You Haven't Seen a Real Fiend Yet

The moment Qu Xuanqing emerged from the morgue covered in blood, the audience could no longer witness the event. All they knew was that the ghosts in the morgue, as if under command, made way for Qu Xuanqing.

The ghostly figures bent down, not to bow to Qu Xuanqing, but towards a certain spot outside the morgue.

[Holy crap, who's outside? They can control the ghosts in the Fear Hospital!]

[Damn, who dares to Qu Xuanqing... could it be...?]

[Xu Shu: Despair Level]

Since Qu Xuanqing was stabbed, this is the first celebrity strategist to speak out.

Xu Shu's words were like a fuse that ignited a fire, and all the previously dormant celebrity predictors came out, because this was no small matter. It meant that among the guests at the Fear Hospital this time, there was one at the Despair Level!

They seemed to have suddenly woken up.

There are so few openly despair-level players right now. Every additional one means a shift in the power dynamics of current guilds and teams.

If a major guild gains a new "Despair" tier, its ranking may improve by one step.

There's a level of despair in the game, where someone can leap directly from obscurity to stardom!

The guests for this session included Midnight Guild, the Research Institute, the LSP Foundation, and six individuals without guild affiliation. The factions watching the live stream behind their screens were all thinking that whoever was the Despair Level member had to be identified, otherwise, they would suffer greatly due to the information asymmetry when they encountered each other in the future!

Who could it be?

Shafuri? Or Yu Jing?

No matter how you look at it, only these two people have a chance of advancing, unless someone else has been hiding their strength for a long time.

Didn't the Zhao family find out about this beforehand?

[Yan Ming doesn't know either? He's the best at gathering information among the Despair-level characters.]

[Is this a trump card hidden in the dead of night, to use the despairing Shafuri to take this opportunity to kill Qu Xuanqing? After all, we've been chasing him for so long, this is a good opportunity.]

[Xu Shu: Not from our guild]

Xu Shu sent a comment, his gaze slightly darkening.

Doesn't he already know if it's Shafuri? If that domineering woman Shafuri were promoted, she would definitely come looking for trouble with him immediately, Medusa's attitude towards Shafuri would also change. So, it's not her.

He got up from his room, put on his coat, the half-mask still firmly on his face, glanced at the swirling snow in the city, pulled the hood over his head, and went out.

There are many people like him; they either actively seek out someone or are summoned by people within a powerful organization.

During the live broadcast, Qu Xuanqing and Han Yan could foresee the turmoil in the outside world, but this was not relevant to them for the time being. Their conflict had become so urgent that neither of them could afford to be distracted.

Qu Xuanqing didn't understand why Han Yan was revealing his despair-level abilities at this moment. Wouldn't doing so alert the enemy?

Even if others don't know he's the one at the Despair level, they'll still have some doubts. What good does that do for Han Yan?

It's normal that Qu Xuanqing doesn't understand Han Yan's purpose.

Han Yan was more adept at strategy and planning than Qu Xuanqing; perhaps at this moment, his every move held a deeper meaning.

She doesn't need to care about that.

She believed that as long as she followed Yu Xing's instructions, Han Yan would not be able to win.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Blood droplets fell from the edge of the hospital gown, landing on the ground and blooming into vibrant flowers, but sadly hidden in the darkness, their beauty unappreciated.

Qu Xuanqing finally walked up to Han Yan in the dark. She couldn't see Han Yan, but Han Yan could see her clearly with his night vision.

"Hmm? It's Qu Xuanqing... What's wrong? Are you injured?" His movements were extremely relaxed and comfortable, but his tone was deliberately made to sound urgent and surprised, as if he had just passed by outside and seen the injured Qu Xuanqing.

Although he knew Qu Xuanqing wouldn't make a wrong judgment because of this, he still wanted to humiliate her in this way.

See, wasn't he so awesome? How come he's in such a sorry state in my hands?

"..." Qu Xuanqing's throat was pierced, and he seemed completely unable to speak at this moment.

But now that she was out of the morgue's surveillance cameras, she no longer needed to feign surprise and anger. She took a few more steps forward, stopped, and looked precisely at where Han Yan was.

Han Yan was slightly startled, then remembered that Qu Xuanqing's hearing was good enough for her to locate him where he had just spoken.

"Haha, need any help, Boss Qu?" He remained wary and kept a certain distance from Qu Xuanqing, never standing within Qu Xuanqing's reach.

Even though every joint in Qu Xuanqing's arm should have been severed by his ghostly manipulation, the fact that she could still walk meant that she could completely defy the rules of the human body, and she remained dangerous.

