The Hunt Begins

Northern District, abandoned Third Textile Factory.

The massive factory building loomed in the night like a crouching beast, its rusted steel skeleton outlined in sparse starlight with a ferocious silhouette.

The air was thick with the mingled smells of rust, engine oil, and rotting vegetation. Occasionally, night birds swept past with brief, chilling cries.

The Special Affairs Bureau convoy was concealed at the edge of the woods farther away, with all headlights switched off.

Only the faint glow of tactical terminal screens and the pale green light from the team members' night-vision goggles outlined one grim figure after another in the darkness.

Captain Wang's voice sounded low over the encrypted channel.

"Team One, in position. As planned, enter through the damaged ventilation duct on the east side. It leads directly to the upper level of the underground warehouse. Teams Two and Three, perimeter lockdown complete. Bai Ye, how's your side?"

"Clear view. The rats haven't left their hole yet."

Bai Ye's lazy voice came through, carrying a hint of excitement before the hunt.

Outside the eastern factory building, Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu were already crouched beneath a mostly collapsed wall. About a dozen meters ahead was a sewage pipe breach roughly half a meter wide, its edges jagged and uneven, pitch-black inside, with no telling where it led.

According to Old Smokestack's instructions and the preliminary reconnaissance, this was one of the more concealed and direct routes into the underground area.

Sun Haoran adjusted his night-vision goggles and lowered his voice as he spoke to Hua Yin behind him. "Hua Yin, stay close. It might be narrow inside. Watch your step..."

He gave his usual reminders, following the routine he used when working with newcomers.

Zhao Tiezhu had already rolled his broad shoulders, preparing to crawl in first.

Normally, in such cramped passages, the less bulky Sun Haoran or the more agile Hua Yin would scout ahead. But Zhao Tiezhu habitually wanted to take the lead. In his words, "My skin's thick. Doesn't hurt even if I bump into something."

Just as Sun Haoran finished speaking, Zhao Tiezhu bent into a half-crouch, his head nearly reaching the pipe entrance—

"Brother Sun, Brother Zhao."

Hua Yin's voice suddenly rang out, calm but carrying a trace of almost helpless amusement rarely heard in his tone.

Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu froze at the same time and turned to look at him.

Hua Yin stood two steps behind them. Unlike them, he was not crouched low in full combat gear, but had straightened slightly.

The night wind stirred the loose strands of hair over his forehead. In those clear, tranquil eyes, still visible beneath the green glow of the night-vision goggles, flashed an extremely subtle glimmer, almost like a boy about to pull off a prank.

"Taking the pipe..." Hua Yin paused, the hint of amusement in his voice becoming a little more obvious, though it remained faint. "Wouldn't that be a little slow? And it might not even be safe."

Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu had not yet fully grasped what he meant.

The next instant, they saw the air behind Hua Yin's shoulder blades distort slightly.

Then—

A soft yet impossible-to-ignore pale spiritual glow suddenly lit up behind him!

The light was not dazzling, yet it stood out with perfect clarity in the pitch-black night, like two clusters of condensed moonlight.

The spiritual glow rapidly stretched, spread, and took shape!

A pair of enormous, graceful, translucent butterfly wings abruptly unfurled, their edges flowing with pale, ice-crack-like patterns and faint turquoise sharpness!

With a wingspan nearing three meters, a single gentle flap stirred the air, bringing a faintly cool night breeze and scattering dreamy specks of pale light.

"Holy... shit..."

Sun Haoran's mouth fell open, his eyes going wide behind his goggles as he nearly forgot to keep his voice down.

Zhao Tiezhu went completely stiff, remaining half-crouched as he stared upward at the enormous wings so close at hand, radiating strange beauty and power. His rugged face was blank with shock.

He had seen Hua Yin spread his wings on the rooftop before, but that had been from a distance. It had been impressive, sure.

At this distance, he could practically feel the faint airflow stirred by the wings and the icy fluctuations of spiritual power. The visual impact was on an entirely different level.

Seeing the rare stunned expressions on his two teammates' faces, Hua Yin's lips curved upward almost imperceptibly.

