Chapter 5 : Yu Hui

Rewind two and a half hours.

Yuhui was walking down the street.
He wore a suit and a fedora, looking every bit the English gentleman from the Industrial Revolution era.
He walked casually, his leisurely pace suggesting he was on a stroll.
However, he would occasionally cast his gaze towards a middle-aged man about fifty meters away.

He was a slender, middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a red overcoat.
The fanny pack around his waist was stuffed full.

Yuhui followed the red-coated man’s route, always keeping a safe distance yet trying to act natural so as not to be noticed.
The bustling crowd around him obstructed his view.
He tried his best to keep his eyes fixed on the target to avoid losing him.

Since his gaze was always fixed on the distance, Yuhui didn’t notice his immediate surroundings and accidentally bumped into someone.
He quickly snapped back to reality and found he had collided with a blue-haired girl playing a game console.
The girl probably hadn’t noticed the crowd either, as the collision left her completely stunned.

Yuhui immediately reached out to catch the game console that had slipped from her hands and handed it back.

“Th… thank you,” the girl said, still dazed, as she took the console.

“My apologies, I accidentally bumped into you,” Yuhui said, apologizing while observing the girl.
She was truly beautiful, dressed in men’s clothing, which was quite distinctive.
But what kind of combination was a turtleneck sweater with a leather jacket?

“It’s fine. It was my fault for not watching where I was going,” the girl said, her eyes vacant, seemingly still immersed in her game.

Yuhui nodded and turned to leave.

The man in the distance had already disappeared around a corner.
Fearing he had lost him, Yuhui ran to catch up.
He stood at the corner, peeked his head out slightly, and saw that the man was still walking ahead, so he continued to follow.

The number of people on this street was far less than on the commercial street earlier.
The sky was already very dark.
Yuhui adjusted the brim of his hat, gradually slowing his pace to create a bit more distance from his target.
The pedestrians on the street grew fewer and fewer.
By the time he realized something was wrong, the two of them had already entered a deserted street.

There was only a single old, dilapidated streetlamp on the street.
Its light flickered, the lampshade having been shattered at some point, leaving only the bare bulb exposed.
Insects buzzed in circles around the bulb.

The tall, thin man in the red coat stopped.

Yuhui realized he had likely been discovered.
He took out a monocle attached to a cord from his coat pocket and put it on.
Through the lens, the man’s body was dotted with glowing red points.

“So many weaknesses… more than a newborn baby. What’s going on?”
Yuhui was a bit puzzled.
Just then, within his line of sight, the red-coated man’s body became transparent, leaving only a silhouette, which then dissipated into a flash of light and scattered completely.
Yuhui realized he had lost him.

“Hey, friend. You’ve been following me for an hour. Such patience,” a man’s voice came from behind him.
It was a deep but very flippant voice, and Yuhui could hear a hint of provocation in it.

Yuhui turned around and saw the tall, thin, blond-haired, blue-eyed man in the red coat standing ten meters away from him.
His gaunt figure was elongated by the lamplight, and the shadow beneath him clung to his back like a slender specter, creating the illusion of a separate entity.

“I think you look a bit familiar,” the red-coated man said, stroking his chin.
“Have we met somewhere before?”

Yuhui wasn’t nervous.
He raised his left hand with the metal prosthetic finger to cover his left eye.
His remaining right eye stared at the man before him through the monocle lens.
“Blake Morton,” he said, his face cold.
“Height 1.85 meters, age 35, born in the slums of Sinhe City.
Mother, Shina Morton.
Father—”

He paused, observing the other man’s expression, then continued, “Carey Owens, also known as Baron Owens. You are his illegitimate son. You must have met him, but that was probably after you became an adult. And your mother died of illness when you were 17.”

“You were supposed to live a life of poverty, but fate opened a window for you. At the age of 18, you were discovered by a teacher from the Astral Academy on an off-campus assignment to have an affinity for the fire element. A natural fire sorcerer, you were admitted to the Astral Academy with your exceptional magical talent. From then on, you studied diligently and became a renowned genius at the Astral Academy.”

Blake looked at Yuhui calmly and said, “You know my past quite well. Are you a fan of mine? When did I become so famous?”

Although he appeared calm on the surface, Blake was already slightly nervous inside.
The man knew him well, but he knew nothing about him.
This clear disadvantage made his fingers twitch reflexively, and his hand surreptitiously moved towards his fanny pack.

“I not only know your past, I also know your present,” Yuhui continued, his young voice growing colder.
“Evil blood flows in your veins. You take pleasure in killing. When you were 13, you stoned a girl to death. After entering the Astral Academy, you became more and more audacious, frequently visiting the slums to kill people and buying non-human slaves from the black market for experiments and to satisfy your private desires. Originally, you only killed people in the slums and slaves no one cared about. You were a talent, so the Empire naturally turned a blind eye. But you escalated things, murdering a nobleman, and even personally killing your own father, Baron Owens, and his entire family, burning down the Baron’s mansion. From then on, you became a wanted criminal of the Empire. Even after becoming a wanted man, you continued your killing spree in various places, unrepentant.”

“Alright, that’s enough. No one knows my life story better than I do,” Blake said, not wanting to hear any more of the other’s nonsense.
“Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Yuhui. I’ve come here on behalf of someone to get something done. I have a question for you,” Yuhui said, pointing at Blake.
“Blake Morton, what is your purpose in returning to your hometown after more than a decade? Why did you send a death threat to Luo Hao, the Director of the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs?”

“Do you think I’d actually tell you?” Blake sneered.
“Mr. Yuhui, since you know my past and present so well, you should be able to deduce what I’m about to do next.”

Yuhui’s expression was impassive.
He pulled out two black Beretta 92FS pistols from his coat and aimed their dark muzzles at Blake.

“Since you’re unwilling to answer, I can solve the problem by killing you just the same,” Yuhui said with a gentle smile, as if his earlier cold gaze had been just an illusion.

Kill the person, and the problem is solved, right?

“Ha, haha, hahahahaha!”

Blake burst out laughing as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.

“Mr. Yuhui, you are a truly interesting fellow. However…”

“I, Blake Morton, have endured countless hardships in my life and faced countless life-and-death crises. Do you think you alone, with just two pistols, can take my life? Huh?” Blake shouted as he reached into his fanny pack.
“That’s right, kill the person, and all problems are solved. So go to hell, Yuhui! Once you’re in hell, whatever you wanted to do will be useless!”

The shadow behind Blake suddenly swelled.
The shadow’s limbs grew as thin and long as bones, its torso stretched out, and its hands transformed into giant claws before dissipating behind Blake.
At that moment, the lamplight cast not a single shadow from Blake’s body.

Yuhui wasted no more words on him.
He released the safeties on his pistols and pulled the triggers, aiming at Blake.