Are You Afraid?

The night seemed to boil over.

Gu Jianlin swung a chair, precisely shattering the dagger in his opponent's hand!

In that moment, he saw the enemy's face clearly.

A plain, unremarkable man!

Joker!

"How did you find me?"

Joker rubbed his numb wrist, blood staining the corner of his mouth. "And how did you dare to find me?"

His first strike having failed, he actually retreated step by step, maintaining a safe distance.

At the end of the corridor lay a girl who had fainted. In her hand was a katana; if nothing else, she was an investigator belonging to the Ether Association.

She had been taken down, but fortunately, she was still alive.

Listening to the girl's life rhythm fading into the distance, Gu Jianlin said expressionlessly:

"As long as something exists, it leaves a trace. Whether you use a Mythic Armament or some extraordinary ability, it might help you evade detection by extraordinary means, but it cannot erase the marks you leave on this world. At the very least, whatever you are using doesn't have that effect."

Joker stopped his retreating steps, a look of bewilderment appearing on his plain face. "Even so, the Tribunal and the Ether Association have used plenty of conventional methods to find me. So many task force experts and detectives couldn't find me, so how did you do it?"

Gu Jianlin said calmly, "Just because they couldn't, doesn't mean I can't."

An impeccable answer.

"Impressive. Everyone around you has been saying you've gone mad lately, but I knew you hadn't."

Joker gave a thumbs-up and sneered, "You inherited your father's talent. How wonderful. Ever since your father died, I have always been thinking about how to take revenge. It's a good thing you exist; I will make your death a painful one."

Gu Jianlin smiled silently.

As expected, this group had been monitoring him for a long time.

Joker licked his lips and asked again, "Then how did you dare to come before me?"

"I just have some things I want to ask you."

Gu Jianlin raised his eyes and said softly, "Besides... you have nothing to be afraid of."

Zzzzt.

The light on the ceiling flickered, casting a faint glimmer.

In an instant, Joker's face in the shadows looked so sinister and eerie, his mouth slowly curling upward.

It almost stretched to his ears.

"Actually, you should be afraid. Even if you have likely completed your awakening by now, the Ether Association must have told you how dangerous I am. Let me guess, your confidence comes from the Association?"

He scoffed, "Do you really think the Ether Association is willing to help you? Don't you know what your own identity is? If they valued you, they wouldn't use you to lure me out. You must know, you are the son of Gu Ci'an, the son of a Fallen. In a world under the sun, you will always carry this shame."

"So what?"

Gu Jianlin's eyes were too deep to fathom. "A dying man has no need to worry about the affairs of the living."

"I didn't expect you to be so arrogant, but as a newcomer, you should be doing more homework."

Joker held up a finger and smiled. "Everyone understands the principle that villains die from talking too much, but the Magician path is an exception. For a Magician, every look, every movement, and every word is a battle. After today, you and your family will pay a very painful price for your stupidity."

He said, "Because you are just a lure. As a lure, you have stupidly taken the bait."

Gu Jianlin said expressionlessly, "Are you done with your nonsense?"

Joker looked at him with pity and sighed softly. "You really don't know what's good for you."

For a moment, the world went dark before Gu Jianlin's eyes. A murmuring sound, like a pouring complaint, rang in his ears, making him feel as if he were floating on clouds, his whole body tingling and drowsy.

Hypnosis!

Yes, the battle had begun from the very first sentence.

The reason Joker said so much was to use his words, actions, and even changes in his gaze to impose psychological suggestions. The ultimate goal was to cast Hypnosis—this was the Magician's combat method.

"Sleep, have a good sleep, you are already very tired..."

Joker wore a smile, his voice eerie and profound, like a dark lullaby. "Just like your dead father, sleep forever and never wake up again."

Upon hearing this, deep within Gu Jianlin's consciousness, a majestic and ancient Black Kirin seemed to awaken!

Golden vertical pupils, burning fiercely!

Joker froze slightly, a bad premonition dawning on him.

"Shut your mouth."

Gu Jianlin lunged, grabbed a bowl of unfinished noodles nearby, and smashed it directly onto his head!

Noodles and broth smeared across his face, dripping down.

Joker let out an angry roar and ripped the steel bowl off his head.

