Hu Long had a fairly good memory.
Over the past few days, he had more or less familiarized himself with the layout of this villa complex.
He sent the servants off to attend to their duties, then headed straight to the main hall by himself.
As he was about to reach the hall,
he heard voices coming from inside.
Besides Hu Zhao, there seemed to be a man's voice as well.
He slowed for a moment, then walked through the door.
"Xiao Long's here. Come over and sit down."
As soon as he entered,
Hu Zhao spotted Hu Long and immediately got up to walk over, taking his hand.
Today, she'd tied her hair into a ponytail and wore light makeup, making her look even more elegant.
Compared to the last time, when she'd picked him up from the hospital,
the sense of distance between them had vanished.
It was as if they had returned to the way things used to be, revealing another side of her as his older sister.
"Take a look. Do you remember who this is?"
She gestured toward Hu Long.
Following her gaze,
Hu Long turned to look at the figure seated at one end of the sofa.
He was a young man in his twenties.
He wore a crisp white shirt and well-pressed black trousers, with a pair of delicate gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.
A gentle smile played at the corner of his mouth, and he had a clean-cut, scholarly air about him.
However, some of his hair was white, as if he had gone prematurely gray.
Hu Long's steps faltered almost imperceptibly. Then he retrieved the man's identity from his memories.
Xue Wu.
Hu Zhao's college classmate, and later her partner in starting a business.
Now... he seemed to have become his older sister's bona fide boyfriend.
In the original body's fragmented memories, Xue Wu came from a poor family, but he had always treated Hu Long well. He was always smiling and had never once given him a hard time.
"I'm really sorry, Xiao Long."
Xue Wu smiled as he stood up, looking Hu Long over.
A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
"I was out of town negotiating a contract these past two days, so I couldn't come see you right away. Don't be mad at your brother-in-law."
As he spoke, he walked closer and naturally reached out to pat Hu Long on the shoulder twice.
He looked him up and down, then smiled again. "You're a tough kid. You really do look like you've recovered. That's what matters. You're all right."
Hu Long was just about to speak
when he suddenly froze.
A line of text appeared before his eyes.
It showed the skills the other man possessed.
There were more than an ordinary person's.
Three, to be exact.
The first two were perfectly normal: one basketball skill and one in computer programming.
His gaze swept past them,
landing on the final skill.
[Skill 3: Green Bag Fragment: Soul Guiding Chapter (Beginner)]
[Size: 1 MB｜Status: Available for Download]
(Description: This method comes from an ancient occultist's secret records and is one of the lost fragments of the Green Bag Scripture.
Once mastered, it allows one to read faces, perceive wandering spirits, and use one's own yang energy as a lure to restrain weak wandering souls within a small area.)
This guy...
Hu Long's thoughts stirred, and he made his choice almost instantly.
Tai Su, download the Green Bag Scripture Fragment.
In an instant, a massive amount of information appeared in his mind.
It was as if he had already learned it long ago.
But the sudden influx of information made Hu Long's head swim. His body lurched, and he nearly fell over.
This was his first time downloading a knowledge-based skill.
It was completely different from downloading a talent.
New memories had appeared directly in his mind, leaving him feeling dizzy and overwhelmed.
"Xiao Long, are you all right?"
Seeing this, Hu Zhao quickly asked with concern.
"What's wrong? Did you not get enough rest?"
Xue Wu asked.
"I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy."
Hu Long smiled and waved a hand.
"You two go ahead and talk. I'm going back to my room to rest."
Then,
with the housekeeper Wendys supporting him, Hu Long left.
Behind him,
Xue Wu watched Hu Long's retreating figure
and adjusted his glasses.
Behind the lenses, a trace of scarcely perceptible malice surfaced in his eyes.
"How strange. He still looks like a dead man with yin energy clinging to him. So why is he fine now? He's even getting better..."
Back in his room,
the moment the door closed,
Hu Long's expression returned to normal, though his face was deathly pale.
Ignoring the dull ache inside his skull,
he moved his body around.
A faint crackling sound came from his bones and muscles.
Tai Su!
A thought stirred in his mind.
Like ripples on water, a silver screen appeared before his eyes.
However, compared to before, the data on the panel had changed considerably.
[Host: Hu Long] [Physical Talent: High-Efficiency Absorption and Metabolism] [Skill: Green Bag Fragment: Soul Guiding Chapter (Beginner)] [Unarmed Combat (Master)] [Network Offense and Defense (Master)] [Internet Speed: 8 MB/s] [Data: 0 MB] [Source Value: 9.25 wisps]
The panel now contained not only the Green Bag Fragment he had downloaded from Xue Wu,
but also the master-level Unarmed Combat skill he'd just downloaded from Wendys.
The former was much as its description had suggested: a method for refining ghosts.
However, it was extremely incomplete.
It only contained theoretical knowledge. Aside from broadening his horizons and teaching him how to read faces, Hu Long saw no practical use for it.
No wonder it only took a mere one megabyte of data.
As for Unarmed Combat, it covered fighting techniques using all parts of the body, including the hands, claws, fists, elbows, legs, and knees.
That ghostly thing inside me is almost certainly connected to Xue Wu.
Hu Long muttered under his breath, his eyes gradually turning cold.
A sense of danger and irritation welled up inside him.
*Whatever the reason, that bastard must have come here to check on me. Now that he knows I'm fine, he'll probably try to harm me again.
It's easy to guard against an open attack, but hard to defend against a hidden one. If he has some way to make that ghostly thing hurt me faster, then waiting around would leave me far too passive. In that case, I'd be better off striking first!
Besides, he might have a way to deal with the trouble inside me...*
The more he thought about it, the more certain Hu Long became that he was right.
At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to go out, beat Xue Wu half to death, and force him to reveal how to solve the problem inside him.
But he still took several deep breaths, pulled a piece of ginseng root from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and chewed it twice, forcing himself to calm down.
He couldn't rush into things.
He needed to investigate Xue Wu thoroughly and come up with a foolproof plan.
As for calling the police or telling his parents,
Hu Long hadn't even considered it.
After all, that might just get him sent to a psychiatric hospital again.
The original body's fate was proof enough.
No one would believe him even if he told them.
For now, it seemed that even if supernatural powers existed in this world,
ordinary people couldn't come into contact with them, or perhaps simply lacked the ability to understand them.
Still, I can't rush this. I should find out whether Xue Wu has any powerful connections, or any friends or relatives. Ideally, I should find a way to deal with them all at once. They're all potential threats. If I do nothing, that's one thing, but once I act, I should make sure I finish the job...
Also, after downloading Unarmed Combat, it seems I can't fully master it right away. My body has its limitations, so I'll need some time to adapt...
Feeling the changes in his body,
his gaze flickered. He turned to the desk and switched on the computer.
His fingers flew across the keyboard.
Strings of code and webpages flashed across the screen.
The dim glow of the computer screen cast Hu Long's face in shadow.