I was ambushed!?
Le Yu's mind raced through countless possibilities. Only he and his contact knew the exact time and place of this meeting, yet someone had actually lain in wait for him—and successfully ambushed him, dragging him into a little black room!
Obviously, something had happened to his contact!
They had probably even scattered his ashes!
But Le Yu wasn't a sitting duck waiting to die—not at least as far as his body was concerned! He quickly stabilized his footing, completely ignoring the danger of having his left hand restrained. His right elbow slammed backward, and he pressed his entire body against the person restraining him from behind!
Biting Combat Arts: Flood Exhalation!
"Good boy, stop struggling." The cold voice chuckled softly.
Smack, smack!
His elbow strike was blocked by a palm, while his full-powered body check sank like a stone into the sea. Le Yu felt his entire body go numb, as if he had slammed into steel!
Le Yu's expression changed drastically!
His attack had been almost completely ineffective!
How was that possible!?
It wasn't that Le Yu was overly arrogant. It was because of the environment—there wasn't a single light source in the room. An Awakened had no light to borrow, so this was purely a contest of physical strength. Even if his opponent was a Radiant-level powerhouse, Le Yu wouldn't have been afraid in a dark environment. Besides, he wasn't afraid of pain!
Unless his opponent was some three-hundred-pound fatty of a powerhouse, in which case Le Yu truly wouldn't even be able to break through his defenses. Yet from the sensation of their bodies colliding, he could tell that his opponent wasn't much stronger than him.
And yet, his fierce counterattack had been effortlessly neutralized!
Le Yu's heart sank. The gap between them was practically that between a child and an adult in a fistfight. Resistance was pointless. His opponent's account character level was clearly a whole tier higher than Qian Yuliu's!
So he stiffened his neck and laughed loudly, looking as if he had already resigned himself to death:
"If you've got the guts, kill me!"
Le Yu understood now. When faced with an enemy he couldn't defeat, he shouldn't panic!
At worst, he would die!
Once I die, your account will be mine anyway!
If you can't beat your enemy, steal their account!
That was Le Yu's way of surviving!
"I won't kill you." The cold voice remained utterly flat, as if merely stating a fact, while dragging Le Yu toward the darkness. "Don't yell randomly. Don't forget your purpose."
Le Yu was slightly taken aback. He realized that he seemed to be getting dragged swiftly into an underground passage. His Steel-soled Boots struck the stairs with a crisp sound.
Oh no, oh no. Could this guy be planning to torture me? Torture wouldn't be a big deal anyway—I wasn't afraid of pain. But what if he was also lusting after Qian Yuliu's body? I couldn't withstand that kind of humiliation...
While Le Yu's imagination ran wild, the lights in the underground passage suddenly came on. The light that split open the darkness made Le Yu narrow his eyes slightly.
"Looks like you've misunderstood something... 'Meteor.'" The cold voice chuckled.
Le Yu froze for a moment, then realized that the grip on his throat and left wrist had already loosened. He quickly adjusted his stance to face the enemy, then realized that the other person was calling him. He suddenly understood. "You're Star-Picker?"
Standing before Le Yu was a young man in a black hooded windbreaker. His face was very pale, his lips thin, and his features gaunt. He didn't look particularly strong—in fact, he even seemed a little delicate.
Yet this very man had pinned Le Yu down and beaten him senseless in a lightless environment. If he had wanted to do anything untoward to Le Yu, Le Yu truly wouldn't have been able to fight back.
The hooded young man said nothing. He went back and pulled the ground hatch shut to keep others from discovering the underground passage. Le Yu looked at the secret passage, which was a full two shoulder-widths across, and asked curiously, "Did you dig this yourself?"
"Most people in Eighteen Streets understand the principle of a wily rabbit having three burrows. I merely connected a few of those burrows." The hooded young man made a gesture inviting him forward. "You go first."
"Why?"
"I'm not used to people walking behind me."
"Neither am I." Le Yu insisted on arguing just for the sake of it.
The hooded young man studied Le Yu seriously. "Your personality isn't quite what 'Stargazer' described."
"Stargazer" referred to Lin Jinyao. Le Yu's eyes wandered. "How am I different?"
"Your intelligence is different." The hooded young man put both hands in his pockets. "I can go first, but then I'll have to turn off the passage lights. Are you sure?"
Le Yu's face darkened. In the dark, he had no ability to fight back at all, so he obediently went first, exposing his back, rear, and numerous other weaknesses.
The passage wasn't long. After walking roughly a dozen meters, Le Yu reached a wooden door at the end. The hooded young man said, "Don't touch the handle. Push the other side."
Le Yu blinked. Pushing the side opposite the handle actually opened the door directly—the side with the handle was the pivot!
