Section 040: [Pure Spirit]! Where exactly is the Nightmare Mother hiding?

Xu Ran nodded; he might have truly been afflicted.

After all, he was only a six-year-old child, and he had stared intently at those eerie talismans for several minutes. The probability of being affected was nearly one hundred percent; a bit of purification was absolutely necessary.

"Call Aunt Lu over..."

"Right, right, right away. I'll make the call."

Uncle Ye immediately reached out for help.

Before long, Aunt Lu arrived at the hotel. Upon entering, she grabbed Ye Ping and scolded him: "How are you acting as a bodyguard? Don't you know that the pollution from a Grudge God is extremely insidious? How dare you let Xiao Ran come into direct contact with it?!"

Uncle Ye hung his head in shame, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.

At the time, he had been too confident in Xu Ran, forgetting that Xu Ran was actually just a six-year-old child with virtually zero resistance to such pollution. A moment of carelessness had led to a grave mistake! Sigh...

"Look up!"

"You are a Chief Inspector! Have you lost even this shred of vigilance?!"

Ye Ping trembled, lifting his head weakly. Aunt Lu was of the same generation as the kindergarten principal and had watched him grow up; she was like a parent to him. Now that he had made a mistake, he didn't know whether to sit or stand—it was truly agonizing.

"You had better learn your lesson!"

As Aunt Lu scolded him, she began to cast a purification spell, sending a brilliant, golden light into Xu Ran's body.

"How is it? Do you feel better? If you do, that means you've been purified. I can cleanse most types of pollution, unless it is mental in nature..."

Xu Ran's eyelids were heavy. "...Still exhausted and lethargic. It must be mental pollution... Uncle Ye, where is your Jade Flute Fairy Sound? Take it out and use it."

Uncle Ye gave a bitter smile. "My Jade Flute Fairy Sound has minimal effect against Grudge God pollution. It works wonders on ghost energy, though."

Aunt Lu: "...My light-element spells can't purify it? This is trouble! Let me try again."

She cast the purification spell five or six times in a row.

Xu Ran still showed no signs of improvement.

Aunt Lu's expression turned grave: "Ye Ping, you have caused a disaster!"

Xu Ran waved his hand. "It's fine, this isn't Uncle Ye's fault. I was the one who insisted on studying those eerie talismans. Actually, it's not a big problem; I'll be fine after a nap."

Xu Ran spoke to reassure Aunt Lu and Uncle Ye.

Aunt Lu: "Xiao Ran, you cannot sleep right now. Grudge God pollution is not something to joke about."

Uncle Ye: "That's right, Xiao Ran, hang in there. Let us think of a way. I'll go ask others to come and help you purify it."

Xu Ran smiled faintly, a gleam of confidence flashing in his eyes.

Do not forget, he still had a hidden trump card—the Pure Spirit Body!

[Pure Spirit Body (Gold Achievement)]: Fortune +30; toxins, pollution, and ghostly substances that invade your body will be slowly purified by your physical form.

This was a legendary gold achievement he had finally obtained after more than six hundred days of grinding. How effective it was needed no explanation. Pollution? It was the perfect counter to pollution!

His consciousness swept over the golden achievement, and Xu Ran’s face was filled with a determined smile. "It's okay, trust me. When I wake up, let's go find that Nightmare Grudge Mother and slaughter her for entertainment."

As his voice faded, Xu Ran quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Once asleep, his body—which had undergone three prenatal baptisms—entered a state of perfect dormancy. It consumed very little mental energy while maximizing the efficiency of energy recovery.

Upon detecting the Grudge God pollution, the "Pure Spirit Body" flared up with a temper and immediately began operating at full speed!

Clean energy madly hunted down the Grudge God pollution.

A faint glow bloomed around Xu Ran, and tiny particles of black dust began to drift out from between his brows.

The frequency was steady, roughly one speck per minute.

These tiny specks were hard for an ordinary person to notice, but Aunt Lu and Uncle Ye saw them clearly.

Both of them were struck by astonishment.

"Is this Xiao Ran's body automatically clearing the Grudge God pollution in his sleep?!"

"How is that possible? To have a body that automatically clears Grudge God pollution, one would need some kind of unique light-element constitution."

Aunt Lu found it hard to comprehend.

In her memory, only practitioners with a light-element constitution could automatically purge Grudge God pollution from their bodies. Those with fire, lightning, water, or mental elements could only be cleansed through external purification.

How could Xu Ran perform self-purification?

That wasn't right. Wasn't it all about comprehension and constitution? What did comprehension and constitution have to do with the body automatically clearing Grudge God pollution?

Aunt Lu’s mind was a tangled mess; she could not find a logical explanation!

"Pingzi, do you know what this self-purification ability of Xiao Ran's is all about?"

Ye Ping spread his hands: "I don't know."

