Exile

Like a stroke of misfortune, the chandelier came crashing down precisely toward the middle-aged man.

As if it had been fate all along. Sudden and deadly!

Was this the fate the family had to bear for its rise to power?

No! Something about this felt very wrong.

As an old unlucky bastard, Li Yèlái noticed the danger in advance.

There was no helping it. He was the kind of old unlucky bastard who, even when passing a pond, would wonder whether a fish might leap out and smack him with its tail.

The moment he saw the chandelier, he had imagined how he would react and make up for it if it suddenly fell.

So, the instant he sensed something, Li Yèlái reacted.

The two bodyguards behind Second Master Wang turned pale. One grabbed the middle-aged man and desperately pulled him backward.

The other was filled with terror and, for a moment, did not dare move.

Overwhelmed by the terror of life and death, he abandoned his duty as a bodyguard and did not risk saving his employer.

Second Master Wang, the middle-aged man, merely felt the light above him dim as the bodyguard behind him frantically tugged at him.

He did not even understand what was happening.

Then, in the next instant, he saw a handsome young man in a suit suddenly spring into action at a speed no ordinary person could manage, launching a flying kick at him.

Fuck! It's coming for me! The thought had barely crossed Second Master Wang's mind when searing pain erupted from his shoulder. His body flew through the air, taking the bodyguard behind him flying as well.

Crash.

Only then did the sound of the chandelier falling reach his ears, along with the terrified screams of nearby guests.

Watching Li Yèlái kick Second Master Wang away with a flying kick, swiftly evade the falling chandelier, and return to her side, Cheese swept her gaze around and muttered, "Wasn't there a little personal feeling behind that kick?"

"How could there be? If he died, our mission would fail," Li Yèlái replied, equally vigilant.

If he had not kicked Second Master Wang away, the chandelier would probably have claimed a head.

A chandelier this huge and heavy would likely have seriously injured even a psychic.

"But he's our Sugar Daddy's son." A ghostly glimmer flashed in Detective's eyes. He had clearly activated his ability.

"Then wouldn't that make him our peer?" Li Yèlái chuckled. "He should be thanking us."

"Quit fooling around and stay alert." Cheese jabbed Li Yèlái with her elbow.

The scene was rather chaotic. With the chandelier suddenly crashing down, the hall became much darker. Amid the screams, some people retreated in panic while others nervously rushed forward.

Many glamorous young women had stepped out of their high heels, while the suave young men could not hide their panic either.

In the dim light, a clamor rose from every direction.

"Someone's dead! Run!"

"Second Master Wang got hit! Call an ambulance!"

"No, Second Master Wang was kicked away!"

"What the hell happened?"

"Stop pushing me, pervert!"

"Ow, who took off my shoe?"

"Calm down! Don't run around!"

Amid the chaos, Li Yèlái, Detective, and Cheese calmly observed their surroundings.

"Be careful. It could be a psychic from the Nether Path," Cheese warned quietly. "I didn't see him."

"My Trace Pursuit didn't find any traces left behind either," Detective replied. "If it really was the Nether Path, then the other party had mastered at least two abilities. One for invisibility, one for teleportation. Otherwise, traces would definitely have been left behind!"

"Could it have been an ability from another path? Divine Command?" Li Yèlái slipped one hand behind his back and gripped the Jet Tomahawk.

"No. If it were Divine Command, we would at least be able to see the weapon," Cheese replied.

Everything that had just happened looked like an accident.

But it was completely different from Li Yèlái's misfortune.

According to the official investigation, Li Yèlái's misfortune was an intertwining of countless coincidences and accidents.

Take being struck by a chandelier, for example.

There would inevitably have been an inconspicuous issue with the chandelier's fixture, perhaps even with the ceiling itself.

In the end, it would create a certain inevitability.

But what had just happened was different. Someone had directly severed the chandelier, forcing it to fall.

This was a man-made accident!

As psychics, Li Yèlái and the others had sensed some movement.

Unfortunately, their eyes had not seen it happen.

"Two abilities. A Second Awakening Underworld?" The three of them felt their hearts sink. If the assassin was a Second Awakening Underworld, this mission would be extremely difficult.

"This time, I'll help from the shadows," Cheese said quietly before blending into the crowd.

Soon, as more lights came on, the unrest gradually subsided.

Some of the guests resumed their elegant, noble composure, as if everything before had been nothing more than a chaotic illusion.

