Skinny Dog

At night, when Li Yèlái returned to the old apartment in his own clothes,

it was already eleven.

Fortunately, Li Yèlái had told Li Yúnyān beforehand

that he was going to the New City District to deliver an antique. Otherwise, it would have been hard to explain why he'd come home so late.

After making sure there was no blood on his face and no trace of blood on his clothes, Li Yèlái knocked on the door.

Soon, a series of unlocking sounds came from behind the locked door.

Then it swung open.

A young woman with tousled hair stood in the doorway, looking anxiously at Li Yèlái. "You're so late! Do you know what time it is?"

Li Yèlái had already prepared an excuse. "I had to deliver a pretty valuable antique to the buyer's home. It was a long way away, in the New City District. But the client was generous this time and paid me quite a lot in overtime."

That wasn't exactly a lie. Taking a side job counted as working overtime, didn't it? As for the client, although he hadn't gotten the full payment yet, the deposit had already been paid.

One hundred thousand Mega City Coins, split evenly between Li Yèlái and Detective.

Fifty thousand Mega City Coins each, already deposited into their accounts.

That was a huge sum, bringing him one step closer to buying a new home.

A few years ago, their mother had fallen gravely ill and their father had left. Li Yèlái sold the house their parents had left them, but even that hadn't been enough to cure their mother.

After that, he and his younger sister had no choice but to rent a place in this old apartment building.

Now, at last, they could see a chance of buying a new home.

"Are you sure you haven't been kept by someone?" Li Yúnyān asked suspiciously. "Why do I smell perfume?"

Good grief. No wonder she'd been so anxious.

Even now, she still suspected her own brother of selling his body.

She really was his little sister!

As for the perfume, Li Yèlái had carried Cheese to the kitchen earlier to break the curse. He'd probably picked up her scent then.

Pushing away the memory of that soft, yielding sensation, Li Yèlái could only say, "It might be my coworker's perfume. I rode home in her car."

"She's awfully nice to you, big bro. You really don't need to work so hard. I'm earning money too." Li Yúnyān arched her pretty brows and grinned. "I'll support you!"

Although Li Yúnyān couldn't leave the house and didn't dare meet anyone,

thanks to her impressive drawing skills, she had still managed to find online work as an amateur artist.

The pay wasn't much, but it was steady. It had taken a lot of pressure off Li Yèlái.

Li Yèlái was the only family she had left. She didn't want to be a burden to him; she wanted to help him as much as she could.

Li Yèlái felt a warmth in his heart, but kept a stern expression. "Hmph. I'm the head of the household. How could I accept that?"

"The head of the household?" Li Yúnyān chuckled.

She tossed Li Yèlái a plastic flyswatter, then picked up a wooden stick herself and struck a swordsman's pose. "Here, you can have a weapon. Let's make it fair. Whoever wins gets to be the head of the household!"

Li Yèlái looked at the flyswatter in his hand, then at the wooden stick in his sister's. He couldn't see anything fair about it.

So he put down the flyswatter and gave in. "Fine. Other people can live off their parents, and I'll live off my sister. I'll be the first generation of the wealthy, either way."

"Look at you, getting all excited. I take it back, then." Li Yúnyān teased him. After chatting with him for a while, she urged him to get some rest.

After Li Yèlái returned to his own bedroom, Li Yúnyān went out onto the balcony.

The Mega City at night was quiet and ordinary.

But in her eyes, the trees in the landscaped greenbelts writhed wildly.

The figures walking along the streets weren't people, but bizarre monsters.

The things flying across the sky weren't ordinary birds, but terrifying creatures with sharp claws and fangs.

It was a hellish scene.

Everything had changed three years ago.

In her eyes, her classmates, teachers, and friends had all turned into monsters she couldn't go near.

Even the stray cat she often fed had become a monster, covered in eyes, with no fur and bloodied flesh. Even the potted plants in her own home had become indescribably terrifying plants.

Everything had changed. Li Yúnyān didn't know whether she was going mad or the world was.

And in this mad world, only Li Yèlái was different.

He still looked the same as always, and he still took care of her as he always had.

Li Yúnyān sighed softly. "You're all I have, big bro."

The next day, after work, Li Yèlái went straight from the Antique Shop to the branch.

Just as he'd expected,

once the authorities began investigating Wang De, all of Wang De's businesses and funds were frozen.

The girl in the white dress who had hired Li Yèlái and Detective had been caught up in the investigation too. She couldn't pay the rest of their fee.

