Mourning Hall.
It was empty.
Zheng Wuxiang stared at the black-and-white photograph of his son, Zheng Feng, on the wall.
Grief filled his eyes.
He had only one son.
And that son was dead.
At some point, someone else had entered the Mourning Hall.
A young woman in a black dress.
A black veil covered half her face, hiding her features.
She silently placed a bouquet of white flowers before Zheng Feng's photograph.
"What a shame. He was so young."
The woman sighed softly.
Zheng Wuxiang took a deep breath.
"You're the one who said Su Ye killed my son."
The woman smiled faintly.
"Haven't you already investigated?"
"Yes."
Zheng Wuxiang nodded.
After receiving the woman's message, he hadn't believed her right away. He had investigated it himself.
And then... he discovered that the clothes around his son's chest bore blood other than Zheng Feng's own.
Su Ye's blood!
But according to the Patrol Bureau,
the sequence of events that night should have been...
The Murderous Fiend took Zheng Feng hostage. Su Ye stayed behind to save him. The Murderous Fiend killed Zheng Feng. Su Ye fought the Murderous Fiend and dealt him a Killing Blow.
By that account, Zheng Feng should have been dead before the Murderous Fiend fought Su Ye.
Then why had Su Ye's blood been found on the clothes beside his son's wound?!
There was only one possibility.
Zheng Feng had died after Su Ye was injured!
Once Zheng Wuxiang learned that, he had only one thought.
Kill Su Ye!
He had to kill Su Ye!
The woman smiled faintly.
"Then we want the same thing."
Zheng Wuxiang shot her a cold look.
"Were you that Murderous Fiend's accomplice? You dare show your face to me? Aren't you afraid I'll tell the Patrol Bureau?"
The woman smiled faintly.
"You won't. If you tell them, you'll never be able to avenge your son, will you?"
"After all, even though you know how Zheng Feng died, you don't dare tell the Patrol Bureau. You know that even if you prove Su Ye killed him, Su Ye can claim it was an accident during the fight. There's no surveillance footage, so he can spin it however he wants."
"And Su Ye has awakened a Supernatural Ability. Even if he sacrificed Zheng Feng to protect himself, the Patrol Bureau would support him."
"Zheng Wuxiang, your son died for nothing."
Zheng Wuxiang clenched his fists.
Everything she said was true.
Just because Su Ye was a gifted Awakener, and because there were no surveillance cameras... he didn't dare speak up even though he knew how his son had died.
His son had died for nothing!
No...
He refused to accept that!
"Su Ye killed my son. I can't make the Patrol Bureau deliver justice and make him pay with his life."
"Then I'll kill him myself and avenge my son!"
Zheng Wuxiang looked at the smiling Zheng Feng in the photograph.
"Son, wait for me. Dad will avenge you soon!"
Beside him, the Black-Dressed Woman smiled faintly, pleased with his choice.
A Lang, wait for me.
Su Ye will be dead soon.
I'll never let the man who killed you get away with it.
Zheng Wuxiang took a deep breath and turned to the Black-Dressed Woman.
"You said you'd create an opportunity for me to kill Su Ye. How much longer?"
"Not long."
The woman smiled faintly.
"I looked into Su Ye thoroughly. He cultivates a technique called the Abyssal Demon Dragon Technique, which thrives on killing."
"And according to my investigation, Su Ye has been going to the Golden Moon Seafood Restaurant every night lately. He calls it work, but he's really there to kill those fish and shrimp."
"Second High School held a trial in the outskirts before, where students hunted field mice. Su Ye came in first. You can still find videos of him killing on the school forum."
"So... there's no doubt Su Ye lives for the kill."
"A little scheming is all it'll take to lure someone like him in."
"I've left a little something at Grape Manor outside the city. Knowing Su Ye, he'll head there soon."
"Once he's out of the city, away from all its cameras and the Patrol Bureau, killing him will be easy."
Zheng Wuxiang gave the Black-Dressed Woman a long look.
She had tracked Su Ye's movements in so little time. She was formidable.
And Su Ye's technique... that information was highly classified. If she had found it, she must have hacked Second High School's internal network.
She was a hacker, too.
But...
Whatever her identity, all that mattered was that he could avenge his son!
"Good. Then I'll wait for Su Ye to leave the city."
Hearing that Zhang Xuan planned to take the independent admissions exam made Su Ye feel the pressure.
Everyone was working so hard. He couldn't fall behind.
So lately, besides cultivating, Su Ye had spent even more time working at the Golden Moon Seafood Restaurant.
But his Slaughter Value still wasn't rising fast enough to satisfy him.
"I need to find a faster way to increase my Slaughter Value."
That day, while browsing the Patrol Bureau's internal system, Su Ye spotted a mission that caught his eye.
A vineyard at Grape Manor on the outskirts of Fangyuan City had recently suffered a Grape Leafhopper infestation.
The Grape Leafhoppers had mutated under the influence of Spiritual Energy, turning into mutant beasts.
They weren't particularly strong, only on par with human cultivators at the third or fourth level of Kaiyuan.
But they had gained far greater reproductive speed and biting strength. They kept eating the vines, causing heavy losses for Grape Manor.
The owner of Grape Manor had therefore asked the Patrol Bureau to deal with them.
The mission seemed tailor-made for Su Ye.
Had a gift just fallen into my lap?
Su Ye accepted the mission without hesitation and took two days off school.
He planned to complete it alone.
Just as Su Ye had called a car and was about to leave the city,
bzzz...
His pocket vibrated.
Su Ye pulled out his phone.
Zhang Baichuan.
"Su Ye, I have important news! We've identified that Murderous Fiend."
"His name was Gao Yilang. He was originally from L City, but disappeared three years ago. We believe that's when he became one of the Fallen Ones."
"He did have an ability to interfere with electronic signals, but it only worked in his immediate vicinity. In fact, Fangyuan City's surveillance system has been under sustained attack recently."
"The night you killed Gao Yilang, surveillance equipment failed at more than a dozen other locations across the city, not just near you. That's why the Patrol Bureau didn't realize something was wrong right away. Our personnel were spread too thin."
Su Ye nodded.
At last, he understood why the Murderous Fiend had been able to wreak havoc in Fangyuan City for so long without the Patrol Bureau bringing him to justice.
Wait... more than a dozen locations?
Zhang Baichuan's voice came through the phone.
"You've realized it too, haven't you? That's right. If surveillance equipment failed at more than a dozen locations, Gao Yilang wasn't acting alone. He had an accomplice!"
"And that accomplice probably knows about you by now. They may even be planning to come after you!"
"Su Ye, I've arranged for the Patrol Bureau to protect your family. You're in the greatest danger, so you must not leave the city for a while. Understand?!"
Don't leave Fangyuan City...
Su Ye thought of the mission he had just accepted.
Maybe...
This wasn't a gift from above.
It was a trap.
Before you continue