Chapter 22

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Chapter 22: Did You Kill Him?

Unlike in TV dramas where they always arrive late, the police showed up fairly quickly this time, sparing Lu Mingxue from freezing too long in the cold.

She had lain trembling on the icy soil for what felt like ages before mustering the courage to search the three young corpses for a phone. Even locked, emergency calls could still be made.

Wrapped in the coat Officer Chen handed her, Lu Mingxue turned away from the three battered bodies. “There were four in black. One got away—the guy with the playing cards. These three were the ones who kidnapped me… and no, I wasn’t assaulted!”

To hide the fact that she’d wet herself, she’d smeared mud on her pants.

A heavy rain two days prior had left the fields muddy for the season, and the sensation of dirt seeping into her shoes and clothes was unbearable.

“Want to take some time to rethink your story?” Officer Chen handed her a pair of sunglasses, motioning for her to put them on.

“At the last second, a mysterious black-clad hero appeared—couldn’t see his face, height, or build, but he was definitely handsome.”

Who would believe that?

“Everything I said is true. Let’s not forget I was kidnapped right under your noses. For my own safety, I might need to move to another city,” the girl said flatly.

“That was our failure.” Officer Chen bowed his head in apology.

Of course, Lu Mingxue wasn’t actually planning to move. She couldn’t just uproot her life that easily.

“Is the card guy Night Demon?” Yiwen, now in her assassin gear, stared at the long blood trail on the ground.

She’d come along after the police were alerted.

“No. This car was a decoy. The real target went the other way. We’ve already locked down all routes,” Officer Chen replied.

Hearing this, Yiwen didn’t linger. She lifted off the ground and flew into the distance.

The three “justice-bringers” (Tian Xing Dao) were dead. The black-clad men had taken N1202 enhancers, but severe blunt-force trauma had left them barely clinging to life—one even had a caved-in right chest.

All three were unconscious.

Officer Chen turned back to Lu Mingxue. “Did you know you’d be kidnapped? Why did you run after school?”

“Yeah. I accidentally read someone’s mind about it.” She glanced at the three bodies being loaded onto stretchers, covered in white sheets.

Records showed the youngest of them, George, was two months her junior. His parents had thought he was sleeping over at a friend’s house—they’d hung up on the police twice, thinking it was a prank call.

Officer Chen nodded, asking nothing further.

“We’ll increase security for you.”

He sighed, looking at the three young bodies on the stretchers.

—

“That abandoned farm on your left… Stay there and watch him. Don’t approach—He’s spotted you! Retreat!” Sister Hermit’s usually sultry voice was tense.

“Caught him,” Mi Xiaoliu replied.

She was fast. Her long legs made short work of the chase.

“Caught him? Send me a photo.” Sister Hermit clearly didn’t believe her.

“Photo?” Mi Xiaoliu tilted her head.

“Yeah. How else do I confirm—”

“Open your chat, tap the plus on the right, then the first option. Turn on the flashlight icon in the top-left, point it at ‘Night Demon,’ hit the circle, and send.” Wei Shi’s voice in her earpiece walked her through it.

Mi Xiaoliu obeyed.

Wei Shi, speeding down the road in an old car, exhaled smoke in the photo in the group chat.

The organization’s phone cameras were high-quality. Despite the terrible angle and framing, the image was clear—a middle-aged man writhing on broken glass, clutching a grotesquely twisted right leg.

Bearded, sunken-eyed, dark-skinned, towering at 185 cm with a perfect inverted-triangle build, and most notably, the green cobra tattoo coiled around his neck. This was “Night Demon” Charuk, hunted by both law and underworld.

Now he lay there like a pitiful worm, snarling in pain as the glass shredded his skin—but nothing compared to the agony of shattered bone.

“Come back. Leave him.” Wei Shi tossed his phone aside irritably, yanking the charging cable out in the process.

He U-turned, heading back the way he came. “It’s a fake.”

“Oh? Well, I can’t help that. I drew based on appearance,” Sister Hermit deflected instantly.

Mi Xiaoliu: “?”

“Don’t get it? That’s a disguise,” Wei Shi snapped. “N1202 Mimicry—20 million vials on the black market, lasts about 24 hours. Rich.”

Mi Xiaoliu: “One million?”

“Gone. Go back to sleep.”

He hung up.

“……”

Mi Xiaoliu flexed her slender fingers, mentally calculating how many steamed buns she’d just lost.

As she stood there, someone else arrived.

“I see the car. License plate matches. And I hear screaming,” Yiwen murmured.

“Careful. I can’t keep up. Wait there—don’t act yet… Your breathing’s sped up.” The voice in her earpiece paused. “You were severely speeding earlier. We circled three times and still couldn’t catch you.”

“I know… Can you even ‘speed’ in the air?” Yiwen took a deep breath, eyeing the farmhouse’s second floor. “Broken window. Someone’s tied up inside. The screams are his.”

“Hostage?”

“Night Demon.”

“……Could be a trap.”

But by then, Yiwen had already leaped from the ground to the second-floor window.

The man’s right leg bent unnaturally at a non-joint point, the other locked straight. Only hoarse groans escaped his throat.

Incapacitated.

Yiwen cuffed him. “This is White Whale. Target apprehend—”

Then she noticed his eyes darting toward a pile of debris behind her.

Frowning, she twisted her wrist watch flashlight on.

A black-cloaked figure crouched there, trying to blend into the shadows.

Realizing she’d been spotted, Mi Xiaoliu gave up hiding. She launched herself at Yiwen, startling her.

At that speed, most wouldn’t react in time—like getting jumpscared mid-video.

The stairs were blocked. The window was the quickest exit, but Yiwen was in the way.

When Mi Xiaoliu charged, Yiwen didn’t dodge. She absolutely trusted her ability.

Crime City had four LV4 ability users among its special police—not only four, but as many as four. Most cities didn’t even have one.

…Yiwen wasn’t one of them.

But aside from range, all her stats met LV4 standards.

LV3 Ability: Force.

As the name suggested, she could manipulate the force within a five-meter radius—intensity, direction. The side effect? Terrible sense of direction.

Though her range was limited, even armor-piercing sniper rounds became harmless within her sphere. With a 360° barrier active, she didn’t even need to track bullets.

By that logic, this girl’s punch should feel like a feather’s touch.

In the split second it took her brain to process that Mi Xiaoliu wasn’t a physical-enhancement type, Yiwen casually reduced the incoming force to one-tenth and reached out to catch the fist.

So her hand slammed into her own chest at full power.

The impact shattered the wooden wall behind her, hurling her through two more barn walls before she finally skidded to a stop.

“Master, you should’ve held back… Did you kill him?” That person probably wasn’t a bad guy—he was in white and handcuffed. Sasha fretted. Please don’t let Master be charged with assaulting an officer…