Seeking the Blade

In Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao spent most of his time shuttling between the Training Ground and his exclusive space.

He didn't summon Koshiro's projection again, instead choosing combat mode to hone his practical skills.

Though he 'died' in battle several times, Su Xiao still gained a great deal.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.

The Hunter is about to return to the real world. Please remember the rules of Reincarnation Paradise.

Under no circumstances may you reveal anything about Reincarnation Paradise in the real world, or you will receive a warning. If the warning is ignored, the Hunter will be summarily executed.

The Hunter cannot use abilities gained in Reincarnation Paradise in the real world, except for personal attributes and passive skills.

Most equipment or items obtained in Reincarnation Paradise cannot be retrieved in the real world and will remain locked, restoring upon return to Reincarnation Paradise.

Teleportation begins. Location: Real World.

The familiar sensation of teleportation appeared. When Su Xiao regained consciousness, he was lying inside a cold storage compartment.

The temperature inside the compartment was very low, and it was somewhat cramped. Su Xiao's expression darkened. There was only one possibility for where he was now.

He kicked at the compartment door at his feet. With his current strength, he directly deformed the door and sent it flying outward.

That kick not only launched the compartment door but also slid Su Xiao out along with it.

The compartment he was in resembled a long, metal drawer.

"Clang."

The compartment hit the ground, producing a loud crash in the silent room.

Su Xiao surveyed the room. The fluorescent lights cast an especially cold glow. His guess was correct—this was a morgue, a place for storing corpses.

Earlier, he had been 'shot' and his 'body' stored here. He had entered Reincarnation Paradise after faking his death. Reincarnation Paradise had locked onto his life force; he wasn't truly dead.

The loud noise from the morgue attracted someone's attention.

In the hospital's on-call room, a trainee nurse was startled by the sound.

The young nurse in a white coat recognized the noise as coming from the morgue downstairs. But her colleague on duty had gone out to buy a late-night snack. In the deep of night, the empty first floor of the hospital held only her—everyone else had already rested. She was too afraid to go out.

"No... it can't be a ghost, right? Don't overthink it. My teacher once said there are no such things as ghosts in the world. None, none... waaah..."

The young nurse's name was Yi Ruo. She had been interning as a nurse for two months.

"Thud."

Another loud crash came from the morgue. Yi Ruo screamed in fright. The hot water cup she was holding slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor.

That crash was Su Xiao violently breaking open the morgue door.

He walked down the narrow corridor. Rooms on both sides were labeled with various departments. The pungent smell of disinfectant told Su Xiao this was a hospital—and one in his city.

He had been here once before and had some impression of this small hospital.

He wasn't in a hurry to leave. He had to find his family heirloom blade.

He could lose anything, but not that blade.

Su Xiao looked around for a hospital staff member. He had no leads on the blade's whereabouts.

Soon, Su Xiao arrived at the door of an on-call room. The light was on inside, and a pretty young nurse was staring at him blankly.

Su Xiao pushed open the door and walked into the room. Before he could speak, the nurse sitting on the chair rolled her eyes back and fainted, sliding off the chair to the floor.

Puzzled, Su Xiao looked at the fallen nurse. He walked over and pinched her philtrum hard.

The young nurse slowly regained consciousness, but when she saw Su Xiao, terror filled her eyes. She instinctively wanted to scream.

Su Xiao immediately covered her mouth and nose.

"Don't make a sound, or I'll kill you."

Su Xiao had just left a Derivative World, and his killing intent was still heavy.

The young nurse nodded frantically, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Su Xiao, pitiful beyond words.

"Who brought me here?"

The nurse's earlier reaction made Su Xiao guess that she might have seen him before, which explained her current behavior.

"Mmm, mmm~"

The young nurse pointed at Su Xiao's hand, signaling that she couldn't speak. Su Xiao let go.

"Huff, huff~" First came a bout of heavy breathing.

"You... you're supposed to be dead, right? Your death has nothing to do with me, so don't come to claim my life. I... I've never even been in love, never done anything wrong... waaah..." The young nurse's voice trembled, tears pooling in her eyes.

Su Xiao still stared at her coldly.

"Answer my question."

Su Xiao's icy voice made the young nurse's body shudder.

"I don't know exactly who it was, but there's a registration record."

After searching the hospital records and getting a general idea of the situation, Su Xiao stood up and left directly.

East City Gardens was a neighborhood that wasn't high-end but had some reputation. Su Xiao was born in this second-tier city, so of course he knew where it was.

He flagged down a taxi on the dark street and headed straight for East City Gardens.

Ten minutes later, Su Xiao arrived.

He wouldn't enter through the main gate. He was off the grid now, and probably wanted for murder.

With Su Xiao's infiltration skills, he slipped into East City Gardens half an hour later. The ones who'd sent him to the morgue were a group of local thugs from East City. After some initial digging, he found out where they were holed up.

Inside a residential building, third floor, a bedroom. Steady breathing came from within. The darker Su Xiao's expression grew, the more he stared at the yellow-haired thug sleeping on the bed. His knife wasn't here.

Su Xiao was losing patience. The longer this dragged on, the slimmer his chances of finding the knife. So he crept closer to the sleeping thug.

As he drew near, Su Xiao suddenly lunged, locking his left arm around the thug's neck and gripping his left fist with his right hand—a guillotine choke from Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

This move was brutal. It cut off blood flow to the brain completely. With enough force, it could knock someone out in two to three seconds, and kill them in under ten.

The sleeping thug didn't even have a chance to yell. His body went limp.

Su Xiao hoisted the thug over his shoulder and left East City Gardens the same way he'd come. In the dead of night, getting in and out was child's play.

In a pitch-black alley, the thug slowly came to.

"If you want to live, answer my questions honestly."

"Who are you? I'm—"

Before the thug could finish, Su Xiao punched him square in the chest.

A pained groan escaped as the yellow-haired thug slumped to the ground.

"Where's my knife?"

The thug stared at Su Xiao in confusion, his face twisted in pain. That punch felt like being hit by a train.

"What knife? Who are you?"

"Su Xiao."

Standing in the dark alley, Su Xiao didn't bother hiding his real name.

At this point, there was no need for secrecy. He was sure that by tomorrow, he'd be "promoted" to a wanted fugitive.

"It's you. Your knife was already sent abroad for auction."

The thug's tone was calm, with no hint of deception.

"Lying."

Su Xiao grabbed the thug's fingers. A series of sharp cracks echoed through the alley, followed by a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

"That was five fingers. Next time, it's your neck. After you're dead, I'll find someone else. You're not the only one who knows about this. Death means losing everything."

The thug's face contorted, his eyes blazing with fury.

"That knife of yours was taken by our boss. Nothing to do with me."

"Good. Take me to your boss."