Still, Li Yèlái hadn't come away empty-handed.

He'd obtained a second Psychic Weapon during the operation.

Now Yáng Chén had called him in to get him familiar with its abilities.

At the sound of a bell,

the Dual Blade Knight appeared in the training ground. Several Handlers who were still training turned to look.

This Psychic Weapon had come from Wang De. It was a bell that held the Nether Path ability known as Undead Summoning.

According to official testing, the bell contained a pile of ashes.

They belonged to a powerful knight from the Black Source City Calamity Forbidden Zone.

After his death, someone had used a special method to turn him into ashes.

"Based on the remaining spiritual energy, this knight probably had the strength of a psychic who had undergone nearly four Awakenings when he was alive," Yáng Chén said, standing beside Li Yèlái. "The knight summoned from the ashes only has less than thirty percent of his former strength. But in theory, he's still as powerful as a psychic who's undergone a second Awakening."

In other words, with this Psychic Weapon, he could summon a second-Awakening knight to help him.

It was the most straightforward way to get stronger: call in reinforcements!

"Of course, you could sell the bell. The ability to summon a knight is rare, so you'd have no trouble finding a buyer. But I recommend keeping it. A second-Awakening knight could help you deal with a lot of trouble," Cheese said.

Today, she was still wearing a loose hoodie, which concealed her ample, voluptuous figure.

Yáng Chén turned to Li Yèlái and said seriously, "You've already seen Void Realm Creatures and Suffering Ones, and you've even encountered a Forbidden Item. You should understand how dangerous they can be. Having this knight to help you would make your future missions much safer."

Li Yèlái nodded. That was true.

Cheese and Yáng Chén really were looking out for him.

If he'd had the bell when he faced the Void Realm Creature, he might not have needed to fight at all.

"Also, although we don't yet know how these ashes are prepared for summoning, if we solve the technical problem, we can catch a few more monsters, turn them into ashes, and add them to the bell. That'll give you more firepower," Yáng Chén continued. "Being a Handler means facing danger. Don't miss a chance to strengthen yourself. I don't know what you're trying to buy, but getting stronger will help you earn Merit Points more efficiently."

"I understand." Li Yèlái nodded again. "I was planning to keep it."

Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. Although Li Yèlái wanted to save up his points and buy an Anti-spiritual power helmet as soon as possible,

if he became stronger, he could earn Merit Points more efficiently.

That was the safest course.

"Good!" Yáng Chén continued. "But you'll need to familiarize yourself with how much spiritual energy it uses. If you notice your Soul Well starting to collapse, immediately stop using all Psychic Weapons and tell us! This is important. If you become distorted, there'll be no coming back!"

Li Yèlái nodded solemnly. Psychics risked becoming distorted whenever they used a Psychic Weapon.

The more powerful the Psychic Weapon, the stronger its pull toward distortion.

Fortunately, neither the Crimson Longsword nor the summoning bell was especially high-grade.

The bell wasn't high-grade because the ashes inside it weren't from a particularly powerful knight.

But using two Psychic Weapons at once could greatly increase the risk of distortion.

He had to be careful.

He wondered whether Mr. Shadow could save him if he became distorted.

"By the way, how did your first side job go yesterday?" Yáng Chén asked.

"It was dangerous and came out of nowhere. If Cheese hadn't happened to be at the banquet and stepped in to help, Detective and I might not have made it out alive." Li Yèlái still felt a little shaken. He turned to Cheese and said, "Thanks."

If Cheese hadn't been there, the Lancer Knight wouldn't have taken his own life, and would have continued to obstruct their efforts.

Then Li Yèlái would really have had to make a deal with Mr. Shadow.

"No need to thank me. You saved me once too." Cheese reached out and patted Li Yèlái on the shoulder.

Then, apparently remembering how Li Yèlái had helped her the day before, Cheese squeezed his shoulder firmly and said in a low voice, "You got the better end of the deal!"

Li Yèlái's mouth twitched. He didn't reply, which was as good as admitting it.

After giving them a curious look, Yáng Chén said, "That's the danger of Forbidden Items. An old man over ninety could use one to put three psychics in danger. Based on the information you provided, that one should be a C-Rank Forbidden Item."

"Only C-Rank?" Li Yèlái asked in surprise. "It can grant almost any wish. How could it be only C-Rank?"

He'd thought of it as a wish-granting machine. Surely that should make it Class B.

