An Xin

Yu Sheng looked at Wang Wenxuan, who stood before him doing nothing but grinning foolishly, with a strange expression.

He kept feeling that something might be wrong with this man.

Perhaps...

He could consider choosing someone else to work with in the future.

Rule three of survival in Sin City: never get too close to an idiot, whether an enemy or an ally.

Outside Huaihai City.

A truck drove slowly along a secluded path.

It was not moving fast.

Even its engine was quiet, and the driver kept checking the rearview mirror, watching his surroundings.

"Stop! This is a robbery!"

A voice like a silver bell suddenly rang out.

Then a rope suddenly appeared on the ground ahead, snapping taut and pulling rows of sharp steel spikes up from the dirt.

The truck came to an abrupt stop.

The driver took a deep breath, his expression dark. Without hesitation, he shifted into reverse and accelerated backward.

Unfortunately.

A girl with twin ponytails emerged from the shadows, her hands behind her back and a grin on her face. She wore a pink dress and a sweet smile, her whole face giving an impression of sweetness and cuteness.

"I told you, no moving! I'm robbing you!"

Watching the truck continue to charge toward her, the girl grew a little unhappy.

As her words fell, a thick book suddenly appeared behind her, its cover inlaid with four pale purple crystals.

The book's pages turned.

The truck suddenly stopped. No matter how hard the driver pressed the accelerator, it would not budge.

"The Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion's Third Squad Divine Strategist, An Xin!"

"Fuck!"

"Wasn't this crazy bitch in Xinhai City?!"

The driver cursed, a trace of despair in his eyes. But he was ruthless himself. Without the slightest hesitation, he opened the door, jumped out of the truck, and fled toward the distant wilderness.

Unfortunately.

Several figures appeared in the wilderness ahead, blocking his path.

Each had their own Awakening Object behind them, lighting up the night.

"The entire Third Squad..."

"Isn't this the Dark Pavilion's fucking job? What the hell is wrong with you people from the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion?"

The driver growled, and a sparrow abruptly appeared behind him.

Only, this sparrow was much larger than usual.

Its claws seized the driver, and it shot into the sky.

"Because we're poor, of course!"

"Slaying demons is our main job. Robbery's our side gig."

An Xin narrowed her eyes into two crescents, looking even cuter.

But an invisible wall suddenly appeared in the sky.

With a wail, the driver fell from midair. The others took out an unusually thick hemp rope and clumsily tied him up.

That rope... was normally used to tie up livestock.

This was their first time using it on a person.

"Fucking stop hitting me!"

"Fuck!"

"I'm not a demon! You'll beat me to death!"

"I'm going to complain to the Ink Pavilion! This is police brutality from the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion!"

"Fuck, you're still hitting me? You really think I won't fight... hiss..."

The Third Squad members hit viciously.

They put all their strength into every punch.

After all, they normally dealt with members of the Demon Clan roaming the outskirts of cities. Those beasts had thick hides and tough flesh. Without hitting hard, even knocking them out was difficult.

But they really were not practiced at subduing a person.

So they could only follow their usual working methods: bang, bang, two punches.

Then two more.

They beat the driver until he screamed nonstop, his voice even taking on a sobbing tone.

"All right, all right."

"You don't know your own strength. When we get back, the Dark Pavilion people will laugh at us for doing sloppy work again."

"There are hardly any demons in this lousy place. Without some extra income, we'll be dirt poor!"

"If they stop sending business our way, you can look forward to living on dirt."

The girl still spoke with a smile, without the slightest hint of intimidation, as though she were joking.

But the three immediately stopped, without the slightest hesitation.

It was rather as though her words were law.

Satisfied, the girl opened the doors to the truck's cargo compartment. Then... she fell silent.

"An Xin, what were those cult bastards transporting?"

"Yeah, we've never seen it before."

"Those Dark Pavilion people are always so secretive."

The three squad members carried the driver, who had an unknown number of broken bones, over curiously.

But An Xin's cheerful smile gradually faded, and she fell somewhat silent...

"Don't come over."

Her voice was a little cold.

Although they did not know why their deputy captain's tone had suddenly changed, they instinctively stopped.

Because they knew very well...

Whenever Deputy Captain An wore that expression, it was as though she had released a demon from deep within her heart, terrifying beyond measure.

Inside the truck's cargo compartment.

Naked girls lay with their hands and feet bound, terror and despair in their eyes and tear tracks covering their faces.

Most of all...

There were the bloody wounds covering their bodies.

"Whew..."

An Xin let out a long breath, gave the girls in the truck a cute, friendly smile, and said with feigned ease, "You're free!"

"The Ink Pavilion hasn't forgotten you!"

Hearing the words "Ink Pavilion," the girls in the truck broke down sobbing. Unfortunately, their mouths were gagged, and they could not make a sound.

"You'll have to put up with this a little longer. We don't have any spare clothes here."

"But I promise, the people who hurt you..."

"Will suffer terribly."

The smile on An Xin's face was as kind as an angel's, and the girls nodded silently.

An Xin jumped into the truck just like that, untied the ropes one by one, and handed them the squad members' jackets and shirts.

She smiled the entire time, inexplicably putting people at ease.

Just like her name... An Xin.

She got out and closed the cargo doors again. When she turned around and looked at the bound driver, An Xin was still smiling, but that smile was demonic, sending a chill down the spine.

An angel, a demon...

Two different temperaments switched in an instant within her.

"I'm very unhappy."

"The Dark Pavilion only asked us to bring him back alive."

"So... as long as he's still breathing, that counts as alive, right?"

She revealed her white teeth, even sporting four little canine teeth, but her voice was enough to plunge someone into an ice cellar, chilling them all over.

Although they had not seen it, they could already roughly guess what was inside the truck.

"Goddammit!"

"This is the first time I've ever felt that people can sometimes be more hateful than demons!"

"Motherfucker!"

"Is trash like you what all those fallen heroes at Demon-Suppressing Pass were protecting?"

"Pah! Cult scum!"

Amid the curses, fists the size of sandbags rained down, along with size 42 shoes.

Gradually, the driver's wails grew weaker, blood flowing constantly from the corners of his mouth.

"All right!"

"That's a wrap!"

She turned around, jumped onto the roof of the truck, and sat down, while the others started the truck and drove toward Baichun City.

Along the way, the breeze occasionally lifted An Xin's twin ponytails, her fair face illuminated by the moonlight.