The two were now standing in a pitch-black corridor. Not far away was an elevator, but the button was on the third floor, and it showed no sign of coming down.

One was relaxed and at ease, the other was disheveled; one had empty hands, the other held a sword in his right hand.

Qu Xuanqing was not as tall as Han Yan. She raised her head slightly, her face was indifferent, and there was no extra emotion in her eyes.

There was nothing but utter ferocity in those eyes.

"What?" Han Yan laughed. "Are you trying to imply that all your actions just now were an act, and that this is the time for me, the one who exposed myself, to be punished?"

If he's at the level of mourning, then things might really develop in that direction, although he certainly wouldn't allow himself to be alone with Qu Xuanqing.

But things are different now. He is truly in despair, and he hasn't told anyone except the Lingren.

No one could know in advance. Even with abilities like divination, only Yan Ming of the Widow Investigation Team at the Despair level, might be able to find out beforehand. And who is on Yu Xing and Qu Xuanqing's side? Zhao Mou? Ha.

Zhao Mou is quite capable, but unfortunately he hasn't fully matured yet, so it's impossible for him to divine anything beyond his level.

Therefore, Qu Xuanqing must not know his true level. Without making preparations in advance, his Despair level would inevitably suppress the other party's Mourning level. He was playing cat and mouse from beginning to end.

However

"Punish you? You're really enthusiastic." Qu Xuanqing's voice rang in Han Yan's ears. He paused and looked at her with some surprise.

He personally manipulated the ghostly figure to pierce Qu Xuanqing's throat; blood was still dripping. How could she possibly speak?

Qu Xuanqing was not only speaking, but her voice was also sinister, ethereal, and eerie, yet terrifying.

Without opening her mouth, and with her voice coming from who-knows-where, her gaze pierced through the darkness and landed precisely on Han Yan's face, leaving a long, bloody gash down his smiling lips toward his ear.

"I've always been... this enthusiastic." After a brief moment of surprise, Han Yan's smile widened, his eyes giving the illusion of a gentle spring breeze. "I didn't expect this. I thought my attack would at least inflict a fatal wound on you, but it seems you still have at least seventy percent of your Combat Power."

"Qu Xuanqing, you are called a witch, and you truly live up to the name. You are indeed a terrifying woman, like a devil."

He pointed with his finger, and before anyone knew what kind of offering was used, Qu Xuanqing felt her body lose control and involuntarily stagger backward.

She retreated to a wall, with no way to back up, at least ten meters away from Han Yan. This was beyond the farthest distance she had ever covered in her records when using her Wicked Grace to kill an enemy.

This Han Yan is indeed cautious.

Qu Xuanqing realized that she couldn't break free from Han Yan's control on her own. This was a suppression ability at the Despair level. A sacrifice with the same ability would be several times stronger in the hands of a Despair level user than in the hands of a Mourning level user.

Han Yan has already advanced to the Despair level, something neither Yu Xing nor Zhao Mou anticipated, and naturally they hadn't given her any instructions.

But it's not like there's no way out yet.

With a sudden thought, she took out the second offering to be used in this deduction from her Persona Mask: a small golden bell. Since she couldn't move, the bell fell to the ground after it appeared, striking the ground and making a crisp, melodious sound.

The moment the bell rang, the invisible restraint vanished. Since Qu Xuanqing couldn't see anything anyway, she squatted down and groped for the small bell on the ground.

Han Yan looked at her, a strange feeling rising in his heart.

It seems that Qu Xuanqing's other senses are really very weak, except for sight?

This wasn't because he was fooled by Qu Xuanqing's performance and lowered his guard, but because in all the surviving footage of Qu Xuanqing, whether she was killing, completing missions, or making deductions, she relied primarily on her vision. She had keen eyesight and could discover things that were deeply hidden.

After extensive research, it is generally agreed that Qu Xuanqing relied heavily on vision, while her other senses were barely used.

But no one thought her hearing, sense of smell, or other abilities were weak. How could someone skilled in swordsmanship have weak abilities in these areas?

They preferred to believe that Qu Xuanqing didn't need these senses, although of course, these senses might not be as good as her eyesight.

Therefore, at the start of this round, Han Yan chose to negotiate with the system to make Qu Xuanqing suffer from night blindness.

By crippling her eyesight, Han Yan believed that at least one of Qu Xuanqing's most prized abilities had been destroyed. Even if she needed to utilize other senses, they wouldn't be as abnormal as her eyesight. And yet... he actually discovered Qu Xuanqing's weakness?

