So Many People

Yue Shi stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the heavy snow fluttering outside.

The snowflakes, tainted by industrial emissions, fell against the window and quickly melted into grey-black water stains.

“This snow is so dirty,” he muttered with a look of disdain.

Just then, he inadvertently noticed an anomaly on the street below.

A chaotic mess of light points was swaying and running through the curtain of snow.

Relying on his exceptional vision, Yue Shi observed closely. It was a large group of people using the flashlight function on their phones, running haphazardly as if feverishly chasing something.

It wasn't just the street in front of his window; the same scene appeared on several streets further away, with groups of people running wildly everywhere.

However, while their movements seemed chaotic, the general direction in which they were moving was vaguely toward this hotel.

Yue Shi narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing that something was wrong.

Soon after, crowds of people running in chaos appeared in the streets from other directions of the hotel. As if summoned by an invisible force, they converged toward the hotel from all sides.

Ghost curiously poked half a head out of the phone screen, glanced downstairs, and then retracted.

“So many people~”

The crowd below grew larger and larger. More strangely, some pedestrians who had been walking normally would suddenly go mad and join the ranks of those running aimlessly.

They were shouting something, but due to the distance, the wind, the snow, and the soundproofing of the glass, Yue Shi couldn't hear them clearly.

What was certain was that this was by no means normal collective behavior.

“It’s a supernatural incident,” Yue Shi whispered to himself.

To encounter such a good thing just after arriving in Chijing City—it seemed this trip would definitely not be boring.

The crowd gathered below had already reached several hundred and was still expanding. The dark mass of heads reflected against the snow and lights, forming a pattern of unsettling restlessness.

Yue Shi felt a bit eager to try. To be able to affect so many people in such a short time and trigger a riot of this scale, the grade of the source supernatural creature would definitely not be low. It was the perfect nourishment to supplement his progress bar.

He had spent all night grinding out a new ability, which was extremely practical and more effective than his previous methods. Because of this, he had the confidence to step calmly into Chijing City.

Everything was thanks to the transcendents of Amber City for their selfless contribution to his great cause of revenge; he would silently remember them in his spirit.

At that moment, Ghost's voice rang out through the phone: “I just hacked into a local investigator's private phone. The incident downstairs has been preliminarily classified as a C-rank supernatural incident by the Chijing City Investigation Bureau. The source of the supernatural hasn't been locked down yet, and the pattern of harm hasn't been determined. But they suspect the source might be hiding inside this hotel.”

Yue Shi's heart stirred. Having an assistant like Ghost, who was skilled in information manipulation, was truly convenient. Even without him having to speak, Ghost would proactively collect intelligence.

The 【Feedback】 ability was extremely cost-effective when used on Ghost, not wasted at all.

The phone screen flickered, and Ghost directly accessed someone's phone downstairs, privately opening the camera in the background to live-stream the chaotic scenes below.

The footage was shaking violently and blurred, accompanied by the noise of the crowd and the sound of wind and snow.

A man's voice could be heard screaming hoarsely, “Everyone, stop immediately! Do not approach any further! Otherwise, we will take coercive measures!”

“Warning! Do not approach any further, or we will take coercive measures!”

As the chaotic lens panned, the crowd could be seen crashing against the cordon outside the hotel. Their faces were filled with madness and anxiety, and emboldened by their numbers, they completely ignored the warnings.

Ghost added, “It's very strange. All the supernatural detectors on-site are showing green lights. No obvious supernatural aura was detected on these people.”

“Oh?” Yue Shi raised an eyebrow.

The detectors showed green, yet the crowd's behavior was so abnormal. Perhaps the source supernatural creature causing all this was extremely unusual.

Bang!

Suddenly, a crisp gunshot reached Yue Shi's ears.

“What's the situation?” Yue Shi asked.

“Since they can't detect a supernatural aura, the officers on-site don't dare to use lethal force on the crowd. That was just a warning shot,” Ghost quickly explained.