"What would happen if I grabbed the handle and pushed?"
"It would detonate the Radiant Stone bombs in the passage, causing the entire passage to collapse."
Being a contact wasn't easy either... Le Yu muttered under his breath. After opening the door, he found another passage.
"Why do we still have to keep walking?"
"If someone triggered the trap, they would assume this passage led to the house above," the hooded young man said. "Isn't it common sense not to place a trap right outside your home?"
Le Yu tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'm very sure this is common sense I don't know."
"No need to thank me. We're colleagues, after all. I won't charge you tuition." The hooded young man wore a calm, unconcerned expression.
It took Le Yu's brain three hundred and sixty degrees of rotation to understand what the hooded young man meant. He thought that if he weren't so much weaker, he would immediately let the man know why his rear was so red. They followed the passage to the end, where there was another wooden door. This time, Le Yu had learned his lesson. "How does this door open?"
By straightforward logic, the enemy should have noticed the previous trap and wouldn't touch the handle again. So the handle should now be the correct way to open the door. But by reverse logic, perhaps the enemy could anticipate that anticipation, meaning the handle being the trap trigger would also be correct. However, by reverse-of-reverse logic...
While Le Yu's mind whirled, the hooded young man said calmly, "I've discovered that you not only lack common sense, but also have a poor memory."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't I say traps aren't placed outside the home? This is the entrance to my home. This is an ordinary door. Just push it open normally."
Although the hooded young man's tone remained flat, every word was clearly dripping with mockery.
With a dark expression, Le Yu pushed open the wooden door and entered a cramped basement. A white lamp hung from the ceiling, while four-tiered shelves stood around the room, holding all kinds of glass bottles. In the center of the basement was a bed—though Le Yu preferred to call it a slaughtering table. A tray on the bed held numerous scalpels and surgical forceps that gleamed with silver light, making one's blood run cold.
"Welcome to my home."
The hooded young man snapped his fingers, and the lights in the passage immediately went out. He closed the wooden door, walked to the bed, and sat down in a chair. He beckoned to Le Yu and pointed at the chair in front of him. "Please sit. Don't touch anything in this room except the bed. I've disinfected the bed. You can sit on it if you like."
Le Yu had no interest in indulging his twisted sense of humor. He took out his pocket watch and checked the time: 10:05.
He understood now as well. "The meeting place was a decoy from the very beginning."
The hooded young man nodded. "Of course. I had to guard against the possibility that you'd already been turned, captured, interrogated, or followed. When meeting someone for the first time, revealing none of your information is basic spycraft. You don't even know that, which proves my caution was justified."
Le Yu's face darkened. "Then how did you make sure you could intercept me along the way?"
The hooded young man pointed at the wall behind him. "There are only three routes to the meeting place. One is blocked by a pile of debris, and another has been sealed off by illegal construction. You only had one route available."
Le Yu looked over and saw a map of Star Engraving Prefecture hanging on the wall. It was far more detailed than his official copy—not only did it mark the boundaries of each faction, it also showed numerous side roads and shortcuts, along with detailed notations on light levels.
"As far as I know, you also had a little 'altercation' when you entered Eighteen Streets." The hooded young man spoke indifferently. "Although it's somewhat difficult to say, I think there may be something wrong with your head. At this point, reincarnating early might be the correct choice for you."
If it's difficult to say, then don't put it so harshly!
"That had nothing to do with me. He was the one who picked a fight. What else could I do besides beat him up?"
"Not letting trouble come looking for you is basic spycraft."
"I already told you, I don't know any of your common sense!"
The hooded young man's tone remained flat. "I already told you, no need to thank me."
Le Yu felt a splitting headache. He rubbed his temples and complained, "You're so much stronger than me. Shouldn't you be the one infiltrating the Statistics Department while I serve as your contact? Wouldn't that make more sense?"
The hooded young man blinked, then suddenly smiled, the corners of his mouth curling into a subtle grin. "It seems I haven't formally introduced myself."
He pulled back his hood, revealing pale hair streaked with strands of black. The basement's light immediately dimmed slightly—not figuratively. The light actually grew darker!
"I am White Night's underground liaison officer stationed in Star Engraving Prefecture, 'Star-Picker' Yin Yinyin." He took out a hair tie and bound his hair as he spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet you, 'Meteor' Qian Yuliu."
Le Yu stared at his head of white hair for several seconds. A possibility suddenly occurred to him.
He abruptly understood and asked directly, "How many years do you have left to live?"
"Three years." Yin Yinyin stated the time lightly, as if discussing some trivial matter.
P.S. The characters Qian Yuliu and Le Yu have already made the March list. Everyone can send some love to the driver and Number One!
Before you continue