The Future, My Ass%&#!

"Are you threatening me?"

Lu Xiu fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked.

A smile appeared on Chen Xiujie's face again, revealing his snow-white teeth, still as bright as ever. "No, this is just..."

Before he could finish.

A glimmer suddenly caught the corner of his eye.

In that instant.

Every nerve, every combat instinct Chen Xiujie had honed along the way, screamed at him, warning him.

Danger!!!

At that critical moment, before he could even form a complete thought, his body had already made the choice for him. He activated his greatest trump card, his life-saving skill—Phasing.

Chen Xiujie's body abruptly blurred, as though it had been stripped away from this world.

Lu Xiu sprang up from the sofa. Her movement was so fast that there was almost no windup. Her blade tore through the air, nearly perfectly overlapping with the motion of her rising. Silver light swept from right to left, slashing across Chen Xiujie's neck.

Perhaps only milliseconds apart.

Chen Xiujie could even clearly feel the instant the blade pressed against his neck.

Cold.

Sharp.

If Phasing had not activated in time, his head would already have gone flying.

He jerked his head up, eyes wide, staring in stunned disbelief at the beautiful girl standing before him.

The smile vanished completely from his face.

The smiles on the three people behind Chen Xiujie had not entirely faded either, but their faces were equally filled with shock.

It seemed no one had expected this beautiful girl to suddenly attack.

She actually dared to do it!!!

Lu Xiu stood where she was, looking at the blade that had cut through empty air in her hand, and tilted her head.

A little unexpected.

But during that one-second pause, the three behind Chen Xiujie finally reacted.

One of the burly men fumbled to pull aside his jacket and drew a gun from his waist.

[Atypical Courage] activated.

Bang—

Lu Xiu took a huge step forward, her right foot landing directly on the glass coffee table.

The next second.

The coffee table shattered with a crash, glass fragments exploding in every direction.

As Lu Xiu's right leg hit the ground, she leaned her weight forward. The distance between them vanished in an instant. With a flick of her wrist, she slashed.

All anyone saw was a flash of silver.

Then, an arm holding a gun flew away along with the weapon, drawing an arc through the air. After spinning four times, it slapped violently against the wall. The dull impact of bone and flesh striking it landed almost at the same time as the sound of shattering glass.

The burly man had just been about to fire when he realized he could no longer feel his fingers. At the same time, he caught a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye and looked down.

Then he saw that his right arm was gone. Blood was spraying wildly from the severed stump like a fountain.

"Ah—!!!!"

A heart-rending scream erupted.

At the same time.

The other two finally pulled their weapons from their backpacks. Seeing this, their hands trembled.

But they were not ordinary people. Seeing Lu Xiu maintaining a lowered stance with her back half-turned toward them.

The two needed no communication. They stepped forward at the same time, took their stances, and struck together. Two flashes of blade light closed in from both sides.

Lu Xiu spun, flicked her wrist, and swept her blade sideways.

Clang—clang—

Two crisp rings of metal on metal sounded as both blades were knocked aside. Sparks burst from the points of impact, scattering beneath the dim yellow living-room light like fragments of gold.

Their arms went numb from the shock, and the sheer force even sent their bodies jerking backward, their steps staggering.

A perfect parry.

Lu Xiu did not stop. Turning sideways to build momentum, she drove a backhanded elbow brutally into the chest of the one-armed burly man on the left.

Crack.

A hollow caved into the man's chest. The sound of bones breaking was unmistakable as a massive spray of blood burst from his throat, droplets splattering across Lu Xiu's pale face.

The scream cut off abruptly.

The burly man's body fell straight backward like a puppet with its strings cut.

"..."

The man on the right barely managed to steady himself. Clutching his blade, he lowered his head in disbelief to look at the web between his thumb and forefinger, still trembling, then raised his head to stare at the girl before him.

Fine specks of blood dotted Lu Xiu's pretty face, but her expression remained calm.

The man had yet to react.

