Chapter 12: Incantation

"You must have already deduced what happened here, right?" Jingyi asked.

Xingyu walked to the desk and wiped the surface with her finger. She stared at her fingertip, which held only a thin layer of dust. "This office was in use until very recently. Yet, in other parts of the factory, the equipment has rusted severely; it is clear that operations ceased a long time ago."

Jingyi did not respond immediately, instead pacing slowly to the other end of the office. He scrutinized the strange symbols and graffiti on the walls, his fingers tracing the uneven markings.

"A group of people were secretly conducting some kind of experiment here." Xingyu recalled the first version of the content she had seen, her brow furrowing. "Judging by the handwriting, there were both professional researchers and ordinary workers among them. This experiment seems to be related to... animals, though the specifics remain unclear."

Jingyi remained silent, continuing to pace back and forth, examining every corner. He opened a filing cabinet and sifted through the documents inside.

"This experiment has been going on for a long time. Someone must have snuck into the factory to dismantle the facilities—perhaps to sell them for profit?"

"The signs of dismantling near the door are very fresh, and the method was barbaric, showing no professional technique at all. There are bloodstains nearby, too. This group had patrolling thugs who killed those who snuck in."

At this point, Xingyu looked up at Jingyi. He was standing in the corner of the office, staring blankly at a symbol on the wall, his expression dark and unreadable. He did not seem to be listening at all.

"However, the people who originally operated here are all dead. Not even complete corpses were left; only many bones remained, all packed together."

"The killer must have been intentional, possessing great combat power and strong execution. After that, a third group must have come here—one with combat capabilities far exceeding the original inhabitants—though I cannot fathom their purpose."

Jingyi turned slowly, his gaze landing on Xingyu. His eyes were deep and inscrutable, as if he were appraising her. After a moment, he spoke: "Your deduction is very sharp, Xingyu. Some unspeakable things did indeed happen here."

He walked to the desk, picked up a scattered document, and leafed through it carelessly. "This was the recent base of operations for a group called the 'Flesh Manufacturer.' They roam from place to place, and the destruction they cause is far greater than we anticipated. The Bureau of Affairs is considering re-evaluating this mission."

Since Jingyi had confessed, Xingyu saw no need to continue hiding her thoughts. She was silent for a moment before hesitantly asking, "...Human experimentation?"

"Indeed," Jingyi replied. "They have caused such a massive number of casualties that even the Council cannot ignore it. This is primarily because they have started targeting Transcendentals. It is said that special Transcendentals possess excellent mutation attributes, making them the best raw materials."

"..." Xingyu took two steps back, her hand brushing against the desk and knocking over a candle used for lighting. The extinguished candle rolled onto the floor, echoing faintly in the darkness. "Targeting Transcendentals? This organization seems truly insane."

"Insane... that is one way to put it." Jingyi held his chin, lost in thought. "But that is the reality. Precisely because Transcendentals are so rare and important, both we and the Bureau of Affairs are trying every possible way to recruit them to our side..."

"You know a lot about this organization?"

"Fairly so." Jingyi seemed to snap back to reality, turning his head to give her a faint smile. "After all, there are always things in organizations like this that we could never imagine. Don't you think this trip has been quite fruitful?"

Jingyi's smile appeared warm, yet it inexplicably gave her a chill. His knowledge of the "Flesh Manufacturer" seemed far beyond the ordinary, and that sense of familiarity made Xingyu suspect that there might be some unknown connection between him and the organization.

Just then, a strange sound caught Xingyu's attention. It was a faint, almost imperceptible humming, as if something were vibrating secretly inside the walls.

"Did you hear that?" Xingyu asked, her brow tightly knitted. "It sounds like there's some kind of noise..."

Jingyi stopped moving and tilted his head to listen. After a moment, he shook his head. "I don't hear anything special. It might just be the creaking of an old building."