Just as he finished speaking, a massive clamor and the sound of breaking glass came from the phone.

Ghost immediately said, “They've broken into the hotel lobby.”

Following that was another round of extremely chaotic shouting:

“Quick, catch it! Don't let it get away!”

“That one! That big rat is mine, nobody else grab it!”

“Get lost! You stepped on my cat! If you step on it and break it, are you going to pay me back with your little rat?”

Yue Shi was completely bewildered. “What are they fighting over?”

Ghost said uncertainly, “It sounds like they are... catching some kind of small animals?”

“How many people are there now?” Yue Shi asked again.

“Inside and outside the hotel, it's estimated that nearly a thousand people have gathered, and the number is still increasing. Several streets outside are completely blocked,” Ghost reported.

At this point, even more intense sounds of collisions, shattering glass, and men's roars came from the phone.

“They've broken through the stairs and elevators and are surging upward,” Ghost warned.

Yue Shi heard the hotel's floor manager in the corridor outside the door giving a panic-stricken notice: “Dear guests, please stay in your rooms and lock the doors! Do not come out no matter what you hear! Wait for the Investigation Bureau to handle this!”

However, the manager soon let out a short scream, followed by the sound of being chased and a heavy door slamming.

Immediately after, screams, running, and the sound of things being knocked over came from other guest rooms on this floor.

Clearly, the riot had spread to this level.

Yue Shi walked back to the window and saw countless people still converging from the streets in all directions.

In the distance, a large number of vehicles from the Chijing City Investigation Bureau were gradually arriving with flashing police lights, and the roar of helicopter rotors could be heard overhead.

Several fire trucks tried to disperse the crowd in the rear with high-pressure water cannons, but after being knocked down, the people would immediately scramble up and charge toward the hotel even more frantically, as if there were an incomparably precious treasure inside that no obstacle could stop them from reaching.

Dense footsteps erupted in the corridor outside the door, sounding like many people were in a hundred-meter sprint.

Thud!!

With a loud bang, Yue Shi's door shook, clearly having been hit hard by someone or something.

“That big black rat, the sleek and shiny one, is mine!”

“Bullshit, that's clearly mine! Let go!”

The voices outside argued fiercely. These people didn't seem to be a single group; instead, they seemed to be fighting over the ownership of pets.

The shouting, banging, trampling, and angry roars continued incessantly.

Suddenly, a black shadow fell rapidly past the window in front of Yue Shi.

Someone had fallen from upstairs, plummeting straight toward the ground.

Yue Shi looked down, and immediately after, another figure fell.

This time he saw clearly. It was a young man whose face was filled with extreme terror, yet his hands were death-gripping a dark-colored kitten.

The kitten's fur was sleek as it struggled constantly, but the young man refused to let go even unto death, as if it were the most important treasure of his life.

“This is getting more and more interesting.” Yue Shi's curiosity was thoroughly piqued. He no longer hesitated, walked to the door, opened it, and looked out.

The corridor was a mess. The carpet was kicked askew, decorations were smashed on the floor, and many people were pouncing and scuffling.

Yue Shi noticed that these mad people were all male. They completely ignored Yue Shi and were all catching small animals.

Many small animals were scurrying in panic throughout the hotel.

Yue Shi's gaze was immediately drawn to these small animals.

There were quite a few of them, mostly small rats, but also some cats, ferrets, minks, and so on.

Compared to normal small animals in nature, their forms were somewhat strange. The front of their bodies was slender and streamlined, while their hind legs were short and bloated. Most of their fur was various shades of fleshy-brown, with a few being black. Their noses had a wet, oily luster.

If those frantic men were lucky enough to catch a small animal, they immediately became less mad, instead cradling the small animal in their arms and warily guarding against other bloodshot-eyed competitors.

A pungent smell faintly permeated the air, emanating precisely from these small animals.