Lu Xiu had already stepped in, appearing before him in an instant.

He suddenly came to his senses and swung his blade down at her.

Clang—

Before he could even see Lu Xiu's movement clearly, his blade was knocked away.

Brilliant sparks burst forth, drifting past Lu Xiu's eyes before slowly dimming.

"What the hell are you—"

Feeling the immense force traveling up through his blade, the man's voice warped as he began to speak.

Lu Xiu slashed again with a backhand swing.

The silvery-white arc drawn by the Nameless Blade flashed past, carving a beautiful semicircle through the air.

Then a head flew up, hitting the floor with a bang and rolling across it until it finally stopped at the feet of the last woman.

Its eyes remained open, staring at the ceiling, the shock still frozen on its face even in death, as though it could not understand something.

Thud.

The man's headless corpse collapsed a moment later, crashing heavily onto the floor and scattering fine shards of glass.

Lu Xiu was revealed once more.

The last woman lowered her head to look at the head that had rolled to her feet, at those unclosed eyes, then looked up.

Standing beside the corpse, blood speckling her face, Lu Xiu began walking toward her.

In that instant, she instinctively took a step back, as though she had seen a demon.

What happened?!

What the hell happened?!

Why?!

Why did it turn out like this?!

In barely a dozen seconds, three people had died just like that!!!

Her mind screamed without pause. The excitement from moments ago felt like nothing more than a dream, and she began backing away uncontrollably.

Lu Xiu stepped forward again, keeping up with her.

The woman instinctively raised her blade and swung it wildly at Lu Xiu.

Clang—

Lu Xiu casually knocked it aside.

She swung again as she retreated.

Clang—

It was knocked aside again.

She swung again, retreating again.

Clang—

However many times she slashed, Lu Xiu deflected her blade just as many times. She followed with unhurried little steps, always keeping the same distance, as if she were merely taking a stroll.

The woman began screaming, her voice cracking. Her swings grew more and more frantic, more and more disorderly.

She backed away.

Then backed away again.

Until her back hit the wall.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

The woman's blade hung in midair. Blood seeped from the split web between her thumb and forefinger, and her hand shook violently. Looking at Lu Xiu, she opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something.

Lu Xiu simply raised her blade, turned sideways, and pointed the edge forward.

Thud—

A streak of red suddenly blossomed across the wall.

The Nameless Blade pierced straight through her mouth, pinning her dead to the wall.

Along with her plea for mercy.

The living room fell silent, leaving only the sound of blood dripping.

Lu Xiu drew her blade, slowly turned around, stepped over the wreckage covering the floor, and fixed her gaze on Chen Xiujie.

Chen Xiujie was still sitting where he had been. The phasing effect had just faded, and his body had become clear again.

Except—

He could no longer smile. His eyes went wide as he stared at the girl in the distance, at that breathtakingly beautiful face speckled with blood, and began to tremble.

No!

Why?!

This wasn't how things were supposed to go!

The next second—

He suddenly sprang up. The chair flew backward as he lunged toward the balcony, twisting around as he prepared to vault over the railing.

Lu Xiu did not pursue him.

She remained where she was and raised her left hand.

"Audience."

Outside—

As Chen Xiujie plummeted at high speed, he felt something seize him violently. The air rushed backward past his ears, and his vision spun wildly.

When he opened his eyes again—

He was standing in the living room once more.

The wreckage on the floor, the fallen bodies, the bloodstains on the walls—everything remained exactly where it was, as though he had never left.

Chen Xiujie opened his mouth. Before he could process what had happened, he noticed a dark-red bar stretching across the void above Lu Xiu's head, slowly extending outward on both sides like cold steel heated to a glow.

Everything around him began to blur.

It was as though... he had suddenly been dragged into some kind of arena.

"I'm very curious."

With a light flick of her wrist, Lu Xiu shook the blood from her blade. Her beautiful eyes slowly turned crimson, like red jade illuminated from within, the color spreading gradually through the depths of her pupils.

