Sound in the Dark

Ding! "Destination arrived."

The elevator doors slowly opened and closed back up. Shao Zifeng looked at his surroundings and found it incredible. He had taken the same elevator, but the place where he had exited was no longer Happy Sun Neighborhood. What he saw in front of his eyes was an abandoned amusement park. Not a soul was present, and it was covered with overgrowth.

He shoved the Tang saber into his duffel bag, and a sense of drowsiness, as well as hunger, hit him. 

It was well over eight in the morning, but he felt tired after he had stayed up the entire night. He took out his mobile phone to check his position, then he headed to the nearest bus stop. 

...

Ding! "Mr. 9331, your mission details have been sent to your account mailbox. Please complete your mission as soon as possible. Have a nice day."

The sound of a message notification woke Shao Zifeng up. He had been very tense lately as a sense of crisis reminded him from time to time that someone was watching him from the dark.

He got up and put on his shirt. The sun outside the window had set below the horizon, and he glanced at the still-sleeping Ballie. He had a feeling that he could not complete the mission by today. Reality was cruel, but he had to say it: without Ballie, he could not have done anything.

He took some leftover bread from the morning as he checked his mission details.

"There have been frequent occurrences of missing domestic pet beasts in Sucheng City's Guchang Anju Neighborhood. Several owners who have lost their pets have come together and asked for help online. The goal of this mission is to find out the reason for the pet beasts' disappearance. Mission executioners are not allowed to contact the owners in private. After the mission is over, the platform will send someone to collect the deposition and transfer the reward, as well as goods, into the mission executioner's account."

Shao Zifeng had a headache because the supposedly detailed information contained few details. He reached up to rub his forehead.

The so-called domestic pet beasts were mutant creatures that were raised by ordinary families without any contracts. They possessed little combat strength but some magical abilities such as soothing, cleaning, and helping with sleep.

However, that was not absolute since some species that underwent mass evolution were suitable as domestic pet beasts. Cleaning sponges that evolved from dandelions were an example. Due to their soft and adorable appearance, on top of their cleaning talent, they were popular among ordinary families.

Of course, most families still picked their domestic pet beasts based on looks. An adorable and functional domestic pet beast could easily fetch a high price.

Strictly speaking, Shao Zifeng's Ballie could be deemed a domestic pet beast that had no contract, but they depended on each other. In contrast to the past, where pets had been dependent on their masters, domestic pet beasts and their masters had a symbiotic relationship nowadays.

"Eeeek!"

A callow and cute sound snapped Shao Zifeng out of his thoughts.

He looked back and saw the groggy Ballie rubbing its eyes with its claws. Its eyes darted around as if it was looking for something.

Suddenly, its eyes lit up, and it scurried up to Shao Zifeng. Opening its short little claws, Ballie hugged his leg.

Shao Zifeng carried Ballie in his arms and carefully examined it.

Ballie had slept the entire day after it drank the Type I Energy Potion. The scales on its body had grown a little larger and almost covered its body completely. Ballie's reddish-brown scales made it look a little mean although there was no change to its personality.

"Eekkk!"

Ballie raised its claws in protest as if it felt shy about Shao Zifeng's stare.

"All right, I'm not going to stare at you. How about we go out and have some fun tonight, Ballie?" Shao Zifeng broke into an "avuncular" smile like an old father.

"Eeeek!" Poor Ballie hugged Shao Zifeng's arm in excitement and cozied up to him, not realizing that it was going to be a laborer for Shao Zifeng again.

Feeling content, Shao Zifeng extended his grabby hand again and stroked Ballie. "Hmm, it doesn't feel as good as before to the touch," he complained. 

...

It was ten at night when Shao Zifeng went out. Seeing the Tang saber in the duffle bag, he hesitated for a moment but still decided to take it along. He knew nothing about fighting with a saber, but piggybacking on his fist fighting technique should work. 

With the exception of convenient stores and barbeque stalls, most stores were already closed at that hour of the night in a lower-tier city like Sucheng.

The night was still chilly in early spring, and Shao Zifeng was wearing a hoodie while carrying the saber, Hidden Peak in his arms. Poking its head out of Shao Zifeng's collar, Ballie looked at the saber's hilt curiously.

It reached out to touch the hilt carefully. Sensing a pulling force, Ballie shivered involuntarily as it felt surprisingly good. Again, it touched the hilt and shivered, its eyes lighting up. Ballie escaped Shao Zifeng's collar and grabbed on to the saber's hilt.

"Eeeek!"

Shao Zifeng felt an increasing warmth in his arms. It had to be Ballie's talent of attracting the fire element, he guessed. He looked down at Ballie, who relished the opportunity to hug the saber's hilt. He gave Ballie a pet and continued to head toward the eastern side of the city.

Guchang Anju Neighborhood in the Eastern District bordered the old district where Shao Zifeng was. While it was named the Eastern District, it was not in the easternmost part of Sucheng City. The district got its name from its relative position in the old city.

Compared with the declining old city, the Eastern District was akin to the rising sun. Its infrastructure was getting increasingly better, and its real estate prices were soaring. It was not an exaggeration to say that anyone who could afford a house there was well off. 

In front of Guchang Anju Neighborhood's entrance, the security guards threw him an unpleasant stare. After Shao Zifeng had failed to obtain access into the neighborhood because of the strict screening process, he had been pacing back and forth before the entrance with his hoodie on, inadvertently drawing unwanted attention from the security.

Luckily for him, he had left the Tang saber at a corner. Otherwise, a group of police dogs would have been barking at him now.

Walking away from the entrance, Shao Zifeng retrieved his Tang saber as he planned to walk around the neighborhood to see if he could find any other way to enter. Guchang Anju Neighborhood was a large place, and it was protected by high metal fencing. With vines climbing all over the fence and greenery around the neighborhood, the place was unlike other neighborhoods, which had the depressive vibe of a concrete jungle. 

"Eek!"

Just as Shao Zifeng was about to lose his patience and beat a retreat, Ballie suddenly sniffled under his collar, alerting him.

"What have you found, Ballie?" Shao Zifeng looked down.

"Eeeek!" Ballie crawled out of his collar, sniffling as it scurried toward the vine-covered fence.

Shao Zifeng followed Ballie from behind, his eyes darting around cautiously as he held the saber scabbard with one hand and clenched the Tang saber's hilt with the other. They were in a small park outside the neighborhood, where the lower-lying tree branches were blocking the light from the streetlights in the distance. It was pitch-dark around there.

"Awwk!" Ballie stopped under the vine-covered fence and pointed in a certain direction as it looked back at Shao Zifeng.

Shao Zifeng moved next to Ballie, and using the saber scabbard, he reached out to draw away the vines. He discovered that the lower part of the fence was damaged, and the hole that was left behind was big enough for a person to go through.

Shao Zifeng crouched down in front of the opening, turned on the flashlight on his phone, and cupped his hand around it to block the light from shining in any other direction. He carefully examined the ground and saw an entire array of small holes, as though someone had dug them on purpose.

Besides, there was hair strewn all over the surrounding area.

Just then, he heard some rustling, which was unusually clear in the quiet night.

Shao Zifeng's hair stood on end.