No Trace

"Can't talk? Then I'll ask someone else."

Seeing that Old Li had lost the ability to speak, Ning Zhe clicked off the safety on his pistol, slipped it into his pocket, then crouched and pulled a baton from behind Old Li.

Ning Zhe pinned Old Li's ankle with one hand and pressed his torso down with his knee. With the other hand, he gripped the baton and swung it down hard. The immense force shattered Old Li's fragile ankle joint.

After the left foot came the right, then the elbows and shoulder blades. Ning Zhe's movements were crisp and efficient, his expression calm and impassive, as if he were dealing not with a living person but with livestock bound for slaughter. Before long, he had smashed all of Old Li's limb joints and dragged him up like a dead dog.

While he did all this, Ghost stood silently to the side, watching.

But it made no move, because it couldn't see.

Dragging Old Li, whose joints had all been broken, Ning Zhe bent to pick up the parasol lying on the ground, then walked on at an unhurried pace.

"Auntie, are you sure the power switch is up ahead?" Ning Zhe asked as he walked.

"...Ah! Yes, that's right. The power switch is up ahead. Keep going straight, and stop when you reach the second or third Pixiu statue. Then find the triangular area between two walls," Feng Yushu said hastily.

Ning Zhe noticed the fear and tension in her voice, along with a faint trace of ingratiation. Clearly, the violence he had just committed had reached her through the surveillance footage, and it had shaken her badly.

Even if you stripped away all of Ning Zhe's knowledge of the rules, his understanding, and his ability to think logically, he was still a strong adult male. In primitive human interactions, stripped of the restraints of social rules, violence was always the underlying logic.

Feng Yushu stared at the flickering screen, watching Ning Zhe walk straight out of view, one hand holding up the parasol and the other dragging Old Li like a dead dog.

She quickly switched the camera feed. A surveillance camera mounted under the outer wall's eaves slowly turned to follow Ning Zhe, keeping him centered in the frame.

The Pixiu statues by the roadside squatted on the ground, looking up with their paws outstretched in a begging pose. The design of the little statues made it clear how much the backers of Bishuiwan Manor hoped to profit from the place.

Pixiu were Gold-eating Beasts that let nothing back out once it entered. People in ancient times liked to place their likenesses in storehouses piled high with valuables. They were classic mythical guardians of gold and silver.

Following Feng Yushu's directions, Ning Zhe soon found the hidden triangular area near the third Pixiu statue. The small compartment had been built into the wall, and its entrance was so well concealed that it was practically invisible unless you knew to look for it.

Ning Zhe tossed the panting Old Li into the compartment, then went over to the power switch.

"The indoor power grid's master switch... If I turn it off, all the power in the Castle will go out. That'll shut down your surveillance network too, right, Auntie?" Ning Zhe asked softly.

"Yes. Once you pull the main switch, all the power inside the Castle will be cut off. Only the outdoor fountains and streetlights will stay on," Feng Yushu confirmed.

"Okay... Then let's not switch it off just yet. I have something to ask you." Ning Zhe bent closer to the large Circuit Integration Master Valve in front of him. "Earlier, while the streetlights were still on, Ghost stood beneath one, and I crouched on the ground under my parasol. Did you see that on the surveillance footage?"

"Yes, I did." Feng Yushu nodded repeatedly, even though Ning Zhe couldn't see her. "I'd already gotten to the Monitoring Room by then. I saw you crouching to hide from Ghost."

"Good. Then, at that point, did the body possessed by Ghost have a shadow?"

"Huh...?" Feng Yushu was taken aback. "A shadow?"

"I'm asking if it did," Ning Zhe repeated.

"I'm not sure. It seemed like it did, but maybe it didn't." Feng Yushu sounded uncertain. "Wait a moment. I'll see if I can rewind the footage. It might take a few minutes."

Bishuiwan Manor was a high-end establishment, and its surveillance network was a cut above those found in ordinary shopping malls, both in security and image quality. Since Feng Yushu was using this kind of equipment for the first time, she'd need some time to figure out how to operate it.

While she did, Ning Zhe searched Old Li's security uniform and found his phone. He unlocked it with Old Li's fingerprint.

The moment the screen lit up, Ning Zhe saw a string of missed calls. Most of them were from two people: Xiao Liu and Xiao Xie.

"So he really did have accomplices." Ning Zhe had no idea who Old Li was or why he'd attacked him, but whatever the reason, Old Li had already shot at him.

Once you'd made your move, there was no turning back. It was either you or me; there wouldn't be a third outcome.

Ning Zhe steadied his breathing, tapped Xiao Xie's missed call, and called back.

The phone rang twice before someone answered.

Ning Zhe held the phone without saying a word. Then a cautious voice came from the speaker. "Li Ge?"

As soon as the words left the man's mouth, Ning Zhe's shirt turned into a neatly pressed security uniform, and his scholarly-looking youthful face became that of a middle-aged man with a faint ring of stubble around his mouth.

The moment Xiao Xie, on the other end of the line, thought Ning Zhe was Old Li, he became Old Li.

The identity of "Li Ge, as Xie Ya'an knew him," and a string of not-so-distant memories were sent into Ning Zhe's mind by Taiyi. A moment later, he understood who the armed Security Captain who had shot at him was.

"So you came to shut off the power too... And there are other survivors." Ning Zhe glanced at Old Li, whom he'd already beaten nearly beyond recognition, feeling not the slightest guilt.

From the moment Old Li had shot at him, he was already a dead man. The only reason Ning Zhe had left him alive was that he needed him as a living person.

Ning Zhe brought the phone closer to his lips. A deep male voice came from his mouth. "Xiao Xie, I'm at the main switch. I'll be turning it off soon, so get ready."

"Okay, okay, Li Ge." Xie Ya'an sounded a little frightened. "Will you come back after you switch it off?"

"I might not come back to you right away," Ning Zhe replied honestly. "I'll wait for Tian Chengyun to shut off the outdoor power, then meet up with him. We'll come find you together."

"Why wait for him?" Xie Ya'an's tone immediately turned resentful. "Tian Chengyun isn't even a man. He has no sympathy at all, and he just yelled at me... Li Ge, let's leave together after we turn off the lights. Forget about him."

How could this woman be so stupid? Ning Zhe was baffled.

Normally, he would've hung up right then and left her to fend for herself. But Old Li was a spineless—well, a sweetheart. The kind who came after dogs.

So Ning Zhe had no choice but to patiently coax Xie Ya'an, keeping to Old Li's usual character. He told her he'd get her out, not to panic, and that more people meant more strength. After dragging things out for ages, he finally hung up.

"Finished your call?" Feng Yushu's voice came through his Bluetooth earpiece.

"Finished." Ning Zhe's voice had returned to normal.

Only then did Feng Yushu let out a breath of relief. "I just checked the footage again. Earlier, while that streetlight was still on, the body possessed by Ghost did have a shadow."

But after Ghost left, it didn't.