As she spoke, she walked toward him. "Who exactly gave you the confidence to come to my home and threaten me?"

"Wait! There may be some misunderstanding between us! Just listen to me first!"

"The Spirit Pivot Construction Group isn't what you think it—"

Chen Xiujie took a step back. Looking at the subordinate from the same sequence who had died so miserably, his expression twisted grotesquely with fear as he hurriedly tried to explain.

But before he could finish—

Lu Xiu had already lunged in front of him.

Chen Xiujie's pupils shrank to pinpoints in utter terror. Then, acting on instinct, he pulled a dagger from his backpack. Like a trapped beast driven into a corner, he suddenly struck, viciously stabbing at Lu Xiu.

Clang—

A perfect parry.

Chen Xiujie's entire body arched backward. He barely managed to steady himself before stabbing again with a backhand strike.

Clang—

Sparks burst between them.

The posture bar above Chen Xiujie's head rose segment by segment.

"Since you know the [Resident Evil] instance has value, then who do you think was the first player to clear it?"

Lu Xiu continued forward as she spoke. "You pieces of trash have been going in circles for four years... yet you still couldn't make even one original S-rank instance. How long do you think it'll take me to make a second original instance?"

"..."

Hearing Lu Xiu's question, Chen Xiujie's eyes flew wide open. Trembling, he suddenly realized something.

The Spirit Pivot Construction Group had studied the [Resident Evil] instance for a full half month. Its members had studied its structure, its mechanics, and the value it held for that future.

Yet no one had ever studied what kind of person could create an instance like this.

They had seen only the profit.

And forgotten—

Someone capable of creating hell might be a disaster themselves.

The upper ranks of every construction group kept saying it, over and over: that a constructor capable of creating an original instance like [Resident Evil] had an unimaginable future ahead of them, and was someone worth recruiting at any cost.

Future.

Unimaginable.

A future... beyond imagination!

Future my fucking %&@!!!!!

Chen Xiujie's posture bar filled completely, and the red dot on his neck suddenly lit up.

He did not even have time to despair.

Lu Xiu stepped forward, and her blade flashed.

Splat—

Chen Xiujie's head flew into the air.

It hit the ground, rolled twice, and came to a stop in the corner.

His mouth had fallen open before he died, exposing his teeth once more. Blood slowly seeped through the white gaps between them, staining every tooth red.

They would never be white again.

Outside, the motion-sensor lights in the corridor flickered on and off.

The two guards and Wang Baosheng stood in the hallway, listening to the sounds inside with utter disbelief on their faces.

It had lasted too briefly—not even two minutes from start to finish. Before the three of them could even process it, the commotion inside abruptly vanished, leaving only dead silence.

Wang Baosheng's mind was in turmoil. He had no idea what had happened inside, no idea how that young girl was doing, no idea how his mother was doing, and no idea what he himself even was supposed to be.

Countless thoughts surged up, tangling tighter and tighter until they all became the same question—was that quiet girl from his memories really the builder of [Resident Evil]?

But Wang Baosheng quickly realized that the question itself was meaningless.

Even if she was, so what?

The elite members of the Spirit Pivot Construction Group were inside. They were all Sequence 3 players. She was only a builder—no matter how gifted she was, no matter how well she made dungeons, what could she possibly do?

He could not help recalling the Lu Xiu from his memories: beautiful, quiet, like a porcelain doll.

Even if someone like that truly was the builder of [Resident Evil], what could she do?

At that thought.

Wang Baosheng did not dare think any further. His throat tightened, and he could not stop himself from slapping himself hard across the face.

Meanwhile, the two guards beside him exchanged a glance, and the shock in their eyes swiftly faded.

They became alert at once.

"Let's go in and take a look—"

One of them stepped forward and reached for the doorknob.

Splat—

A blade suddenly pierced through the door.

Its tip entered through the center of his forehead and emerged from the back of his skull, trailing a dark-red column of blood.