This woman's hearing and perception were almost worse than normal. She couldn't even tell where the bell fell, nor could she sense the approach of the ghostly figure. Her eyesight was ruined, which was like ruining all her senses.

This situation likely indicates that Qu Xuanqing gambled his points enhancement and the conditions for using certain offerings on his eyes, which would explain his Qu Xuanqing eyesight.

"Qu Xuanqing, you're really interesting. I've never met a woman more extreme than you." Han Yan couldn't help but speak up, wanting to test her, "You really trust your eyes that much? Haven't you considered that if your eyes are injured, you'll be crippled?"

"I would never... let anyone hurt my eyes."

The sound was still that ethereal and uncertain. Qu Xuanqing touched the golden bell, held it in her hand, and shook it.

Her wounds twitched and healed partially in an instant.

Han Yan curled his lips into a smile, and the wounds reopened, even larger than before.

This is so enjoyable.

Is this what it feels like to be completely suppressed?

He could have easily torn open Qu Xuanqing's existing wounds from a distance. Without her sight, Qu Xuanqing naturally couldn't see the invisible lines connecting his fingers to those wounds, nor could she use her impressive speed to dodge such an attack.

But he wanted to wait until Qu Xuanqing thought his injuries were healed before tearing them apart, so that Qu Xuanqing could experience the pain of flesh and blood all over again—it felt so good!

Moreover, Qu Xuanqing's answer just now was exactly in line with her personality: extremely arrogant and full of hostility. She might actually give up improving her other senses because of her confidence, or even deliberately let her other senses degenerate in order to pursue the ultimate.

"Is it fun?" Qu Xuanqing asked.

"Don't you find this interesting? Pain can bring a person to their senses. Qu Xuanqing, are you awake now?" A gun appeared in Han Yan's hand.

A pure black pistol with no physical form, only an illusory outline.

This is his most readily available weapon offering; for someone like him who isn't very good at close combat, a long-range supernatural firearm is undoubtedly the best choice.

"Have you felt it... that your title of 'Strongest Mourning Level' is utterly insignificant compared to the 'Despair Level'?"

"Ah, perhaps." Qu Xuanqing knew there was something fishy about her wound, so she simply put away the golden bell and tore off a strip of fabric from the hem of her hospital gown with her left hand.

The long piece of cloth was soaking wet, already stained with blood, and looked horrifying to hold.

With the hand holding the sword, she used a strip of cloth as a blindfold, covering her eyes once and then tying it in a tight knot at the back of her head.

Han Yan did not stop her. In fact, he didn't care about Qu Xuanqing's actions at all. The only thing that made him wary of Qu Xuanqing was her swordsmanship. Apart from that, he was confident that he could defeat any sacrifice with special abilities.

Only that weapon, the Wicked Grace, is so powerful that even those at the Despair level might not be able to defend against it.

He found it intriguing; even if Qu Xuanqing could temporarily awaken his other senses with the specific action of "blindfolding," it would only be a death throes.

Most importantly, in this case, he was the perpetrator, while Qu Xuanqing was just a patient. He could kill Qu Xuanqing, but Qu Xuanqing couldn't kill him; the rules were all on his side.

All of Qu Xuanqing's struggles were just a gamble on a chance to escape. Once Yu Xing killed someone else and someone sounded the alarm, she could accuse him during the identification process.

But... will anyone believe that?

Qu Xuanqing's words might be trusted by the guests present, but what about the audience members outside...? Would they believe them?

No, if he were to slightly distort the truth and pin a crime on Qu Xuanqing, the already prejudiced audience would fill in the details themselves and conclude that Qu Xuanqing was lying.

Who told her to be such a foolish woman, never knowing how to consider other people's feelings?

Thinking of this, Han Yan chuckled with pleasure. He moved his fingers with great interest, and instantly, Qu Xuanqing's wounds burst open one after another under the pull of the void threads. Her whole body looked as if it had been washed in blood, and apart from the pretty face that he had deliberately preserved, there was not a single intact part of her.

"Does it hurt? If it hurts, just yell it out. I've never heard you cry out in pain before. Maybe only Yu Xing has heard it in bed?" Han Yan thought of the rumors circulating outside, then shook his head and chuckled, "No, although that's what they all say, I don't think you two have that kind of relationship. You're just a pawn. How could he possibly have such a troublesome relationship with you?"

Clearly, Han Yan described the relationship between boyfriends/girlfriends, and even spouses, as "endless trouble."

Qu Xuanqing recalled that Han Yan had once had a wife and had a daughter, Han Xinyi, with her. After that, his wife disappeared.

Perhaps all Han Yan wants is a child with similar genes to him, someone who can be raised to become Fallen Path.