Taking advantage of the earlier commotion, Cheese quietly put some distance between herself and Li Yèlái and Detective.

She could not expose her identity as an official handler.

So she mixed into the crowd with a frightened, pitiful expression, drawing concerned inquiries from quite a few young men.

On the other side, bodyguards immediately rushed over to Second Master Wang, intending to help him up from the floor.

To their surprise, his face was deathly pale as he weakly said, "Don't move me. Broken, it's broken! Get someone, get someone!"

Soon, more security personnel and private doctors arrived.

Quite a few security guards subtly surrounded Li Yèlái and Detective.

Fortunately, Second Master Wang was still clear-headed. After being placed on a stretcher, he did not make things difficult for Li Yèlái. Instead, his face pale, he said, "Little brother, thank you. You saved my life. I'll repay you."

That flying kick had directly fractured two of his bones.

Compared to being hit by the chandelier, that counted as a minor injury.

But it still frightened Second Master Wang. If Li Yèlái's kick had landed even slightly off and struck his chest, the outcome likely would not have been much better than getting hit by the chandelier.

Detective replied, "We're only doing this for the money."

Their identities were psychics hired by the Old Patriarch, so there was nothing wrong with saying that.

Yet surprise and suspicion flashed through Second Master Wang's eyes. He was clearly confused by their identities.

What? Second Master Wang doesn't know his father hired psychics? Li Yèlái thought.

Detective also seemed thoughtful.

After such an incident, the banquet ended hastily for safety reasons.

The guests left one after another.

Cheese, who had been mingling among the guests, had already vanished. No one knew where she had hidden.

Li Yèlái and Detective were invited to the second floor by the old butler, who had appeared again.

"Thanks to you, Second Young Master was saved."

The butler now looked at Li Yèlái with awe in his eyes.

He had been in the second-floor corridor earlier and had witnessed Li Yèlái kick Second Master Wang and a bodyguard away.

So this was what a psychic was like? The old butler marveled inwardly, gaining a new understanding of how dangerous psychics could be.

Li Yèlái nodded slightly, then hoisted his Large Black Umbrella onto his shoulder and followed the old butler.

Compared to the spacious hall, the second floor was more refined and lavishly furnished.

Expensive portraits hung on the walls every few meters.

Naturally, there was also much heavier security.

The black-clad servants moving through the corridors all had obvious bulges at their waists.

Good lord, the Wang Clan even had quite a bit of private armed force? They really did come from Scavengers.

Li Yèlái pondered this inwardly.

A few minutes later, the old butler led the two of them to a large room at the very end of the second floor.

Several people were already seated in the spacious room, four in total, men and women alike.

On the left sat a young woman in a white dress in her twenties, youthful and beautiful.

In the middle sat a white-haired old man, bent with age.

The old man wore a thick robe and had a kindly smile on his face.

On the right sat a lavishly dressed middle-aged woman and a young man who somewhat resembled Second Master Wang.

They looked at the young woman in white with either disgust or wariness.

They were the last remaining members of the Wang Clan.

The old man seated in the center was Wang De.

He was nearly ninety years old now, an old man who had lived through the chaotic era.

Though aged, he still looked remarkably robust.

The young woman in white was the daughter of Wang De's eldest son. In other words, Wang De's granddaughter.

The middle-aged woman was Wang De's third daughter.

The young man was Second Master Wang's son.

Aside from the injured Second Master Wang, all the remaining family members—or rather, all those qualified to inherit the family—were present.

After the butler brought Li Yèlái and Detective inside, Wang De's gaze locked onto Li Yèlái.

More precisely, it locked onto the black umbrella in Li Yèlái's hand.

After a long while, Wang De laughed in a hoarse voice. "Young man, you remind me of an old acquaintance."

"You mean this black umbrella?" Li Yèlái pointed at the oversized Sun Umbrella and asked.

Wang De smiled. "Indeed. But his black umbrella was a little smaller. Still, I haven't seen him for a very, very long time."

"Was that old acquaintance the murderer targeting your family?" Li Yèlái asked bluntly.

"Mr. Wang De, I hope you can provide us with more information," Detective added.

After glancing at the butler, Wang De gave an enigmatic smile. "No need. This no longer concerns the two of you. This is our family matter."

Li Yèlái and Detective were both stunned, utterly unable to understand what was happening.

How did it no longer concern them?

Hadn't this old man hired them at a high price to come here?

What, just showing up meant the contract was over?

