Human Martial Arts Group Tower.
The basement.
Shen Ye sat crouched beside the corpse, chin in hand, staring blankly in silence.
Recalling Qian Rushan's strange tone over the phone when he had asked to see the corpse again, Shen Ye could not help feeling that it was a little hard to justify.
-A teenage boy who liked spending time with corpses, claiming he was looking for clues.
Something seemed off no matter how you looked at it.
But he had no choice.
It was already evening.
He had no idea how things were going on Xiao Mengyu's end.
He had to come and ask.
"There's no one around."
Big Skeleton spoke in a whisper.
Shen Ye nodded and looked at the Assassin's corpse.
"Care for another chat?"
He spoke.
The corpse opened his eyes. It took him quite a while to register what was happening before he said, "What do you want to talk about?"
Shen Ye asked:
"Xiao Mengyu of the Luo Family is a swordswoman. What are her chances against Skinner?"
"Xiao Mengyu? I've heard of her. She's a genius of this generation of the Luo Family," the corpse said thoughtfully. "She's very good at using all kinds of circumstances to secure victory. Her talent for combat is extraordinary."
"So she can win?" Shen Ye asked.
"No, she'll lose," the corpse said.
"You just said her talent was extraordinary," Shen Ye said irritably.
"Skinner is a top-tier Assassin. His identity is a complete mystery. No one knows where he came from, and everyone who has seen him fight at full strength is dead. Not one survived," the corpse said.
"Does that mean Xiao Mengyu definitely can't beat him?" Shen Ye asked.
"When Skinner first appeared, he killed an adult expert from an aristocratic family, shaking the world. Afterward, despite all the people hunting him, he stayed alive and well for decades. He's still fine even now."
"This Xiao Mengyu you're talking about is only a teenage girl. Gifted as she is, she's still far too young. She's nowhere near his match."
The corpse explained earnestly.
"He killed someone from an aristocratic family and survived?" Shen Ye did not believe it.
"To be precise, he was hired to kill as part of an internal struggle within that family," the corpse said.
"Under those circumstances, the family wasn't united, so they wouldn't put everything into hunting him down-"
"But it was still an impressive feat."
"It certainly was," Shen Ye said.
"Incidentally, Skinner has never failed a mission," the corpse said.
"One last question," Shen Ye said.
"Ask," the corpse said.
"Do you have any other team members?"
"No. Only Skinner is left. We originally thought it was just a simple mission... Who could have foreseen it turning out like this?" the corpse said with a sigh.
That's right.
The original Shen Ye was already dead.
Your mission should have been completed long ago. You could have left this city and gone back to collect your pay.
But then I came.
"If there's nothing else, rest in peace," Shen Ye said.
The corpse closed his eyes.
Shen Ye slowly stood, turned, and walked away.
Xiao Mengyu was in danger.
I wanted to rely on her strength to uncover the truth, but instead I put her in danger.
Her brother died helping me.
Chen Haoyu was dead.
That Witness was probably dead too.
How many more people had to die?
She was the only one still doing everything she could for this matter.
...I couldn't let her die.
But with my strength, how could I take part in the fight?
No.
Maybe there was no need to fight.
I only needed to get her out.
First, I had the Gate.
Second, I still had that Ghostfire Motorcycle.
It seemed possible.
"Hey, this is dangerous. Don't go getting yourself killed. What am I supposed to do if you die?"
Big Skeleton urged him in a low voice.
"Shut up. Do you think we can hide from this?" Shen Ye said.
Back in his room.
Shen Ye put the Ghostfire Motorcycle into the Ring, then strapped the Nightfall Short Sword behind his back. Everything was ready.
His phone suddenly rang.
Qian Rushan's voice came over the phone:
"Your floor will be completely sealed off tonight. No one is allowed out. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"Huh? Completely sealed off?" Shen Ye asked in surprise.
"That's right. It's for your safety. Get some rest. See you tomorrow," Qian Rushan said.
The call ended.
Shen Ye sank into thought.
Great. Now I couldn't get out.
What should I do?
Was I supposed to just watch Xiao Mengyu go to her death?
Suddenly.
His phone rang again.
It was an unfamiliar number.
Shen Ye's heart tightened, and he immediately answered.
An unfamiliar, young girl's voice spoke:
"Are you Shen Ye?"
"Yes."
"My mom said that if I couldn't reach her, I should find you and call the police with you."
"Who are you?"
"My mom is a Nurse at First Municipal Hospital. She saw what happened when you encountered a ghost that day."
The Witness!
That explained how she knew my phone number.
-When I went to see Chen Haoyu, I left my contact details at the nurses' station.
"Where's your mom?" Shen Ye immediately asked.
Sobbing came over the phone. "She told me to go to the Maple Grove Hotel in the Western Suburbs of the City. She said she'd wait for me there, but-"
"I can't reach her now."
"Where are you?" Shen Ye immediately asked.
The girl hesitated before saying, "I'm at Star Fast Food on Changhong Street, across from the Maple Grove Hotel."
"Okay. Don't leave. Wait for me-right, you need to call the police immediately," Shen Ye said.
"Okay."
The call ended.
"It's not worth going. Watch out for traps," Big Skeleton said.
"The corpse said Skinner was the only killer left. The dead won't lie to me," Shen Ye said.
"You're so safe hiding here. Why go looking for trouble?" Big Skeleton urged him again.