His hand was still on the doorknob when his body began to slump down.

"..."

Wang Baosheng's eyes widened abruptly.

The other guard's eyes widened as well, but he reacted quickly. He immediately raised his gun, took two steps back, and aimed at the door.

Bang bang bang.

Bullets poured out until the magazine was completely empty.

Bullet holes scattered haphazardly across the wooden door.

Holding his breath, he glanced at his companion's corpse on the floor, then peered through the bullet holes.

There was no one inside.

Dead?

The thought had only just arisen.

Bang bang bang.

Gunfire came from inside the room. Bullets fired in reverse punched out through his waist.

As if they could lock onto enemies through walls, they swept downward with terrifying precision.

Though he dropped to the side at once, he was still hit three times. He screamed and collapsed, his gun slipping from his hand and striking the floor with a sharp metallic clatter in the corridor.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Then, a sound came from within.

...as though someone were sheathing a blade in an iaido draw.

The air suddenly contracted.

The door began to tremble, and the airflow spiraled frantically into the room. In that instant, it felt as though every last bit of air in the corridor had been sucked away.

Wang Baosheng instinctively took a step back.

The next second.

Boom—

Secret Technique: Dragon Flash.

The slash streaked forth like a flash of light, erupting without warning.

The door and half the wall exploded at once. Splintered wood and chunks of brick flew everywhere as a wave of air and dust slammed into Wang Baosheng, sending him flying backward. His back crashed heavily into the wall at the end of the corridor.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Wang Baosheng slid down the wall to the floor. His ears rang, and his vision remained white for several seconds. Only after a long while did his sight finally refocus.

He looked toward the blown-open doorway.

A figure slowly emerged from the shattered wood and cloud of dust, a knife in one hand and a gun in the other.

Lu Xiu slowly walked over to the man who had been shot and was still gasping on the floor.

Clutching his wound, the man desperately tried to crawl backward, his eyes full of pleading. "D-Don't, don't, don't..."

Expressionless, Lu Xiu slowly raised her gun.

In the corridor.

Moonlight slanted in through the hole in the shattered wall.

Standing beneath the moonlight, the girl held up her gun. Flecks of blood dotted her fair face, while her clear crimson eyes shimmered in the darkness with the luster of red jade. She was breathtakingly beautiful, yet so cold it suffocated the breath from one's lungs.

She looked both bewitching and holy.

Like a saint descended into the world, yet also like a demon come to claim lives.

Wang Baosheng's eyes slowly widened as he watched the scene.

At that moment.

For some reason.

He felt as though an icy hand had gripped his heart tightly, filling him with fear unlike anything he had ever known.

Bang. Bang.

Lu Xiu pulled the trigger, one shot to the head and one to the heart.

The corridor fell silent.

Lu Xiu raised her head, shifted the muzzle, and aimed it directly at Wang Baosheng.

In that instant.

Wang Baosheng's mind went blank.

The porcelain-doll-like girl from his memories overlapped with the blood-soaked reaper before him.

...Yet they simply could not be reconciled!

His survival instinct erupted in an instant.

Speaking faster than he ever had in his life, barely stopping to breathe, he blurted out:

"I'm sorry, I'm Wang Baosheng, Wang Fen's son, we met when we were children, when you were seven I gave you candy, when you were nine I bought you stationery, it was a pen, when you were twelve I brought you food, I was forced to do it, my mother is in their hands, I know I'm unforgivable, but please wait until I save my mother, please, I'm begging you—"

"Ah—"

A gunshot rang out.

Wang Baosheng screamed miserably.

Expressionless, Lu Xiu pulled the trigger and shot him in the thigh. Then, after giving it some thought, she lowered the gun and turned to head back into the room.

PS: This was the originally planned plot, and I had to write it no matter what. Otherwise, Lu Xiu's reward would have no meaning at all. Whether you liked it or not, since I added extra updates during the new book period, could everyone spare a monthly vote...?