"The rating isn't based on what it can do. It's based on how much danger it can cause and how likely it is to run out of control. If no one offers a sacrifice or makes a wish, that altar could sit underground peacefully for over a hundred years. Even if it did run out of control, its attacks would be limited to the area around the person making the wish. That's why it was rated C-Rank."

Yáng Chén said, "The Class B Forbidden Items hidden in the Black Prison beneath our feet are the real threat. They can cause terrible harm even if left alone. They're all a handful. When it's our turn to enter the Black Prison, you'll need to be careful."

The different teams of official Handlers took turns guarding the Black Prison.

That was also one of the ways Handlers could earn Merit Points steadily.

As it happened, it would soon be the First Team's turn to guard the Black Prison. Li Yèlái was part of that team.

He'd be able to earn another wave of Merit Points then.

Li Yèlái nodded, then asked, "Will there be any trouble because I destroyed the Forbidden Item last night?"

"The entity behind the Forbidden Item, the one called the Ghost Immortal, didn't make a move. There shouldn't be any problems now," Yáng Chén replied after thinking it over. "Though someone higher up said it was a shame to lose a Forbidden Item that could have been put to use. That's nothing to worry about."

In fact, the higher-ups were already starting to get headaches over the bad luck Li Yèlái seemed to bring.

They were afraid he'd leave the Mega City and run straight into a King of the Forbidden Zone.

Yáng Chén didn't say that.

After all, he didn't think it was very likely. No matter how unlucky a person was, there still had to be some logic to it, right?

Why would a King of the Forbidden Zone leave its territory for no reason? To go for a stroll?

And if Li Yèlái really was that unlucky, the authorities could just set a trap, gather dozens of teams, and try to surround a King of the Forbidden Zone.

Yáng Chén grumbled to himself, then said aloud, "Train hard. If you notice anything changing in your Soul Well, whether it's another Awakening or a risk of distortion, tell us."

Li Yèlái nodded. Yáng Chén then turned to Cheese and asked, "You're about to undergo your third Awakening. Are you planning to use a potion?"

After the battle the previous night, Cheese had noticed her Soul Well beginning to swell and extend, strengthening its connection to the Void Realm. It was a sign that she was about to break through.

"Of course, Captain. I've had my potion ready for ages. I'm not leaving it to chance." Cheese grumbled.

Her first Awakening had given her the ability to hypnotize people with her words, and her second had given her forced suggestion. Both abilities were for support. If her third Awakening gave her something like universal communication or Beast Speech, she'd be furious.

So she'd spent a fortune on a specially tailored potion.

"Which one? The Sickness Curse from Border City No. 1, or the Word Spirit from Lava Mine City?" Yáng Chén asked.

"Word Spirit. It's more offensive." Cheese answered, patting Li Yèlái beside her. "In a few days, I'll show you what real damage looks like! You'll have a chance to cling to my coattails."

Li Yèlái lowered his gaze to Cheese's thighs. He'd already had a chance to cling to them, he thought, but still nodded. "Uh... okay."

Over the next few days, Li Yèlái traveled back and forth between home and the branch.

Through constant training, he gained a detailed understanding of his current abilities.

As a first-Awakening Myriad Psychic, his ability was Myriad Faces.

For now, Myriad Faces only had one mask.

It was the Xiang Yu Mask, which let him see his opponents' weaknesses. It belonged to the Spirit Eye Path.

The mask gave Li Yèlái a rapid boost to his combat experience and spiritual energy techniques.

It had also taught him Single-Handed Eighteen Thrusts and Hegemon's Spear Throw.

That gave Li Yèlái strong close-combat skills as well as a powerful throwing technique.

To outsiders, Li Yèlái was already a formidable Handler among first-Awakening psychics.

He possessed two Psychic Weapons and had killed a Void Realm Creature.

But in fact, Li Yèlái had obtained a second mask after killing the Skinner.

Because he resisted Mr. Shadow, Li Yèlái still hadn't accepted that mask, and he didn't know which path it belonged to.

Looks like I'll have to try it sometime. Li Yèlái thought as he walked home with the Large Black Umbrella over his shoulder.

Then he suddenly stopped.

At an intersection up ahead, a young man stood among the crowd, holding a black umbrella and smiling at him. "Are you the young man who destroyed the Ghost Immortal's altar?"

Li Yèlái glanced at his own Large Black Umbrella, then at the young man's black umbrella.

He couldn't help laughing. "What's it to you?"

"Skinny Dog!"