A fleeting thought of mild showing off—of see, there's a more convenient way—flashed through his mind.

At that moment, Hua Yin finally revealed a trace of the youthful spirit belonging to his age.

Right then, he was not an indifferent agent, nor was he a devouring beast. He was merely an eighteen-year-old boy who had gained an interesting new ability and could not resist showing it to companions he trusted.

Of course, the thought vanished in an instant, so quickly that even Hua Yin himself might not have clearly caught it.

He stepped forward and extended both hands at once, grabbing Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu by the shoulders before either of them had fully recovered.

"Relax."

Before the words had even faded, the wings on his back beat sharply!

Whoosh—!

A powerful gust spread outward from Hua Yin, whipping up dust and dead leaves from the ground!

Sun Haoran only felt his shoulder tighten and his feet grow light. Then, his whole body was lifted off the ground by a gentle yet irresistible force!

Zhao Tiezhu felt as though a crane had picked him up. He instinctively tried to struggle, but Hua Yin's grip was as steady as iron pincers.

The next moment, the two of them were pulled upward like pale shooting stars, tracing a low arc as they lightly and swiftly cleared the heaps of scrap and rusted metal frames around the factory.

Without a sound, they swept toward a pre-scouted damaged skylight near the roof of the factory building!

The night wind howled past their ears as the scenery below rapidly shrank and fell away.

Sun Haoran clutched Hua Yin's arm tightly, experiencing the sensation of soaring through the air in a way no vehicle could match. His heart pounded wildly—not from fear, but from pure exhilaration and amazement.

He could not help letting out a low cry. "Oh my god... this is way more thrilling than riding in a helicopter!"

Zhao Tiezhu wore an expression of utter bewilderment and shock as he looked down at the ground growing farther and farther away beneath his feet.

Then he looked up at Hua Yin's steadily beating wings, which carved pale trails of light through the darkness. After holding it in for a long while, he finally squeezed out in a muffled voice, "...Kid, when you go out on missions from now on... won't this save a lot on gas?"

Hua Yin did not answer. He focused on controlling their direction and altitude.

Flying while carrying two people took considerably more effort than flying alone, but with his current cultivation and increasingly refined control, he could easily sustain this short-range infiltration.

Almost at the instant the factory's outer sentries might have noticed something, the three of them had already drifted like a fallen leaf carried by the wind, precisely and silently passing through the damaged skylight fifteen or sixteen meters above the ground.

They descended into the factory's vast, dark upper level, covered in dust and cobwebs.

Hua Yin folded his wings, and the spiritual glow faded as the wings dissolved into motes of light behind him.

He released his grip. Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu landed steadily, completely unharmed aside from their still-racing hearts.

Sun Haoran's first reaction after landing was not to inspect the surroundings. He whirled around, grabbed Hua Yin by the shoulders, his eyes shining in the darkness as excitement and belated amazement filled his lowered voice.

"Holy shit! Hua Yin! You could do that?! You just flew us in here?! That was badass! You really kept this hidden! Why didn't you say so earlier? Tiezhu and I were about to stick our asses up and crawl through a damn dog hole!"

Zhao Tiezhu also moved closer, patting Hua Yin's other shoulder with a hand like a cattail fan as he grinned. "Nice! This method works! Fast and convenient! Do it like this next time too!"

Surrounded by the two of them, Hua Yin felt their undisguised surprise and familiar teasing.

That subtle youthful pride from displaying his ability was satisfied. His expression softened slightly as well. Though his face remained mostly blank, much of the coldness in his eyes had melted away.

"Mm. We can do that next time."

He answered simply, then swiftly refocused and pointed toward the faint light and voices below. "The target is down there. Follow the original plan: infiltrate, locate, apprehend."

"Understood!"

Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu immediately turned serious as well, checking their equipment and activating their night-vision goggles.

Hua Yin let out a soft breath, his fingertips brushing the hilt of the Tang Blade at his waist.

The brief lighthearted interlude was over.

The hunt had officially begun.