The Slaughterhouse

Wang Xiaole lay in a pool of blood.

A short blade was embedded in his chest, and blood continued to pour from his completely hollow eye sockets.

Li Wei slowly walked over to him. The boy, who had been sobbing and wailing, sensed someone nearby. Gradually, he quieted down and reached out with his bloodstained hand to grasp the hem of Li Wei's robe.

Li Wei crouched down and took his hand.

The boy lifted his head, trying to look at the person before him with his constantly bleeding eye sockets, but he couldn't see anything.

Even so, he recognized Li Wei.

"I'm going to die, sir."

The boy spoke timidly, his voice choked with tears.

Li Wei couldn't speak. He didn't know what to say.

It wasn't as if he had formed any particular attachment to Wang Xiaole. They had only known each other for a few days, and he could count the words they had exchanged on one hand.

Still, the boy was the first person Li Wei had met in this world whose background he knew so well.

And the boy's life had been far too sad. His death was just as helpless.

"I-I actually recognized you the first time we talked at the Church, sir."

He gasped violently. The short blade seemed to have pierced his lung, making it especially difficult to breathe.

"You're my benefactor. I'll never forget your voice. But I knew I couldn't reveal who you were."

Li Wei didn't answer. He simply let the boy keep holding his hand.

"...I know this is asking too much. Could I ask you for one more favor, sir?"

Wang Xiaole lay flat on the blood-soaked ground and made his request in a barely audible voice.

"Go ahead."

"There's still ten thousand left from the compensation for my mother. I buried it under the dead tree at 37, 2nd District. C-could I use that money to ask you to help me find my eyes?"

His voice grew fainter and his breathing weaker. The words he spoke sounded less like something he'd thought through and more like something that had slipped out unconsciously.

"Mom said your body shouldn't be incomplete, or you'll be incomplete when you reach Twilight, too. I want to find her in that world. To see her. I'm scared. I'm really scared."

Before he could finish pleading, his voice fell silent for good.

The pool of blood had spread across the entire shack. The wind and rain raged outside, making the rickety wooden shelter creak.

Li Wei let go of the boy's hand and stood up. Looking at the child's tender face, now missing its eyes, he gave him his promise.

"I promise."

The moment he answered, a panel of information suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Quest triggered: "Eyes": A boy whose eyes were stolen wants to find them.]

[Quest rewards: 10,000 legal currency, unknown reward]

Without looking at the quest prompt that had suddenly appeared, Li Wei turned to ask Feng Zi to call for help. But then he realized that Feng Zi, who had been following close behind him, was gone!

At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded through the rainy night.

"Yes! The sound came from here!"

"Quick! Surround this house!"

"Just in case, get your weapons out!"

A flash of lightning illuminated the people closing in around the shack. Li Wei could see them clearly: they wore dark blue Police Department uniforms, and each of them held a gun as they approached cautiously.

Feng Zi had chased after the shadow the instant it fled.

Li Wei had been drawn in by the familiar voice inside the shack, but at that moment, with the cold rain washing over her, Feng Zi's mind was unusually clear. She finally understood.

This was a trap!

A murder had taken place inside the shack. Officers were stationed on the hill behind it. With so many things happening lately, the killer had fled, and they had been the first to arrive at the scene.

So Feng Zi had chased after the shadow without hesitation.

The shadow ran fast. In the pitch-black rainy night, Feng Zi's body had temporarily recovered, but she was still too weak to catch up!

After running only a short distance, she stopped, gasping for breath with her hands on her knees. Her gaze was resolute.

She took out a bottle, tipped two small white pills into her hand, and swallowed them!

The moment she took the pills, their effects coursed through her body!

Their potent medicinal power violently repaired her battered body, while the scientific might that had completely vanished began to surge through her once more!

The raindrops within a fifty-meter radius of her abruptly stopped falling!

Within this domain, she controlled the laws of gravity. Her control was far stronger than Li Wei's, allowing her to effortlessly discern the direction in which the person who had just passed through had left traces of force.

Feng Zi's movements became incredibly smooth and swift. The force that normally burdened a person's movements now aided her instead. She darted through the rainy night like a leaping cat, soon leaving the Church behind and reaching the largest street in the 2nd District.

She followed the street all the way to the outskirts, where laborers' shacks grew sparse and the boundary between Yaoguang and Yuguang, as drawn by the Council, lay. There she found an abandoned little house beside an underground river.

The traces of force led here.

Feng Zi's identity had been restored completely, yet her face remained pale—paler than before. Holding her breath, she pushed hard against the dilapidated door!

The sight inside stunned her!

It was hard to find words to describe the room.

Countless shriveled human arms and legs hung from the rotten rafters, suspended from rusty hooks. A dusty chest of drawers was covered with organs sealed in transparent glass jars!

Severed limbs lay everywhere. The cramped, crowded space was like a slaughterhouse. A damp breeze passed through, carrying the nauseating smell of dried cured meat.

In the very center of the room lay an old woman wearing a black-and-white nun's uniform.

Blood trickled from Nanny Cheng's mouth. Her eyes were wide, and she was breathing frantically.

"...You lied to me! You said it was poison! You lied to me!!!"

She let out a shrill wail, then lost all strength and collapsed onto the floor without a sound.

Feng Zi held on to the doorframe as she watched. She turned away and retched outside for a while before returning to the room.

The scene before her was proof enough of many things!

She tried to suppress the jumble of thoughts in her mind and avoid looking at the severed limbs. Instead, she grabbed Nanny Cheng's arm and nullified the gravity acting on her corpse. Then she hoisted her onto her back, rushed out into the dark rainy night, and headed back toward the Church.