Realm of the Night God - Chapter 127: Aftermath

Handling cases involving spirits is vastly different from dealing with regular police cases, both in terms of procedures and methods. Therefore, the two cannot be conflated.

In a normal case, trying to dismiss the police with just a few words like Yang Haoran attempted would be nothing short of a pipe dream. He wouldn’t still be at home, he’d have been taken back to the police station long ago to face interrogation.

But with spirit police, their main objective is to handle various eerie spirit-related incidents. These cases are usually kept under wraps, hence the methods of handling are significantly different. Once the issue is resolved, their task is considered complete, and they leave the aftermath to the authorities.

Because of this, after Wang Yiming and his companions learned about the situation from Yang Haoran, they didn’t intend to take him away. Instead, they left the old house on their own accord.

Even if they had wanted to take Yang Haoran with them, Wang Yiming wouldn’t have forced him to open the door, knowing that Yang Haoran was also a victim.

After leaving the old house, the next step for Wang Yiming and his group was to confirm whether Yangjia Bay was free of zombies, rather than analyzing every detail of Yang Haoran’s story.

For them, as long as Yangjia Bay and the nearby villages were devoid of zombies, then Yang Haoran’s story was true—at least in the sense that the zombies were gone, and their mission would be complete.

Moreover, considering Wang Yiming’s friendship with Yang Haoran and the latter’s affiliation with the Yin Division, Wang Yiming trusted Yang Haoran’s words.

Once they left, Wang Yiming contacted other spirit police to conduct a thorough inspection of Yangjia Bay and the surrounding villages.

To avoid causing panic, they didn’t involve regular police. Disguised in plain clothes, they used their unique methods to sense the presence of Corpse Qi without disturbing the locals.

To them, wherever zombies were hiding, Corpse Qi would be emanating. If they sensed strong Yin Qi, it indicated the presence of zombies; if not, the village was safe.

Master Zhou had not spared even the livestock of Yangjia Bay in his attempt to break the enchantment on the stone gate. All were summoned to the mountainside, requiring a significant number of corpse puppets to deplete the enchantment’s power. Therefore, it was impossible for any corpse puppets to remain outside.

Aware of this, Yang Haoran still instructed Wang Yiming’s group to double-check. It was partly to reassure the Lecheng spirit police and partly to divert their attention away from Yangjia Bay to other villages.

Fortunately, the spirit police dispatched by the Lecheng Police Department had limited strength. Besides sensing some residual Corpse Qi in Yangjia Bay, they found nothing else.

The residual Corpse Qi only indicated that there had been a large number of zombies in Yangjia Bay but didn’t imply their current presence.

If a powerful individual like Xu Meijing were to come, they might trace the residual Corpse Qi to the mountainside. However, such individuals weren’t commonplace, and it wasn’t certain whether there were any among the Lecheng spirit police.

Even if there were, they would be significant figures. Unless under special circumstances or facing matters beyond the capability of all spirit police, such figures wouldn’t intervene.

If everything had to be handled by those significant figures, what would be the value of the lower-ranking members?

Nevertheless, Yang Haoran was prepared for this possibility. If the spirit police did trace the residual Corpse Qi to the mountainside, he had ways to cover his tracks, as he had left himself a loophole while recounting the events to Wang Yiming’s group.

However, he hoped such a situation wouldn’t arise to avoid complications.

In the end, the spirit police found no zombies in Yangjia Bay, nor any traces of them in the nearby villages, confirming Yang Haoran’s account that the zombies had been eradicated.

Before leaving, Wang Yiming specifically checked on Yang Haoran. He hoped Yang Haoran would leave soon, considering Yangjia Bay had become a ghost village. Continuing to stay there might affect Yang Haoran emotionally.

It wasn’t surprising why Wang Yiming felt this way. In his memory, Yang Haoran was always friendly, with a constant smile on his face, modest and composed, leaving a deep impression on him.

However, seeing Yang Haoran in this state—depressed and distant—was concerning. While Wang Yiming understood Yang Haoran’s current state was likely temporary, he couldn’t help but worry. He feared Yang Haoran might do something rash in a moment of despair. Hence, he advised Yang Haoran to leave the sorrowful place for now and return only after easing his pain.

Yang Haoran, however, insisted on staying in Yangjia Bay. Wang Yiming had no choice but to respect his decision.

