Leave a Way Out

"Is it okay that he ran away?"

Xiya asked a question, wondering where Stone had been taken by the Mud Monster.

"After all, he's the son of an acquaintance. It's wise to leave some room for maneuver so that we can meet again in the future."

Lu Ban considered the Gudu, which was still fighting against the deity behind the door, and decided not to pursue Stone relentlessly.

"Speaking of which, what should we do with this thing?"

He pointed to the blooming Glass Flower, which covered the entire Catania Family mansion. Amidst the ruins and decay, a dazzling flower bloomed.

Inside the glass-like exterior wall is gray, viscous silt. The surface of the silt is undulating, as if countless twisted, hateful, and sorrowful faces are mixed within it.

This is a breathtaking work of art, no matter the world.

"Should we blow it up?"

Xiya felt a little itchy to touch him, and she glanced at Trist beside her.

"Trist, what's wrong?"

The famous detective from the Ruined City stared wide-eyed, speechless, at the scene before him.

"You just turned the head of the city's biggest gang into dust and blew up his house?"

Trist seemed to snap out of his daze.

Is something wrong?

Lu Ban countered with a question.

"No, this is not right. You guys are fine; you ran away after completing the Silent Land mission, but I have to stay here! If the whole Catania Family comes looking for trouble, will I still be able to eat?!"

Trist felt his life was in grave danger.

He just barged into the Catania family mansion, and then Corneon died and Stone ran away. It was definitely his doing!

"It's that simple, just dump all the blame on Stone."

Lu Ban replied without hesitation.

"Is this how you treat the son of someone you know? Didn't you just say you should leave some room for others to maneuver?"

Trist was speechless.

"If Stone died here, you would be unable to defend yourself. He has run away now and will definitely not come back to confront you. Whatever you say is the truth."

Lu Ban patted Trist on the shoulder to reassure him.

"So that's why you let him go?"

Trist suddenly felt that Lu Ban was quite terrifying. He seemed to be thinking of nothing, but in reality, he had thought of everything.

"No, that's not it. I think Stone might do something in the future. After all, I'm not a devil, and I won't do anything like that, like killing someone outright."

Lu Ban felt that after the incident on the Harmony Island, the life and death of the natives of other lands were sometimes not something he could decide.

After being subjected to the delirious murmurs of the Great Being, the Mud Monster should have lost all its sanity and become an infinitely expanding, Blind Ignorance being like its counterparts in the hospital.

But in the end, it restrained itself and protected Stone.

Considering Stone's description of the Mud Monster, and the human-like qualities it exhibits, it's hard to say whether it's a mistake caused by being forced into birth before it was fully formed.

In this situation, forcibly hunting down Stone is pointless and might even create problems for your future self.

"You could try to track down Stone. He's not an ordinary person. If you'd like, you could take him in as an assistant."

Lu Ban added.

"???"

Trist couldn't understand it.

Now the Catania Family is 100% looking for revenge on Stone. He will be relentlessly hunted down, and his dreams and hopes have been shattered. He'll be too busy trying to kill Trist to help him.

"You don't understand. Stone is a smart man. He has witnessed extraordinary power. He understands the stakes very well. Just like Corneon, he doesn't care whether someone was a friend or an enemy before, as long as it benefits him."

Lu Ban explained.

"You've cracked the Catania Family case. They'll thank you, and those in the upper echelons will offer you protection because you indirectly took down Corneon. The Catania Family will soon fall apart and start fighting amongst themselves because they've lost their leader. Old Cui, your future is bright!"

"I hope what you're saying is true."

Trist felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

"Remember to treat us to something delicious when the time comes."

Xiya was only interested in food, but then she thought about it again.

"So, who exactly is this mud, and why does it listen to Stone?"

"I think it's possible that Stone himself came into contact with the corruption of the otherworld, so the monster treated him as one of its own, or that he had helped Liz before, so when the girl was devoured by the rampaging monster, the remaining consciousness chose Stone?"

Trist will pull his thoughts away from the question of how to clean up the mess.

"Why don't you ask it yourself?"

Lu Ban pointed to the blooming Glass Flower.

The monster is dead, and this Glass Flower may become a landmark building here, standing in the wealthy area.

But there must be a reason why it chose Trist to depict those dreams.

Trist reached out and touched the crystal-clear Glass Flower, and in an instant, the scenery before him changed.

This is a kind of pollution seeping into his consciousness, bringing him knowledge while also eroding him.

Trist saw that he was lying on a bed.

This is that room.

He felt extremely weak, and even breathing was exhausting all his strength.

There was a commotion outside the door; I didn't know what had happened.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached.

Trist's gaze shifted towards the door, which was suddenly pushed open, and Liz rushed in with a look of anxiety on her face. She quickly closed the door behind her.

"There are a lot of people outside, and they are all carrying guns. They may be Mr. Tack. They may be looking for Mr. Tack. We must leave immediately."

As she spoke, Liz tried to pick up Trist, but the frail strength of a young girl was clearly insufficient. She failed once, twice, and the sounds outside the door grew louder and louder. This time, Trist could clearly hear that it was the sound of gunfire.

Thump thump thump—

The door was pushed open, and shouts and wails mingled with the sounds of screams. Trist saw that the person outside had been shot through the head, and the blood splattered onto the walls, turning them crimson.

"Ah!"

Liz screamed as she saw men in black suits sweep past the doorway, several of them rushing forward and firing into the next room.

A moment later, it became quiet next door, as if some sound had been heard, followed by another gunshot.

Liz covered her mouth and hugged Trist tightly. She stared blankly at the gangsters outside the door, unable to utter a sound.

"It's him, it's definitely him."

Trist saw the gang bring a woman, Flora, who pointed out Tack's body and laughed maniacally.

The gangsters exchanged a few words and then prepared to leave.

At that moment, Flora suddenly looked at Liz and Trist in the room and raised her hand.

"These two are also Tack's mistresses; we can't let them live."

The gangsters exchanged glances, and several of them took Flora away. Trist noticed that Mackey was among them. Then, a man who looked like a gang leader walked into the room.

The man pinched Liz's face to confirm the girl's appearance, and then he began to tear at Liz's clothes while hurling extremely offensive insults.

Liz struggled violently and scratched the man.

Enraged, the gangster pulled out a pistol from his waist and fired at Liz.

Bang bang bang—

Liz fell backward, her petite body drifting down like a flower petal.

Trist's vision turned bright red.

He felt something gushing out of his body, accompanied by intense emotions.

The gray silt burst forth, tearing the gang apart.

More gangsters rushed in and opened fire, but the bullets did not harm Trist. Instead, the tentacles made of mud pierced through their bodies one by one, and the will of the dead flowed into Trist's brain, making him feel dizzy.

Finally, the gangsters were all dead.

Trist approached Liz and looked at the girl who had been his only family. Mud had spread and covered Liz's body.

In Liz's increasingly unfocused eyes, Trist saw his final reflection.

It was a face almost identical to Liz's, but noticeably thinner and more fragile.

"Live on."

With her last breath, Liz uttered a sentence and a name.

"Ai Ou".

Thanks to "Xue Wuyin Jiang", "Fantasy Bai Zhou", "Cute Park So Yeon", "Book Friends 20200105183423683" and "Self-Belief" for the 100-coin reward!