"Enough," Shen Ye said calmly. "Someone is trying to kill me. Do you understand?"
"-Am I supposed to hide like a coward for the rest of my life? Not even dare to find out who wants me dead?"
Big Skeleton fell silent.
A glint of resolve flashed through Shen Ye's eyes.
The Human Martial Arts Group had already given him everything they could.
Until he demonstrated more value, they would not mobilize their forces for his sake, much less make a special effort to investigate killers from the Assassin Alliance.
After all, the killers would rather die than reveal their secrets.
If he did not have this Undead talent from the Nightmare World, he would not have been able to learn the truth either.
In other words-
If he wanted to uncover the truth, he could only rely on himself!
-Of course, having help would be better.
Shen Ye softened his tone. "Help me check whether there's anyone outside."
"I can sense two Life Fires in the corridor. Someone is clearly patrolling. You'll be spotted the moment you step out."
Big Skeleton spoke.
-I couldn't leave through the corridor.
Whether things were safe or dangerous, it was best to let everyone think he was staying in his room in the Human World Martial Arts Tower.
Shen Ye looked out the window.
He was more than a hundred floors up in the Human Martial Arts Group Tower.
Although Qian Rushan had taken a large number of people away, seemingly on some mission, quite a few still remained on guard here.
"There's no sign of any Life Fires outside the window, but if you want to fly on the motorcycle, the noise will give you away immediately."
Big Skeleton said.
"Looks like I can't use the motorcycle," Shen Ye said thoughtfully.
"Exactly. You can't fly, either. Just stay put in your room. That way, we'll both be safe," Big Skeleton seized the chance to urge him again.
Shen Ye paced back and forth across the room a few times, then suddenly muttered to himself:
"A runaway truck ramp..."
"What?" Big Skeleton asked.
Shen Ye ignored him and reached out, pressing his hand against empty air.
A door instantly appeared.
He opened the door.
Beyond it was still that Secret Passage on the battlefield.
"Disperse."
The door vanished.
Shen Ye extended his hand again, tilting his fingers toward himself, and pressed against empty air.
The door appeared again.
Only this time, the door stood at an angle to the floor.
Opening it still revealed the Secret Passage.
But because the door was angled relative to the floor, the Secret Passage behind it was like an uphill slope.
"It worked," Shen Ye said.
"Worked? What worked?" Big Skeleton had no idea what he meant.
Shen Ye ignored him, jumped straight onto the windowsill, and surveyed the sky outside.
The sky was darkening.
It looked as though it would rain tonight. Though the wind was already strong, it could not disperse the dense, surging clouds at all.
The dark clouds filling the sky were a good thing.
At least the tower was shrouded in cloud and mist. No one could clearly see what might appear outside it.
Shen Ye bent down to look.
The city looked like a miniature model, very far away from him.
-Get to the ground from this height?
Shen Ye gritted his teeth and put all seven attribute points into Agility.
His Agility now reached 10.1.
Shen Ye felt as light as a swallow, as though he could ride the wind away at any moment, or like a fish that could swim freely through space.
He shook his head slightly.
It was an illusion caused by his attribute increasing too much all at once.
But-
He could now even use "Sidestep" from "Deer Walk Beneath the Moon"!
"You're not going to jump off the building, are you?!"
Big Skeleton hurriedly said:
"I'm telling you, from this height, even 30 agility won't help. You'll still fall to your death!"
Shen Ye stared at the distant ground and said, "No time to explain. Bone Shrimp, let's go!"
"You-damn it!" Big Skeleton cried out.
Shen Ye had already leaped out of the window.
The wind howled past his ears.
Shen Ye plummeted from high above, falling faster and faster.
At one point.
He suddenly extended his palm, keeping all five fingers bent slightly back, and shouted:
"Gate!"
A gate appeared at an angle.
Shen Ye kicked the gate open and sprinted along the Secret Passage beyond it, which sloped upward.
The cushioning effect of the upward slope slowed him considerably.
At the end of the Secret Passage-
"Gate!"
Another gate appeared.
Shen Ye barreled through it with his momentum, slowing his fall a little more.
He reappeared high in the air and continued plummeting.
But he immediately raised his hand and conjured another gate.
Then he charged uphill again.
-It was like the runaway truck ramps built along mountain highways.
Trucks whose speed had gone out of control used the steep incline of a runaway truck ramp to slow down and escape danger in an emergency, preventing a fatal wreck.
After charging uphill three times in succession, Shen Ye had slowed right down.
He continued plummeting.
Whenever his speed was about to exceed a certain dangerous threshold, he opened another gate and charged up the steep slope a few times.
His falling speed rapidly decreased.
He kept descending like this, until-
Thud.
Shen Ye bent his knees slightly, absorbing the mild impact, and stood in the landscaped strip beside the building.
He jumped out of the landscaped strip and darted beneath a large tree across the street.
The cold wind howled.
A night rain was coming.
-Thank goodness for the dark clouds and lightning filling the sky.
No one had noticed what he had just done.
"Madman! I almost thought I was going to die in this barren world of yours!"
Big Skeleton shouted angrily.
"Cut the chatter. Get the motorcycle out-we're busy tonight," Shen Ye said as he surveyed his surroundings.
A moment later.
The motorcycle unfolded before him.
Shen Ye recited:
"Kill a man every ten steps; leave no trace for a thousand miles."
The motorcycle immediately let out a low roar.
A streak of flame sped through the night toward the Western Suburbs of the City.