Secondly, the entire Yangjia Bay was sealed off by the police. Each entrance to Yangjia Bay was barricaded with police lines, guarded by officers who prohibited anyone from entering.

The authorities announced to the public that a sudden epidemic had broken out in Yangjia Bay, resulting in the deaths of all villagers within a day. To ensure the safety of nearby villages and prevent the spread of the epidemic, the entire Yangjia Bay was sealed off and subjected to disinfection procedures.

The revelation of zombies in Yangjia Bay led to the demise of nearly everyone who knew about it. Those who survived either dared not speak or chose not to.

Among the few policemen who successfully escaped with Chen Ying initially, they were aware of the zombie incident in Yangjia Bay. However, they were silenced by a gag order, falling into the category of those who dared not speak.

At the time of the incident, the police entering Yangjia Bay were divided into two teams, with Chen Ying’s team being one of them. While Chen Ying’s team managed to escape with a few survivors, the other team led by their leader perished entirely.

For Chen Ying and her team, the mission was a terrifying and sorrowful experience. Even without the gag order, they wouldn’t have brought up the topic of Yangjia Bay, with even the word “zombie” becoming taboo in their hearts.

Apart from them, the spirit police also knew about the zombie incident in Yangjia Bay but refrained from discussing it openly. Since every intervention of theirs signaled the occurrence of spirit-related events, they were obliged to maintain secrecy from the moment they became spirit police, even to their own families.

Even if they were to disclose their missions, not many would believe them anyway.

In the end, only Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing were left who knew about the appearance of zombies in Yangjia Bay. For Yang Haoran, it was a personal tragedy. Bringing it up would be akin to rubbing salt into his wounds. Whether he stayed in Yangjia Bay or not, he wouldn’t divulge this information.

As for Xu Meijing, given her personality, she wasn’t interested in gossiping with others.

Thus, the outside world remained unaware of what truly happened in Yangjia Bay. Some believed the official explanation, while others remained skeptical.

This was normal; regardless of the situation, some would choose to believe in official statements while others wouldn’t, not only in Lecheng but in other cities and even the entire New Genesis World.

There was much speculation and discussion among the public regarding the sudden demise of an entire village. To prevent panic, the authorities had to employ measures to suppress rumors. Otherwise, it would be troublesome to deal with the aftermath of rampant rumors.

With the intervention of the authorities, rumors gradually subsided. However, the fact remained that everyone in Yangjia Bay had perished, a truth acknowledged by the authorities, which inevitably spread.

Some Yang family members who couldn’t return for the Lunar New Year due to various reasons rushed back upon hearing the news of the incident. Their previous engagements suddenly seemed insignificant in the face of this tragedy.

Upon their return to Lecheng, some wanted to enter Yangjia Bay to see for themselves but were stopped by the police, who prohibited anyone from entering.

Others, even if not stopped by the police, were too fearful to enter Yangjia Bay, as the village was plagued by an epidemic where death was almost certain. Regardless of whether the official explanation was true or false, they were not willing to take the risk, thus, they had no intention of entering the village.

It’s uncertain who initiated it, but the returning Yang family members lit incense and burned paper money outside the village, bidding their departed loved ones farewell. The authorities did not intervene in this practice.

Once someone started, others followed suit, and soon, cries of grief echoed outside the village, creating a somber atmosphere. Every member of the Yang family wore an expression of pain, even the police on duty couldn’t bear to witness it.

For several days in a row, professionals dispatched by the Lecheng authorities disinfected the entire Yangjia Bay.

This was done not only to reassure the public and prevent further incidents but also because the presence of zombies in Yangjia Bay meant lingering corpse poison. Therefore, disinfection was indeed necessary. However, the disinfectants used weren’t ordinary ones purchased from hospitals but were specially formulated to counteract corpse poison.

During these days, Yang Haoran remained in the old house. The professionals who came for disinfection naturally noticed his presence. However, instead of driving him away, they treated him kindly and even disinfected his house several times.

Yang Haoran didn’t recognize these professionals. In his view, their favorable treatment towards him was likely due to Wang Yiming’s intervention. Otherwise, being a living person in a ghost village, he would have been promptly expelled, with no one showing him any courtesy.

Several days passed in a daze, and before they knew it, it was New Year’s Eve, a day of great significance and special circumstances.

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! BokuBoku]