There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Raindrops pitter-pattered against the car windows.

After leaving the dance studio, Officer Zhang led his team toward the church.

As she drove, she glanced at her phone, which was set on the holder showing an ongoing call, but despite several attempts, the call wouldn't go through.

The call automatically disconnected, and Officer Zhang sighed, steering the wheel to another road.

Due to last night's incident, she was cautious not to take the same route, though it required backtracking, but it was better than running into trouble.

In the heavy rain, the neon-lit streets had some pedestrians and vehicles, but not many, and the shops were deserted, with some having closed early.

The weather had been bad for the past few days, and with all the strange occurrences in the city, people were anxious.

While waiting for the traffic light, Officer Zhang reached out to tap her phone screen, dialing another number.

This time the call connected quickly, with the sound of heavy rain and labored breathing coming through the speaker.

"Huh?" Surprised by the connection, Officer Zhang sounded taken aback.

"Captain?!" came a voice from the other end.

"What's happening there? I called several people's phones, and no one answered," Officer Zhang asked.

The person on the other end clearly relaxed upon hearing her voice and then spoke seriously, "Today, several brothers went missing during patrol, and I can't get in touch with the station. I thought something happened to you, Captain."

Officer Zhang restarted the car, keeping an eye on her surroundings as she replied, "I'm outside now. How many people do you have there?"

"About a dozen brothers, we just escaped from the Black Mist," the other side sighed, their voice weary.

"Black Mist..." Officer Zhang narrowed her eyes.

"Captain, the situation now is exactly like it was decades ago!"

"I understand, lead the remaining men to the church, and be careful not to get near the station."

"Actually, we just escaped from the station..."

"..."

That they could escape was indeed impressive.

Decades ago, a group of cultists suddenly appeared in the city, unnoticed by outsiders. They preached in silence, performed sacrifices, and summoned the Evil God.

Later, the military and the church joined forces to destroy the cultists' summoning ritual, completely annihilating this evil organization.

At least on the surface, it was annihilated.

Now that the cultists have returned, planning to achieve their goals, they naturally wouldn't hesitate to attack official forces, and they probably wouldn't spare even the church.

After giving instructions, Officer Zhang hung up the phone and looked up at the spire emerging from the cluster of buildings in the distance.

Embedded with a golden cross, the spire shone brilliantly against the flashing neon lights.

Being the tallest structure in the city, the church's towering corner was visible from anywhere.

Officer Zhang took her eyes off it and pressed the accelerator to speed towards that direction.

Under the curtain of rain, an old sedan sped across the waterlogged road, occasionally jostled by the uneven surface due to its high speed, yet it drove steadily.

A faint light was visible in the front seat of the car, but the backseat was shrouded in darkness, the light off.

The seats' leather was slightly rolled up and cracked, with yellowing edges, looking well-used and long overdue for replacement.

At that moment, lying stiffly on the back seat, a girl's pitch-black eyes swirled like vortexes as she suddenly lifted a hand.

Then, with the hand raised, it seemed as though something was hoisting her entire upper body up, as if manipulated by strings, pulling her up.

The girl's shoulder hung limp on one side, her pupils still a pitch-black void.

Then, her downcast head slowly turned, her pale, drained face eerily fixating on the driver's seat ahead.

…

…

The church.

The priest locked himself in the prayer and rest room, flipping through historical sacred texts and looking for ways to deal with the cultists.

As a formal religion, the church had more detailed records of cultists than the officials did.

After all, these were rivals capable of siphoning away believers.

According to the records, these cultists worshipped a Dark God who reigned over the abyss of desires, requiring pure young girls for sacrifices, and had sinister summoning rituals to call forth the Dark God.

The deity of the church was the merciful and omnipotent Lord, commanding countless believers across the continent. Even so, they could not summon the Lord to descend. What made those cultists think they could?!

Indeed, it was a heretical cult!

The sacred text recorded it as such...

The priest focused on the useful information, paying no mind to the entries filled with strong subjective viewpoints.

What disheartened him was that, last time, they had driven off the cultists with the help of the Paladin Legion. The sacred texts devoted entire sections praising the great knights, but his small church did not have any paladins.

At that moment, the door to the prayer and rest room was suddenly hammered with a "bang, bang, bang."

A panicked voice from a believer on night duty came from outside, "Bishop! Your friend has come again, and... and she..."
Your journey continues at m v|l-e'm,p| y- r

The priest closed the sacred text, stepped forward, and pulled open the door. The person who had been leaning against it outside fell in abruptly as he stepped aside to let them through.

The fallen believer, regaining composure, scrambled anxiously back to their feet.

The priest looked up and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Officer Zhang stood not far away, expressionless, "What are you waiting for, come help!"

The woman's entire right arm was entwined in black mist, hissing with a sizzling noise, and viscous substances were dripping down to the ground from her arm like oil.

In her right hand, she was holding a leg. The leg's original owner lay on the ground, half of the body dragged mercilessly behind by Officer Zhang.

The priest stepped forward to take a look, then said to the believer beside him, "Go get some Holy Water."

The believer nodded, visibly terrified, carefully avoiding the substance on the floor as he hurried out.

Seeing the fear on the believer's face, Officer Zhang could not hide his disdain, "Don't tell me you've only got this sort here. If those things attack you, won't you all just fall into chaos?"

"He's just an ordinary believer, in other words, a common person," the priest said indifferently, glancing over what had been dragged in.

It was a little girl with lifeless eyes.

Devoid of a soul, only a soulless body remained, her skin pallid and stiff.

The priest merely looked without touching, asking in wonder, "Did you just rush over and grab her? And where did you find her?"

In the evening, this man claimed he was going to look for Qiuzi, but when he returned, he brought back the girl named Lanruo.

Officer Zhang released Lanruo's leg that he was holding and said nonchalantly, "When I went, she was attacking Qiuzi, but she failed and entered a weird state of suspended animation. Then, on my way bringing her to the church, this thing woke up again."

What followed was self-explanatory.

The priest glanced at her battered condition and said nothing, just scrutinized Lanruo.

This thing, it seemed like a Necrophage mentioned in the sacred texts.