Gu Jianlin had already drawn the Desert Eagle from his waist, skillfully chambered a round, aimed, and pulled the trigger!

He had practiced this movement thousands of times last night.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three muffled sounds. The muzzle had been silenced with alchemy technology, producing only a sound similar to a basketball hitting the floor.

However, all three bullets missed.

Upon hearing the sound of the Desert Eagle chambering a round, Joker's first reaction was to bend over and roll. After rolling three times, he exploded into a cloud of smoke and vanished from his spot.

Teleportation.

No, strictly speaking, this wasn't teleportation, but a charged leap!

This skill required charging!

Gu Jianlin didn't know where he had gone.

If it were a normal person, losing their target in such a dim environment would surely cause panic.

Yet Gu Jianlin was exceptionally calm. Without even turning his head, he moved with lightning speed, side-stepping and raising his hand to pull the trigger.

With a bang, a dagger aimed at his heart was knocked away by the kinetic energy of the bullet.

He twisted his waist again, adjusted the muzzle, and pulled the trigger.

Two more merciless shots!

The muzzle flash flickered and vanished.

A hoarse, suppressed grunt of pain echoed in the night.

Blood splattered onto the floor.

Joker clutched his bleeding shoulder, his face filled with disbelief.

It was as if he couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

He was a Tier 2 Magician; facing a Tier 0 newcomer, his Hypnosis had failed!

Moreover, this boy had actually predicted his appearance point in advance and adjusted his aim.

That was how he had caught the fleeting opportunity to knock away his dagger.

In terror, he tried to use Teleportation again to change his position and tactics.

He hadn't expected to be shot directly.

What was most alarming was that this boy hadn't used any extraordinary abilities from start to finish!

"Confused?"

Gu Jianlin said coldly, "Why don't you guess now why I said so much to you?"

Joker was stunned.

The answer to this question was simple.

The reason Gu Jianlin had said so much was to perfect his personality profile of the man.

The more complete the personality profile, the better he understood his opponent.

And thus, he could control the opponent's psychology.

Every action, every expression.

Down to the subtle changes in his gaze, the frequency and rhythm of his breathing.

All of it exposed his inner thoughts.

Even in the silence, Joker's life rhythm was as sharp and piercing as fingernails scratching a chalkboard. Such uncomfortable noise was simply too obvious; it was impossible to ignore.

By analyzing this information, Gu Jianlin could predict the opponent's movements in advance.

He achieved a miracle that was almost like foresight!

"I said it before, you shouldn't have revealed so much information to me."

Gu Jianlin gripped the Desert Eagle, feeling the numbness in his palm. "Your ability to take a hit is decent; you must have self-harmed in the past and grown accustomed to pain. And you've studied mixed martial arts for a while—likely trained by the Ether Association, right? I'm not as good as you in those two areas. But the longer we fight, the more I understand you."

Joker clutched his bleeding left shoulder, his facial expression twisting, his eyes icy and extreme.

"Tomorrow afternoon at six? I'm sorry, I can't wait that long."

Gu Jianlin held the pistol in his left hand and picked up a chair with his right, walking forward expressionlessly.

"Your hypnotic ability is ineffective against me. What else do you have?"

The boy's eyes were so cold it was as if he were looking at a dead man. "What about your Mythic Armament? Aren't you going to take it out? Next, I will guess every one of your moves. Do you want to try and see?"

Provocation.

The opponent was a Fallen, so he had to be enraged.

It would be best if he became like Li Changzhi.

Lose his mind and become a fool.

Joker's face, still covered in noodle broth, twisted. He flexed his limbs, his joints popping, and sneered, "And you, do you really think a mere profile can bridge the gap of the extraordinary?"

He fished a deck of cards from his pocket, the sharp edges glinting with a cold, chilling light.

"You will pay the price for your stupidity."

"Then let's continue."

Gu Jianlin picked up a chair in each hand.

Without giving the enemy any chance to catch his breath, the boy charged forward with the chairs.

Swung, smashed down!

With a loud, shattering crash, both chairs splintered on the ground.

Joker used Teleportation, exploding into a cloud of smoke to dodge.

Left!

Gu Jianlin had already seen through his intentions. Grabbing a broken chair leg, he swung it toward the left!

