everywhere; some lay in piles of rubble, some were crushed under beams, and some had been cut in two at the waist, the cuts as clean as if made with the sharpest knife.

But there were no knives or weapons around, only rubble and dust.

She stopped next to a corpse.

I crouched down and examined the incision closely.

Neat and smooth.

It doesn't seem like something that could be caused by weapons in the human world.

"A one-sided massacre."

She said softly.

"What?"

Another voice rang out.

Jiang Hua walked over from the side, squatted down next to her, and looked at the corpse.

She is completely different from the mandala.

She wore a magical gown that blended pure white and warm apricot colors. The material was as soft and lustrous as ginger petals, and the skirt was layered, like a flower in bloom.

Her slender figure was enveloped in soft light, and a sachet-shaped magical artifact emitting a fresh fragrance was tied around her waist, swaying gently with her movements.

Her originally quiet demeanor now possessed an added touch of sanctity, like a white-clad angel who could heal hearts.

But her brows were slightly furrowed at that moment.

"This wound—it's somewhat similar to how those traitors in Hanjiang District died."

The mandala raised its head.

"Hanjiang District?"

"Um.

"Her hair was styled in a ginger orchid pattern, and the warm apricot-colored skirt gently brushed against the ruins. "This afternoon, there was a fake human in the Hanjiang District who died just like this. The cut was clean, and he was completely powerless to fight back."

Mandala stood up and glanced at the ruins.

These wounds are everywhere.

Cut in two with one stroke.

Cut it in half cleanly and efficiently.

There were no signs of struggle, no signs of fighting, not even signs of escape. These people seemed to be standing still, waiting to be harvested.

She took a step deeper into the ruins.

A faint, lingering scent filled the air—not the smell of gunpowder from an explosion, nor the stench of blood from corpses, but a nauseating miasma from the abyss.

The concentration is very high; this is no longer an ordinary abyssal monster.

Just then, a slender figure walked over from the other side of the ruins.

"Sister Mandala, this miasma looks somewhat familiar—"

Mandala turned her head and saw the magical girl Hydrangea. She held a long spear that exuded a chill in her hand and stood not far away with her brows slightly furrowed.

Have you encountered this before?

The hydrangea swayed her head and slowly said, "I encountered it in the wild when I went to the dark alley area before."

Dark alleyway area.

Mandala's eyes narrowed slightly. She had gone to the dark alleyway with Hydrangea that time.

"The Ghost Scythe?"

The hydrangeas bloomed, the datura stood still, the sunlight swept across the neat cuts, the helpless corpses, and the high concentration of miasma.

Then she chuckled softly.

"Interesting. It seems a remarkable shoemaker has arrived in our Holly City."

She turned and walked out of the ruins.

Her long, silvery-white hair swayed gently in the wind, the crimson tips like burning flames.

After a while, her voice came from ahead, languidly, "Ziwan, record the situation here in detail, and bring all the data back."

Not far away, a pale purple figure leaned against the edge of the ruins, idly fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"We cannot fight the Abyss Beasts," said Chikuichiran.

But when she heard that she had been assigned a task, she suddenly looked up.

"Huh? Why is it me again?!"

The aster flower let out a mournful wail, purple dust swirling around her. "I'm going to tell Sister Sword Orchid that you bullied me!"

"Because your theoretical knowledge is the worst."

Mandala glanced at her indifferently, her tone tinged with Lan's teasing, "As for the captain, she's going to a meeting in the Xia Federation this week, which means I'll be in charge of the Sword Orchid Judgment Team this week."

"what?"

Asters' expression instantly fell.

The ginger flower and the hydrangea exchanged a glance and seemed about to speak.

The aster flower wanted to say something, but the datura had already gone far away.

The silver-white figure disappeared into the night, leaving only a faint miasma lingering in the air.

Asters squatted on the ruins, the tablet in their hands reflecting a cold, white light. As they wrote, they muttered to themselves, "Worst at theoretical knowledge—worst at theoretical knowledge—tch, as long as I'm good at fighting, that's enough—"

Lily walked over, squatted down next to her, and smiled gently, "Sister Mandala is doing this for your own good."

"For my own good?"

The aster flower raised its head, looking aggrieved. "She always makes me do this kind of hard work. Why doesn't she make the hydrangea do it?"

As Baihezhu spoke, she only glanced at the hydrangeas not far away. The slender figure stood alone on the other side of the ruins, head down, lost in thought.

He then lightly swore, "Because the other person is sick."

Asters paused for a moment, "Sick? What kind of sickness?"

Following her gaze, the aster flower saw that the hydrangea remained standing still.

As the night breeze blew by, a few strands of her hair turned into tiny specks of light and dissipated into the air.

It's so faint that you can't see it at all if you're not paying attention.