"But if it's happening to Xiao Ran, I feel like everything is just... perfectly logical."

His movement techniques were on par with a practitioner with 60,000 points of Qi and blood; he had defeated four practitioners with 50,000 points of Qi and blood in a single strike. Which of these feats, if placed on another six-year-old, wouldn't defy common sense? Yet, with Xu Ran, it somehow fit reality perfectly, as if his comprehension and constitution were destined to be this invincible.

Aunt Lu: "Logical? This is clearly a violation of common sense."

Ye Ping looked as if it were a matter of course: "When it comes to Xiao Ran, violating common sense is logical, isn't it?"

Aunt Lu raised an eyebrow: "True."

Two hours passed in a flash.

Aunt Lu said happily: "His body is truly purging the toxins slowly. The black smoke drifting from his brow is getting thinner, and his breathing is becoming more relaxed... This means the pollution is almost gone."

Aunt Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing Xiao Ran's body is special. If something had really gone wrong, you'd be waiting for the principal to beat you to death!"

Ye Ping cowered: "I know I was wrong, Aunt Lu. Please don't tell the principal this time. I will be ten thousand times more careful in the future."

Aunt Lu glared at Ye Ping but didn't respond, instead sitting by the bed, waiting quietly for Xu Ran to wake up.

Two o'clock in the morning.

The handsome young boy lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes. His bright gaze had returned to its usual clarity and spirit, and all traces of exhaustion and lethargy had vanished from his face.

Aunt Lu: "Awake? How do you feel?"

Xu Ran smiled confidently: "Perfect condition."

"I knew it. There's nothing that can't be solved by a good sleep; if there is, just sleep twice."

Ha! Did they really think the gold achievement he had spent over six hundred days of self-discipline to acquire was just for show? Mere pollution was not worth mentioning.

There was not a shred of pollution left in his body.

Perfect!

Aunt Lu was astonished, touching Xu Ran's forehead: "Strange, what kind of ability is this, to clear pollution just by sleeping..."

Xu Ran spread his hands: "I don't know. Ever since I was little, whenever I felt a bit unwell, I'd just sleep it off."

Aunt Lu and Uncle Ye looked at each other, confused but deeply shocked.

Xu Ran jumped off the bed, feeling refreshed: "But those talismans are truly eerie. They seem like resentment, or perhaps even curses from the realm of souls and destiny. In short, they are extremely dangerous."

Uncle Ye: "That's why I insisted on confiscating those talismans and not letting you carry them. Anything related to a Grudge God is terrifying! One moment of carelessness, and disaster strikes!"

"And even after I confiscated them, it almost led to a catastrophe!"

Xu Ran waved his hand: "This isn't Uncle Ye's fault. The culprit is that godforsaken Talisman Grudge God."

Xu Ran's face relaxed into a warm, bright smile, silently adding the Talisman Grudge God to his blacklist of mortal enemies.

"Aunt Lu, sorry to trouble you to come in the middle of the night. You should go back and rest! Uncle Ye and I plan to search for traces of the Nightmare Grudge Mother tonight."

Aunt Lu was surprised: "Searching in the middle of the night?"

Xu Ran nodded: "Yes."

"Ghostly creatures should prefer the night; in a dark environment, they might be more relaxed, and perhaps they'll reveal some flaws!"

Aunt Lu was skeptical: "That's not necessarily true. I remember Pingzi often searched in the middle of the night once or twice, but he never found a single clue."

Ye Ping was embarrassed: "..."

Lies don't hurt, but the truth is a sharp blade.

He stammered: "Um... well, Xiao Ran is extraordinary, maybe he can find something new?"

Aunt Lu fell silent. Just a moment ago, she had subconsciously thought—could Xu Ran's comprehension and constitution really be the key to breaking the stalemate?

Could comprehension and constitution even warp other people's thinking?

Strange.

It was absurd that she would pin her hopes on a child for a problem that even the investigation team couldn't solve, wasn't it?

Aunt Lu looked at Xu Ran strangely, then glanced at Ye Ping: "Regardless of whether you find something new, remember to protect Xiao Ran well. Do not let anything else go wrong."

Ye Ping nodded repeatedly: "I will definitely be cautious this time."

Aunt Lu: "Alright, go find the Nightmare Grudge Mother then!"

"Okay."

Xu Ran climbed onto the window and moved along the wall like a gecko.

Gecko Wall-Climbing Technique progress +1...
Gecko Wall-Climbing Technique progress +1...
Gecko Wall-Climbing Technique progress +1...

Uncle Ye looked up at the eerily capable Xu Ran, not knowing what to say.

"You can actually crawl on walls? When did you learn this?"

Xu Ran made up a casual excuse: "Learned it from watching a gecko."

Uncle Ye was curious: "Can you learn Mantis Fist or Tiger-Crane Fist?"