In an instant, a biting cold light cut through the air like a blade, sending a chill through his heart.

Accompanied by a shrill whistling sound, a playing card, hard as a blade, spun through the air. It sliced the chair leg in his hand in two as if it were tofu, narrowly grazing his cheek.

It finally pierced straight into the wall behind him.

Card Blade!

A Tier 2 Magician's extraordinary ability to draw cards like blades was already very proficient.

If Gu Jianlin hadn't predicted it, he would have likely had his throat slit in that instant.

"Profiling isn't omnipotent either."

From the dark corner came Joker's panting, his voice filled with vicious hatred. "This has only just begun. It's going to hurt a lot from here on out."

He talked tough, but this fight was too stifling.

He knew the opponent was a newcomer brat, yet his standard Hypnosis had no effect.

More than half of the Magician path's abilities were rendered useless.

When it came to martial arts, this brat didn't play by the rules either.

Using the predictions from his profiling, he just picked up chairs and smashed them—like a street thug fighting, completely without technique.

Joker prowled in the darkness, grinning hideously. "After I finish you off, what will happen to your family?"

When a Magician fights, they must use verbal attacks, because that is how they impose psychological suggestions.

Once the enemy's psyche shows a flaw, that is the moment to cast Hypnosis.

Gu Jianlin had long since researched the ways Magicians used their abilities and charged forward again with a chair. "At least I still have family, while you are an orphan."

Total slaughter!

Joker laughed in extreme anger, his expression twisted to the point of being a deranged puppet possessed by an evil spirit.

Scarlet light burst from his pupils. Hypnosis!

Gu Jianlin felt the world spin again. Before his eyes were rapidly spinning playing cards, and he felt drowsy.

He realized something was wrong—the cards that had flown past earlier had also carried psychological suggestions!

Combined with Joker's voice, the Hypnosis was triggered again!

This time, the Hypnosis was unusual. Gu Jianlin felt as if he were in a dream, where he had returned to that highway that filled him with extreme terror. A massive truck broke through the storm, roaring toward him.

It felt as if it were going to shatter his life into pieces.

At the critical moment, someone turned around and held him tightly in their arms.

"Old Gu..."

Gu Jianlin was dazed, staring blankly at that face.

"Don't be afraid."

The man comforted him in his ear. "Just sleep, and it will be fine."

Gu Jianlin seemed to be infected by that gentle voice, standing numbly in place, giving up resistance.

"Yes, that's it, just sleep. Death is not scary; it's just a nightmare."

Joker spoke in the tone of someone coaxing a child to sleep, but the smile on his face was vengeful and twisted as he stepped forward.

While using Hypnosis, he could not simultaneously use Teleportation or the Card Blade.

So he could only approach slowly, then deliver a fatal blow.

Joker had guessed that perhaps it was because this boy's mental will was very tenacious that ordinary Hypnosis was ineffective.

But he didn't believe it; he insisted on trying one more time.

This time, he used Hypnosis with all his might, utilizing the boy's greatest nightmare to strike at his heart!

Sure enough, the effect was excellent.

Gu Jianlin had already given up resistance.

Joker approached the numb boy, his right hand drawing a dagger.

In that very instant, Gu Jianlin suddenly raised his eyes, his pupils surging with the divine might of the primordial era!

He erupted into action, the broken chair leg trailing sharp wooden splinters as it pierced the air with a shrill whistle!

With a crisp crack, blood sprayed outward.

Joker stumbled backward, the broken chair leg embedded about two centimeters into his lower abdomen.

Whether from pain or fury, his face twisted into a hideous mask, as if a demon within him were clawing its way out.

Through his hoarse roar, only one meaning was conveyed.

You rat!

"Sorry, but my dad never talked to me like that!"

Crimson veins of rage bloomed in Gu Jianlin's pupils as he snatched up two more chairs and smashed them down with a thunderous roar!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Joker was flattened to the ground by the continuous, violent strikes, his hands shielding his head before he exploded into a cloud of smoke once more.

When he reappeared, he had already retreated to the window. A silver chain had manifested around his wrists, extending into the darkness and hovering in mid-air, coiling around his body.

It had appeared, the Mythic Armament!