"Then let me be the first person to hear you cry out in pain, okay? Just scream once, and I promise you, if you scream even once, I'll kill you right away and stop torturing you, okay?" Han Yan softened his voice and coaxed softly.

Upon hearing his words, Qu Xuanqing felt a strange urge to believe him, as if he would definitely keep his promise, as if killing her directly would be a great favor.

But...

Qu Xuanqing gripped the sword tightly; even though every inch of her skin was cracking, her hand holding the sword did not tremble at all.

Her wrists, stained with blood, bore deep, bone-revealing wounds, yet she could still move them freely, as if she felt no pain.

Indeed, she never cried out in pain.

Because she doesn't feel pain.

"Unfortunately, there's one piece of information that none of you have obtained."

"Is it because I'm too strong and rarely get injured that none of you noticed?"

The ethereal voice carried a hint of mockery.

The sword in Qu Xuanqing's hand suddenly broke.

It was just an ordinary-looking sword. Legend has it that [Wicked Grace] had killed countless people, and the more it killed in a simulation, the more beautiful it became. So Han Yan wasn't surprised to see the sword's appearance, because this evil sword hadn't seen any blood in the Fear Hospital yet.

But now, the way this sword is used seems to be different from what's described in the information.

In an instant, the sword broke into more than a dozen pieces. The rust and bloodstains on the fragments mingled together and eerily lingered in the air. The next moment, they all plunged into Qu Xuanqing's already wounded body!

"I can't feel any pain at all."

One end of the fragment was buried in the flesh, while the other end breathed in the dark air, gradually shedding its false outer shell to reveal its true, shattered form.

Han Yan's expression changed, and he immediately retreated several meters. The whites of his eyes disappeared, and at first glance, they were almost completely black. The state of Qu Xuanqing was reflected in those pure black eyes.

Then, wisps of mist, almost tangible, slowly emerged from the fragments, coalescing into a gigantic phantom behind Qu Xuanqing.

That was also a woman.

Or rather, it was a semi-transparent woman who looked exactly like Qu Xuanqing. Amidst the surging of blood energy, the woman wore a blood-red dress, her black hair was scattered, some strands of which gathered into strands of hair rope, hanging from masks that seemed to have life of their own, while the rest of her hair extended into the darkness, seemingly without end.

The woman's face was as pale as paper, her eyes were closed, and there was a bloodstain at the corner of her eye that marked the lines. Her lips were slightly parted, and the voice that Han Yan had just heard Qu Xuanqing speaking came from this woman.

"Han Yan..."

The woman's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she was about to open her eyes. She raised one arm, Qu Xuanqing also raised one arm.

The blood energy in her hand condensed into a long sword that was entirely blood red. The same thing appeared in Qu Xuanqing's hand as well. The blood red long sword, from the hilt to the tip, looked as if it had been polished by a craftsman for many years, with every part carefully drawn with patterns. The ethereal blood energy was the pattern on the sword.

An eyeball was embedded in the center of the sword hilt. The eyeball rolled around and locked onto Han Yan. Two lines of bloody tears flowed from under the blindfold of Qu Xuanqing.

"You haven't seen a real witch yet..."

The woman behind Qu Xuanqing suddenly opened her eyes!

All the threads of nothingness collapsed in an instant, surging towards Han Yan, the source, with a terrifying force. Han Yan managed to loosen these threads at the last second, thus avoiding having his fingers severed.

At this moment, an unprecedented sense of fear enveloped Han Yan. Although Qu Xuanqing's aura was still at the Mourning level, the power emanating from that sword and the woman in the blood-red dress was enough to make someone at the Despair level tremble!

Countless fragmented thoughts flashed through Han Yan's mind.

Qu Xuanqing is not afraid of pain.

Even with joint injuries, Qu Xuanqing can move freely.

Qu Xuanqing was not declared dead despite having his throat slit.

Qu Xuanqing can speak without moving his mouth.

Qu Xuanqing seemed to have no other senses.

Qu Xuanqing's aloof temperament and the hidden malice within her always seemed incompatible.

... Qu Xuanqing's movements were almost identical to those of the ghostly woman behind him, like a puppet on a string.

He lost control of Qu Xuanqing; now, it is that devilish woman who controls Qu Xuanqing.

No, it's not.

Han Yan understood.

Qu Xuanqing was never the woman who appeared delicate and tall, with high combat power but slightly inferior intelligence.

So far, everyone who has seen "Qu Xuanqing" is merely a puppet of the real Qu Xuanqing. The real Qu Xuanqing is that ghost-like female devil wielding the blood-red [Wicked Grace]!