T City, the real world.
In a quaint old courtyard, several middle-aged officers in military uniforms paced anxiously. Judging by the insignia on their shoulders, every one of them was a powerful figure with troops under his command.
Yet in this courtyard, they all acted like junior relatives.
"I heard Elder Xue was out exercising a few days ago, and insisted on taking the bus home. Then there was an accident. He wasn't hurt, was he?" A senior colonel rubbed his hands and quietly asked the colleague beside him.
"Don't worry. Elder Xue is a hero who's seen half a lifetime of military service. A little thing like this wouldn't hurt him. But I heard that as soon as he got back, he asked someone to investigate a person's background. It seems there's more to this than meets the eye!" This colonel, who held the same rank, seemed to be better informed.
"Who's he investigating?"
"You've come to the right person. I heard it's a young man named Li Wei. Want to know why Elder Xue is paying so much attention to him?"
"Does this guy have some kind of powerful background? His name doesn't ring a bell."
"Exactly! Li Wei was just an ordinary person. I heard he was the one who came to Elder Xue's aid when he was in danger!"
"Haha, then that kid's in for some good luck. Why wasn't I on that bus? If I'd been there..."
"Come on, when do you ever go anywhere without that beat-up Hummer?" the well-informed colonel teased. He glanced around before lowering his voice and continuing, "Still, I heard that young man's been wanted by the police lately!"
"What?" The other colonel was clearly taken aback.
"Elder Xue's furious about it, too! Just you wait—the police chief, Guo Jian, is going to be in trouble!"
At that moment, Guo Jian was indeed in a terrible bind. He hadn't gone to work for two days.
The corrosive effects of his Undead Constitution had drastically changed his appearance. If he were acting in a zombie movie, he wouldn't need makeup. His strength had increased considerably, but he was too hideous to show his face in the real world.
What troubled him even more was Li Wei's whereabouts. He'd sent large numbers of officers across the city and had kept watch outside the rental apartment where Li Wei had been staying for five whole days, but they'd found nothing. Somehow, the matter had even drawn the attention of a powerful figure in the military, who kept pressuring Guo Jian to hand Li Wei over.
Under such pressure, Guo Jian grew more and more agitated. He'd made up his mind: if this kept up, he'd flee to Shadow Street and never come back!
Just then, several knocks sounded at the door. Guo Jian got up and walked over, wondering who it could be at this hour.
Through the peephole, he saw someone he knew well: his son, Guo Ming!
"Ah Ming, didn't I tell you not to come see me unless it's important? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?" Irritated, Guo Jian put on a hat and unlocked the door.
The moment it opened, Guo Ming collapsed inside. Guo Jian was startled and hurriedly helped his son into the room. Having practiced the Primordial Origin Skill, he immediately placed a hand on Guo Ming's wrist.
Guo Ming's eyes were vacant, as though he couldn't feel any outside stimulus at all. Seeing him like this, Guo Jian's heart ached. After all, he had only one son.
"Ah Ming, what's wrong?" He noticed something beneath Guo Ming's shirt, around his chest, and quickly opened it. At that instant, a cloud of water mist suddenly burst from Guo Ming's chest.
Caught off guard, Guo Jian was sprayed all over. He soon realized that the spots where the liquid had touched him hurt terribly, as if they were on fire.
Even a fool could tell he'd been ambushed. As an experienced veteran, Guo Jian reacted at once. He assumed the attacker would come through the door, so he endured the pain and struck behind him with a palm from the Rakshasa Three Forms.
But he hit nothing. There was no one behind him!
"Damn it!" Guo Jian had just realized what was happening and started to turn when something sharp pierced clean through his neck.
He struggled to look back and was stunned to see that his attacker was Guo Ming, the son he trusted most. But his son released the dagger and looked at him with mocking amusement.
No. That wasn't his son!
"W-who are you?"
Guo Jian struggled to get the words out. His Undead Constitution should have made such a wound harmless, but there was something strange about the dagger. He could feel it draining his life force. Soon, his strength gave out, and he fell to the floor.
Guo Ming chuckled. Then, under Guo Jian's disbelieving gaze, he peeled off his own face.
"It's you!" Guo Jian's face turned ashen.
The man standing before him was Li Wei, who had vanished from the police station five days earlier. Li Wei dropped the Human Skin Mask and looked at Guo Jian, who was on the verge of death. A flicker of reluctance crossed his eyes, but was quickly replaced by resolve.
An enemy had to be eliminated completely!
If he didn't kill Guo Jian, he'd have no place in the real world, and his relatives and friends would be dragged into it too. For their sake, he had to kill Guo Jian.
"Surprised?" Li Wei settled into Guo Jian's favorite leather sofa and said slowly, "The Undead Constitution is powerful, but it has a fatal weakness: it's vulnerable to light and life magic. So long as you use the right countermeasure, even someone with a C-rank rating like you can be left helpless."
Watching Guo Jian's eyes slowly glaze over, Li Wei said one last thing. "We had no grudge against each other, but fate left room for only one of us to survive. This time, I won!"
Guo Jian was dead!
The news quickly spread throughout T City. When the police found the chief's body, they also found his son, Guo Ming, dead in the house. Guo Ming's fingerprints were on the dagger used to kill the chief.
The case seemed easy to solve: a rebellious son killed his father, then took his own life out of guilt. The story made the front page the next day and caused a sensation.
Meanwhile, Li Wei was fretting over something.
He'd gone to great lengths to kill Guo Jian. His near-death experience outside Shadow Street had taught him one thing: he was far too weak. Any veteran could threaten his life. Thinking of Guo Jian in the real world made Li Wei feel as though a bone were stuck in his throat.
Guo Jian had to be eliminated. Li Wei had made up his mind. There were still six days until the next mission, so he had plenty of time to prepare. Thinking of Guo Jian's Undead Constitution, he came up with a plan.
First, he spent 180 points at a stall to buy a bottle of blessed holy water. Then he got an ordinary dagger and enchanted it with Life Drain.
Life Drain was something Li Wei had obtained from a Treasure Chest during his last mission, and now it had come in handy. To learn the Enchanting skill, he'd also spent 5,000 points. On top of that, he found a reincarnator skilled in the Disguise Technique and had him make a Human Skin Mask resembling Guo Ming. That cost him nearly 300 points.
As a result, he became an Enchanter. After learning the Enchantment Scroll: Life Drain, Li Wei enchanted the dagger with the spell. Perhaps worried it wouldn't be powerful enough, he also smeared holy water over it.
Once fully prepared, he returned to the real world. Finding the police chief's home wasn't difficult; assassinating him was. Guo Jian's combat strength far surpassed Li Wei's.
Fortunately, Li Wei had no intention of fighting him head-on. He'd already planned how to get close.
His target was Guo Ming!
No matter how cunning someone was, he'd never guard against his own son. Li Wei secretly kidnapped Guo Ming in a nightclub, then put on the Human Skin Mask.
The mask was so lifelike it was almost impossible to tell apart from the real thing. Looking in the mirror, Li Wei saw that he looked exactly like Guo Ming. That gave him a much better chance of pulling off the assassination!
Everything that followed went exactly as Li Wei had planned. He successfully fooled Guo Jian, then stabbed him in the neck with the dagger enchanted with Life Drain. The dagger proved extremely effective, and since Li Wei had struck a vital spot, the attack succeeded in one blow. After killing Guo Jian, Li Wei also slit Guo Ming's throat.
As Li Wei was about to leave, he discovered a secret that shocked him!
(Today's third update—I've finally finished the mission! The third volume begins. I hope you'll keep supporting An Hei!)
Before you continue