Xingyu looked around, her gaze sweeping over the dark corners and eerie symbols as countless terrifying conjectures flashed through her mind. An inexplicable chill crept up her spine, making her shudder involuntarily. The air seemed heavy with an indescribable oppression, as if invisible malice were lurking in the shadows.

"Let's continue searching," Xingyu said, forcing herself to remain calm and suppressing her inner unease. "There must be more clues waiting to be discovered here."

As she spoke, she stepped toward the exit of the small office. However, the moment she took a step, something cold pressed against her lower back.

Xingyu went rigid; her heart stopped for a beat. A familiar voice sounded in her ear, carrying a hint of cruel amusement: "Your 'assessment' is over."

It was Jingyi's voice.

Yet, Xingyu's reaction was surprisingly fast—she backhanded the dagger she had already been holding in her hand. Jingyi was stunned and instinctively dodged. Seizing this opportunity, Xingyu did not attack but instead quickly slipped into the darkness nearby.

Are you kidding me? She certainly wasn't going to engage in close-quarters combat with someone who had a gun! She had gambled on that split-second opportunity—Jingyi's physique was not robust, and he didn't seem like someone specialized in combat. In the face of life and death, she had bet on the instinct that he would dodge.

She used that chance to disappear into the darkness of the factory. A little bit of night light filtered through the corridor windows, but it was already very dark outside. She carefully held her breath and lurked to the side, betting that Jingyi wouldn't be able to spot her at a glance in such darkness.

Jingyi paused for an instant, then let out a cold laugh, his eyes searching the pitch-black corridor for her silhouette. "You really have surprised me." His tone was relaxed, as if he were discussing a trivial matter. "Were you prepared for this?"

Xingyu held her breath, pressed firmly against the wall, not daring to move an inch. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, threatening to burst from her throat. But deep inside, a voice kept questioning: Why? Why would Jingyi suddenly turn on her? Was all of this a carefully designed trap?

"However, this is all in vain." Jingyi's voice sounded again, closer this time. "Where can you hide? This is our territory, after all."

Footsteps drew nearer, like the scythe of death, stepping closer to the prey. Xingyu gritted her teeth, struggling to remain silent. In this deathly stillness, her eyes landed on a door left slightly ajar nearby. Through the crack, she could faintly see a small storage room inside, piled high with sundries and discarded equipment. That might be her hiding place, providing a moment to catch her breath.

Just as she hesitated, Jingyi's footsteps approached the direction where she was hiding. If she were discovered, the consequences would be unthinkable. But if she acted rashly, it would undoubtedly be walking straight into a trap.

There was no more time to hesitate; she had to make a choice.

Xingyu took a deep breath, prepared for the worst. Just as Jingyi was about to turn the corner, she slammed open the storage room door and rolled inside. The door shut heavily behind her with a dull thud. Xingyu held her breath, her heart nearly leaping out of her throat. She curled up behind a pile of debris, praying that Jingyi hadn't noticed anything unusual.

A few seconds of silence felt as long as a century. Finally, the footsteps gradually receded and disappeared into the depths of the corridor. Xingyu let out a long breath, nearly collapsing to the floor.

Just then, a strange, rhythmic chanting echoed through the corridor. The voice was deep and hoarse, as if coming from the depths of hell, every syllable dripping with bone-chilling evil. Xingyu felt a wave of dizziness, as if an invisible force were eroding her consciousness.

"Iä! Iä! Aeon-Bythos! Pleroma gn'th'bthnk, Abraxas fhtagn!"

She did not know what Jingyi was chanting, but her intuition told her it was nothing good.

"Gnosis, Kenoma! Ia! Sarkic-Yaldabaoth! Aeon fhtagn!"

The chanting echoed through the empty corridor like a tide, every syllable filled with bone-chilling strangeness and evil. A massive sense of pressure engulfed Xingyu, as if an invisible hand were strangling her throat.

Just as Xingyu was on the verge of collapse, the chanting suddenly changed. Jingyi's voice gradually shifted into a sigh-like tone, as if reciting an ancient elegy.

"He is the emanation of the Supreme God 'Fate'..."