The butler beside them merely lowered his head and remained silent.

"Thank you for saving my son, but your task ends here. Don't worry, the deposit has already been transferred. You haven't made the trip for nothing." Wang De spoke calmly, but his eyes turned to the old butler. "Old Huang, you've followed me for thirty years. What, do you no longer recognize me as the head of this family? I'm not dead yet!"

His final words carried fury. Despite being nearly ninety, the old man still exuded terrifying pressure.

"Patriarch, I can't keep watching the children I watched grow up die in vain." The old butler pleaded quietly. "Let them investigate. No more people can die."

After thinking it over, Li Yèlái understood.

The one who had hired Detective was not actually the Old Patriarch.

It was the old butler himself? Or someone else?

No wonder Second Master Wang had been so surprised upon learning that Li Yèlái and Detective had been hired.

Wang De had never intended to hire psychics at all!

Even now, even after his son had nearly died, he still wanted to conceal some secret.

"Don't make things difficult for Uncle Huang. I was the one who hired them, Grandfather."

At that moment, a clear voice rang out.

The young woman in white sitting on the left sofa suddenly spoke.

Her long black hair draped over her shoulders as she looked at the old man. "How long is our family going to remain cursed? Was my father's death not enough? Grandfather, stop hiding it. Tell us."

The old man looked at the girl with disbelief in his eyes, which soon turned vicious. He slammed the coffee table hard. "I'm not dead yet! The position of family head hasn't fallen into your hands! You think you can order me around?"

The old man's threat made the young woman in white tremble, tears welling in her eyes.

"That's right. What right does a junior like you have to make demands of Father?" the other woman chimed in.

Only to be shouted down by the old man. "Shut up!"

Then, the old man looked at Li Yèlái and Detective. "You two, leave this place. Forget everything. This is our family matter! Outsiders have no need to interfere!"

As the old man gave the order, the door behind Li Yèlái opened.

Several bodyguards appeared in the doorway, watching Li Yèlái and Detective warily.

Clearly, if Li Yèlái and the others refused to leave, things would turn ugly.

Li Yèlái and Detective frowned. They were not worried about the bodyguards. What troubled them was the current situation.

But simply leaving was clearly not right.

Li Yèlái was an official psychic, a disaster handler.

Since he had already discovered traces of a psychic murderer and some sort of curse, he could not simply stand by.

That was also why the authorities did not forbid handlers from taking private jobs.

If they discovered something related to psychics or even Forbidden Items while on a private job,

they had to resolve the problem before the situation became serious.

So, after Li Yèlái and Detective exchanged a look,

both of them moved to stand behind the young woman in white.

"Since you, Mr. Wang, weren't the one who hired us, there's no need for us to follow your instructions," Detective said with a smile. "Don't let my appearance fool you. I have professional ethics."

That was not a lie. Before becoming a psychic, Detective had been a private detective, though most of his work involved catching mistresses.

But regardless of how much the investigated party offered him, he would never betray his employer. He truly did have professional ethics.

Li Yèlái grumbled inwardly but said aloud, "We'll follow our employer's arrangements."

Seeing their choice, Wang De sneered. "You don't think two psychics can simply overpower me, do you? My Wang family may not compare to those great clans, but we are not something two mere psychics can shake! When I roamed the wilderness killing aberrations, neither of you had even been born yet!"

The next second, more armed personnel flooded into the room, raising rifles at Li Yèlái and Detective.

It was as if, at a single command, they would turn the two of them into sieves.

"You dared lay a hand on us?" Detective's face darkened. A psychic's barrier could indeed stop bullets.

But under a barrage of this scale, the Psychic Barrier would likely be drained dry very quickly. Then they would truly be dead!

Moreover, Detective had even spotted a Heat Gun!

"You actually have a Heat Gun?" Detective blurted out in astonishment.

A Heat Gun was a devastating weapon capable of greatly draining a Psychic Barrier.

At the same time, it was military-grade armament. Even the Security Bureau did not have many.

How had Wang De gotten his hands on a weapon like that?

"Back then, I was the one who brought the Heat Gun blueprints back to the megacity. So, I have some connections in the City Lord's Mansion. Killing two psychics who invaded the residence is no big—" Wang De's voice was icy, but it abruptly cut off.

Because a Crimson Longsword covered in several eyeballs suddenly appeared before him.

Li Yèlái held the blade in one hand and looked down at Wang De.

"You old bastard. Say that again?"