Xu Ran: "Can't learn those."

Uncle Ye: "This one you can learn."

Xu Ran: "I really can't learn that one."

Xu Ran couldn't help but complain. If he could learn it, he would have already grinded out a third-sequence fist technique. Unfortunately, the system wouldn't trigger for it; what could he do?

Uncle Ye: "Really can't learn it?"

"Uncle Ye, don't make things difficult for me."

Xu Ran leaped quickly between high buildings and arrived at the top floor of Jing City's tallest structure—the Phoenix Tower.

Uncle Ye was skeptical: "With your comprehension and constitution, what can't you learn? You must be hiding a trump card."

Xu Ran smiled and spread his hands: "I'm not hiding anything... I really can't learn fist techniques. I don't know why either."

Uncle Ye's eyes were full of suspicion, but he didn't continue the topic: "By the way, why are we standing on a high building?"

Xu Ran said solemnly: "Looking at the Feng Shui."

Uncle Ye was puzzled: "Looking at the Feng Shui?"

Xu Ran’s eyes were sharp and clear: "Yes, if I were the Nightmare Grudge Mother, the place most suitable for hiding would be the best Feng Shui."

Uncle Ye laughed: "The Nightmare Grudge Mother likes to snatch children and carries tens of thousands of zombie infants on her, so she might hide in places like abortion clinic fetal disposal sites, morgues, or placenta disposal grounds... But we have investigated all these places. We found nothing."

Xu Ran's solemnity cracked: "You've investigated all those places?"

Uncle Ye squinted at Xu Ran: "We aren't idiots, you know? We've even checked the sewers bit by bit multiple times. When I first arrived, I even investigated all the mountain ranges around Jing City."

Hearing this, Xu Ran felt a sense of respect. It seemed Uncle Ye and the investigation team had put in a lot of hard work in places no one could see.

"However, did you really not find any traces at all?"

Uncle Ye: "Really, not a single trace!"

With one line of thinking failing, Xu Ran quickly changed his angle: "Have the practitioners on the front lines found any creatures similar to lice or ants? For example, a louse that could cover up ghost energy by clinging to the Nightmare Grudge Mother?"

Uncle Ye: "The Ghost Planet has only been invading the Blue Planet for a few years; no such creatures have been discovered yet..."

"But your guess... might be close to the truth—some kind of creature that can mask ghost energy is concealing the Nightmare Grudge Mother's aura! That's why we can't find her no matter what!"

Uncle Ye's thinking was opened up, but he felt an even greater headache.

Because humanity knew too little about ghostly creatures and the Ghost Planet, they were still in the exploratory stage. Even if they guessed that some creature was masking the Nightmare Grudge Mother's aura, they still had no way to proceed!

Xu Ran frowned: "The lack of knowledge about ghostly creatures puts us in a passive position. Relying on guesses is useless..."

Uncle Ye sighed: "So we really can't find her? We can only wait for her to show herself? She has already harmed over 30,000 children... The next time she appears, she might bring even greater catastrophe! Sigh..."

As time passed, Ye Ping's worry about the Nightmare Grudge Mother deepened.

The main issue was how eerie she was; she could directly create nightmares for children. If her abilities grew further, what would he do if she started harming the children of Jing City from a distance?

Although three powerful mental-type reinforcements were already lurking in Jing City just in case, they might not be of any use!

The Nightmare Grudge Mother could directly enter a child's dream! That ability was a ticking time bomb!

If they could find her beforehand and take her out before she erupted, it would undoubtedly be the most effortless bomb-disposal plan.

But if they let her take the initiative, it would be a huge problem.

By then, they would not only have to divert strong forces to block the Nightmare Grudge Mother, but also take care of the safety of the children.

It would be equivalent to diffusing a bomb while fighting the person who planted it, all while rescuing fragile hostages... The difficulty had increased by more than just a little!

Thinking of this, Uncle Ye gritted his teeth: "It's so annoying."

"If she just jumped out to fight, and I ended up severely injured and bedridden for two or three years, I'd be willing. But these ghostly creatures, hiding in the shadows, are just too disgusting!!"

Xu Ran frowned and pondered: "Think carefully, where is the breakthrough point..."

"First, the city-wide nightmare eruption in Jing City means the main body should be hiding in Jing City; otherwise, there would be no need to create a city-wide nightmare. There must be a reason for the city-wide nightmare. Second, the Guhuo-Chang (Ghost Mother) phenomena are happening all over the country. It's impossible for the snatched children to be transported over long distances via sacrifice. She must rely on accomplices to transport this energy from all over the country to the main body."

"So, what is the most convenient, most secret, and safest way of transportation?"

Xu Ran posed the question.

A brilliant spark of insight flashed through Uncle Ye's mind. He stared wide-eyed at Xu Ran.