Magic Hand Li You

In the West District, inside a crude two-story villa.

Li You, his face pale, knelt on the floor, his body trembling uncontrollably with fear.

King Snake, commander of the West District, sat in a worn leather chair, his expression icy.

"Li You, you fled here from another town. I took you in and gave you food to eat, but how did you repay me?

"You swore to me before that if you failed to contain the forbidden object, you would bring me your head. It's time to fulfill that promise."

Li You trembled even harder and pleaded, "Commander, you can't blame me! If Bai Ye hadn't appeared out of nowhere, I definitely would have contained it..."

"Shut up, you useless trash!" King Snake cut him off grimly. "I hate people who make excuses for their failures the most. People should look for the cause in themselves. You're both human—why could Bai Ye succeed while you couldn't? Aren't you human? What the hell are you, then?"

"Commander, please give me another chance! I'm still useful! I've trained my right hand for over ten years, and my gambling tricks are unmatched. I can watch over a casino and win money for you!"

"Fuck you! Everyone in Grey Soil Town is a poor bastard. Where the hell am I supposed to open a casino? Since you refuse to die with dignity, I'll help you die with dignity!"

King Snake gave his subordinate a look. The man immediately understood, cocked the pistol in his hand, and aimed it at Li You's head.

Li You shook like a leaf and kept begging, tears and snot streaming down his face. "Commander! Commander! I don't want to die! Please spare me! My mother is still waiting for me to return! I'm her only son!"

The miserable plea made the subordinate hesitate, but under King Snake's frigid gaze, he still slowly pulled the trigger.

To everyone's surprise, Li You, who had been begging for mercy just moments ago, suddenly sprang up. His right hand became little more than an afterimage as he instantly snatched the gun from the subordinate, then lunged at King Snake.

King Snake only saw a blur before a gun was pressed to his head.

Li You seemed like a different person. He pointed the gun viciously at King Snake's head. "Back off, all of you! Or I'll kill him!"

The sudden turn of events left everyone afraid to act rashly.

No one had expected Li You to possess such nerve—or such speed.

Clap, clap, clap...

Applause rang through the room. King Snake clapped with a sneer and praised, "As expected of Magic Hand. Your skills truly are extraordinary. Even I didn't see it clearly."

"Cut the crap. Tell your men to move aside!"

King Snake's expression did not change. He casually lit himself a cigarette, exhaled a ring of smoke, and said, "Do you know what I hate most in this life? People pointing guns at my head."

"Damn it! You're still acting tough with a gun pointed at you? I'm fucking pointing one at you! What can you do about it?" Li You roared, shoving the muzzle harder against King Snake's head.

But the next instant, when the muzzle struck King Snake's skull, it produced a crisp metallic clang.

Li You froze, and his face instantly turned pale. "Alloy..."

Crack!

Bang!

The sound of shattering bone and a gunshot rang out at the same time.

"Ahhh! My hand!" Li You screamed miserably. His right hand, along with the pistol, had been crushed by King Snake's mechanical arm.

Only then did he see clearly that King Snake had more than just a metal prosthetic eye. Beneath the man's right sleeve was a mechanical arm gleaming with cold metal light!

"Hmph, you know a thing or two." King Snake released his mechanical arm and let his men pounce on Li You.

He rubbed his slightly scorched skull. The artificial skin there had torn open, and beneath it was not stark white human bone, but a glint of cold metal.

He sneered. "I told you, I hate it most when people point guns at my head. Someone once pointed one at me, so after that, I spent a fortune embedding an alloy plate in my skull."

Li You had no mind to listen. He screamed as if his heart had been torn apart, not because of the pain, but because his Magic Hand was ruined. The right hand he had practiced for years and taken such pride in had suffered a comminuted fracture.

"Ahhh! My hand! The Magic Hand I trained for so many years..."

His eyes seemed veiled in a layer of ash called despair. He looked as though his soul had been torn from him, utterly lost.

Li You allowed the subordinates to restrain him, offering no resistance whatsoever.

"Just kill me..."

"Oh?" King Snake's lips curled into a cold smile. "You were begging for mercy just now. Why are you suddenly seeking death?"

Li You gave a bitter laugh. "I've relied on this hand to live my whole life. Now my Magic Hand, the hand I was so proud of, is ruined. I'm ruined too. What meaning is there in staying alive?"

Two clear tears slid from the corners of his eyes. Looking toward an empty space beside him, he choked out, "Mom, your son has failed you. You'll never see the day I make something of myself. My hand... is ruined..."

After saying that, he seemed to lose all strength and collapsed limply onto the floor.

"Hahahaha..." King Snake suddenly burst into laughter, his smile savage and cruel. "You want to die? I won't let you die. I'll make you live forever with the name of a cripple hanging over you, suffering for the rest of your life!"

The thrill of destroying something another person cherished made King Snake feel thoroughly satisfied. He waved his hand and allowed his men to drag the crippled Li You away.

Bang!

Li You, limp as a dead dog, was ruthlessly thrown into a garbage dump. Countless heaps of trash slid down and completely buried his body.

The two subordinates covered their noses and mouths in disgust before quickly leaving.

After they had gone, the trash shifted. Li You cautiously crawled out of the garbage dump, and there was not the slightest trace of desolation left in his bright eyes.

"Hahaha... King Snake, that idiot. I knew psychos loved this kind of thing."

He clutched his right hand, laughing while baring his teeth against the piercing pain, and walked step by step into the distance. Cold moonlight spilled silver radiance across the ground, lighting the road ahead of him.

He instinctively looked up at the moon and fell into a daze.

It was clearly the same moon, yet tonight's moonlight seemed especially beautiful to him.

Suddenly, he smiled.

"Hehe... I get to live another day!

"How wonderful!"

His face was filled with the wild joy of surviving a catastrophe, yet deep within those bright eyes lay a lingering shadow.

Clearly, he was not nearly as carefree as he appeared about his Magic Hand being ruined.

"Deputy Commander Bai, time is of the essence. Let's go wipe out the mutated beasts!"

Early in the morning, Tan Jie, commander of the East District, came knocking with dozens of armed subordinates behind him.

Bai Ye yawned. "As the old saying goes, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. I've barely even handled a gun before. How can I rush into action?"

Tan Jie paused, thinking that Bai Ye's words made sense. Although Breath of Bones was useful, it was still a firearm. Without any accuracy, it might be less practical than a machete.

"What do you mean?"

"Practice shooting first, of course!"

"Fine. I'll practice with you."

Tan Jie had struggled through the wasteland for more than ten years. Though he had never received formal training, practice had made him proficient, and he had some experience with shooting.

Thus, on the first day, Bai Ye spent the entire day practicing with a gun under Tan Jie's guidance.

Bai Ye had a great time that day, satisfying his craving for guns, wasting quite a few of Tan Jie's bullets, and eating plenty of meat.

Tan Jie, meanwhile, felt his heart bleed. Both bullets and meat were scarce resources in Gray Soil Town; every bit used was one bit less. But to deal with the mutated beasts, he had no choice but to endure the loss and provide for Bai Ye.