Xue Wu [II]

Hu Long's memory was actually quite decent.

Over these past few days, he had basically figured out the layout of this garden villa complex.

He sent the servants off to attend to their own tasks and headed straight for the main hall by himself.

As he neared the hall, he heard the sound of conversation drifting from within.

Aside from Hu Zhao, there seemed to be a man's voice as well.

He paused for a moment before stepping through the doorway.

"Little Long is here, come over and sit."

The moment he entered, Hu Zhao spotted Hu Long, stood up immediately, and walked over to take his hand.

She had her hair tied in a ponytail today and wore light makeup, making her appearance look even more elegant and refined.

Compared to when she had first picked him up from the hospital, the sense of estrangement was gone.

It was as if they had returned to the past, revealing a different side of her as an older sister.

"Look at who this is, do you still remember him?"

She gestured toward someone for Hu Long's benefit.

Following her gaze, Hu Long shifted his eyes and landed on the figure sitting to one side of the sofa.

It was a young man in his twenties.

He wore a crisp white shirt and tailored black trousers, with a pair of delicate gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

A gentle smile played on his lips, and his entire demeanor exuded a clean, scholarly air.

However, his hair had a few streaks of white, suggesting he had gone gray at a young age.

Hu Long's footsteps faltered imperceptibly as he dredged up the man's identity from his memories.

Xue Wu.

His eldest sister Hu Zhao's college classmate and later her partner in starting their business.

Now... he seemed to have become her serious boyfriend.

In the memory fragments of the original body, although this man's family background wasn't great, he had always treated him well, always smiling and never giving him a hard time.

"I'm truly sorry, Little Long."

Xue Wu had already stood up with a smile, his eyes scanning Hu Long.

A flicker of something unusual passed through his gaze.

"I was out of town negotiating a contract these past two days and couldn't come to see you right away. Don't be angry with 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 and laughed, "Good lad, looking at your complexion, you've really pulled through. It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay."

Hu Long was just about to speak when his movements suddenly froze.

A line of text appeared before his eyes.

It was the skills possessed by the man before him.

He had more than the average person—three in total.

The first two were quite normal: Basketball Skill and Computer Programming.

He swept his gaze over them and landed on the final skill.

[Skill 3: Green Bag Fragment: Soul Guiding Chapter (Entry)]

(Description: This method originates from the secret records of ancient alchemists and is one of the lost fragments of the "Green Bag Classic." Once mastered, one can observe physiognomy, glimpse wandering spirits, and use one's own yang energy as a guide to bind weak, drifting souls within a square inch.)

This guy...

Hu Long's heart stirred, and in an instant, he made his choice.

"Tai Su, download the Green Bag Scripture Fragment for me."

In an instant, a massive amount of information flooded his mind.

It felt as if he had already mastered it long ago.

However, this sudden influx of information made Hu Long's head heavy, and he stumbled, nearly falling over.

This was his first time downloading a knowledge-based skill.

It was completely different from downloading a talent.

The extra memories directly inserted into his brain left him feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

"Are you alright, Xiao Long?"

Seeing this, Hu Zhao, who was standing nearby, asked with concern.

"What's wrong? Did you not get enough rest?"

Xue Wu asked.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy."

Hu Long smiled and waved his hand.

"You two keep talking; I'm going back to my room to rest."

Afterward.

Hu Long left with the assistance of the housekeeper, Wendys.

Back where they were.

Watching Hu Long's retreating figure.

Xue Wu reached up to adjust his glasses.

A trace of imperceptible malice flickered in the eyes behind the lenses.

"How strange. This person clearly had the deathly pallor of someone plagued by yin energy, so why is he fine now? In fact, his condition is only getting better..."

Back in his room.

The moment the door closed.

Hu Long's expression returned to calm, though his face remained terrifyingly pale.

Ignoring the throbbing ache in his head.

He stretched his body.

A faint crackling sound of tendons and bones shifting emanated from within him.

"Tai Su!"

With a thought.

Like ripples on water, a silver light screen emerged before his retinas.

However, compared to before, the data on the panel had changed significantly.

[Host: Hu Long]
[Physical Talent: High-Efficiency Absorption and Metabolism]
[Skills: Green Bag Fragment: Soul Guiding Chapter (Entry)]
[Unarmed Combat (Master)]
[Network Offense and Defense (Master)]
[Network Speed: 8M/s]
[Data Usage: 0M]
[Source Value: 9.25 wisps]

At this moment, the panel not only contained the Green Bag Fragment downloaded from Xue Wu.

It also included the Master-level Unarmed Combat skill he had conveniently downloaded from Wendys just now.

The former, much like the description suggested, was a method for refining ghosts.

However, it was extremely incomplete.

It remained purely theoretical; aside from gaining some insight and learning how to read facial features, it seemed useless to Hu Long.

It was no wonder it only cost a mere 1M of data.

As for the latter, Unarmed Combat, it encompassed fighting techniques involving every joint of the body, including hands, claws, fists, elbows, legs, and knees.

"That ghost thing inside me is nine times out of ten related to this Xue Wu."

Hu Long muttered to himself, his eyes gradually turning cold.

A sense of crisis and irritation welled up in his heart.

"Regardless of the reason, that bastard definitely came here to scout me out. Now that he's seen I'm fine, he'll likely find another way to strike."

"Open spears are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against. If he has some way to accelerate the damage that ghost-thing is doing to me, waiting around is too passive. Instead of that, I'd be better off striking first!"

"Besides, who knows? He might even have a way to solve the trouble I'm in..."

The more he thought about it, the more Hu Long felt this was the right path.

Right now, he was itching to go out, cripple Xue Wu, and force the method to resolve his affliction out of him.

However, he took a few deep breaths, pulled a segment of ginseng root from his pocket, chewed it twice, and forced himself to calm down.

He couldn't be too hasty.

He had to get to the bottom of the other man's background and devise a foolproof plan.

As for calling the police or telling his parents, those options never even crossed Hu Long's mind.

Because doing that might just land him back in a mental hospital.

After all, the original owner of this body was a cautionary tale sitting right there.

No one would believe him if he spoke up.

As it stood, even if supernatural powers existed in this world, they weren't something ordinary people could access, or perhaps they simply lacked the capacity to understand them.

"But this matter cannot be rushed. It would be best to find out if this Xue Wu has any backing, or friends and family. It would be best to find them and deal with them all at once; these are all hidden dangers. If I'm not going to act, fine, but if I do, I must do it thoroughly..."

"Also, it seems I can't fully master the Unarmed Combat skill immediately after downloading it. Limited by the constraints of this body, it will take some time to adapt..."

He felt the changes in his body.

His eyes flickered, and he turned to his desk to open his computer.

His fingertips tapped rapidly against the keyboard.

Strings of code and webpages flashed across the screen in succession.

The dim light of the monitor cast a murky, inscrutable shadow over Hu Long's face.