Gathering, gathering together.

"Have I gone mad? Why did I let them leave?"

He kept muttering those words, thinking of how he had let the ability users leave when they had already come right to his doorstep at such a dangerous time. He was furious, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. He really had lost his mind. Why had he let them go?!

The ability users guarding him closely listened to his muttering. Unwilling to incur his wrath, they all lowered their heads and pretended not to hear his grumbling.

Knock, knock.

The sudden knocking startled the Zhou family head into leaping out of his chair, the fat on his belly quivering.

"Dad, it's me."

A gentle voice came from outside the door.

It was his son!

The Zhou family head relaxed his taut nerves, a rare trace of a smile appearing on his face as he ordered someone to open the door.

Zhou Bo, the young master of the Zhou family, walked in. Without so much as glancing at the ability-user guards crowding the room, he walked toward the Zhou family head with a smile. The Zhou family head looked at his handsome, distinguished son with satisfaction and asked, "My son, what brings you here?"

"Didn't I tell you to stay in your room?" he cursed. "That damned Polluted has appeared. It isn't safe."

Zhou Bo did not answer. He looked at his father for rather a long time, as though trying to engrave him in his eyes.

The Zhou family head did not understand what he was looking at. As he puzzled over it, Zhou Bo smiled faintly. "It's fine. City A is so big, and we're out in the sparsely populated suburbs. The Polluted has already been here once. It isn't likely to come again."

"That's true, but..." The Zhou family head, who treasured his life, felt uneasy. Even if the chances were slim, how could he rest easy? He only had one life!

"Dad," Zhou Bo called suddenly.

"What is it?" the Zhou family head asked.

Out of nowhere, Zhou Bo said, "It's almost dark."

"Hmm?"

"It's almost dark," Zhou Bo repeated in a murmur.

"What about it?"

The Zhou family head was bewildered. Just then, his son suddenly looked at him, and that look made his heart tremble. His son was looking at him as though looking at...

"Dad, the Polluted came during the day, and you were contaminated. After dark, you became disoriented, couldn't see clearly outside, and accidentally fell from the building," Zhou Bo stated in a flat tone.

The Zhou family head said, "..."

His son was looking at him as though he were a dead man.

"What-what the hell are you talking about?!" the Zhou family head raged. "How am I contaminated?!"

Zhou Bo looked at him, speaking cruel words in a calm voice. "Then you aren't. What I mean is, you should die. That's what matters most."

The Zhou family head: "!!!"

He nearly failed to catch his breath. Zhou Bo said, "Dad, you're very pleased with me, aren't you? Since that's the case, and my body has recovered now, give way to me. Let me take the position of family head."

The Zhou family head shook all over, too furious to speak. "You-you unfilial son!"

"Do you know what nonsense you're spouting? Damn you, you unfilial son! Are you tired of living, talking to your father like that?" Furious beyond measure, the Zhou family head called for his guards in a trembling voice. "All of you, come here! Tie this unfilial son up and take him back to his room to cool off.

"He's been contaminated. He's out of his mind!"

Even at this point, the Zhou family head had no intention of doing anything to his son. He only wanted him to calm down.

Because this was the son he was proudest of, his future heir.

Yet no one answered his order. The Zhou family head froze and turned to look. Only then did he discover that every guard in his room looked dazed, as though caught in a bewildering spell.

Contamination?

No, that wasn't it. It was...

He looked at his son, who leisurely stroked his own finger, revealing a trace of blood-red.

An ability user?

His son was an ability user?!

He stared blankly, remembering how he had let the Ability Control Bureau leave that morning.

It was hypnosis...

Zhou Bo said gently, "Dad, you see? Not only has my body recovered, I've evolved into an ability user. Just as you wished, I've grown into someone so outstanding-even more outstanding than you expected. So you should feel at ease leaving the Zhou family to me now, shouldn't you?"

Horrified, the Zhou family head involuntarily backed away a few steps.

He finally understood. This was not a matter of whether he would forgive his monstrously unfilial son. His son held the initiative!

Zhou Bo smiled faintly, walked to the window, opened the sealed window, and gestured for his father to proceed. The Zhou family head turned to run, but his body was beyond his control. His feet began moving on their own, carrying him toward the window...

No!

No, no!

He didn't want to die!

All the fat on his body trembled with terror, and both his eyes were bloodshot. He did not want to die, yet he walked toward death step by step, unable to control himself.

He felt the wind. It stirred his expensive clothes, and he saw the scenery outside. In that instant, anger and regret filled him.

He had once had another son, an illegitimate

son whom he had brought home and raised as a living supply of organs.

Cursed genes ran through the Zhou family, and children with a hereditary disease were frequently born into it. Once the disease manifested, all their internal organs had to be transplanted, or death was certain. The Zhou family head had brought his illegitimate son home as a precaution.

The illegitimate son he had brought home was far too different from the heir he had painstakingly raised. One was an ignorant good-for-nothing who stayed home all day being useless; the other was extraordinary, excellent in every respect. Even another glance at his illegitimate son hurt the Zhou family head's eyes. Later, when his son unfortunately fell ill, the Zhou family head had intended to trade his illegitimate son's life for his, only for the illegitimate son to fall ill as well. Fortunately amid the misfortune, the hospital found an organ donor in time. This had been no easy feat, as the Zhou family's genes were extremely unusual and difficult to match.

There was only one donor and two sick sons. The Zhou family head had never hesitated over which one to save.

The Zhou family head was suddenly filled with regret. Had he known, he should have chosen his illegitimate son back then. Though that child was useless, he seemed to regard him as his savior. He had rescued him from a life of drifting and wandering, so whenever the boy looked at him, his eyes were full of admiration.

Had he known...

Thud.

The Zhou family head stepped onto the window ledge and leaped.

He died, his eyes still open in death.

"Ah."

The young master of the Zhou family leaned against the window, admiring the view on the ground. From this moment on, he was the head of the Zhou family.

How could someone as outstanding as him, with a clever mind, a recovered body, and an ability user's powers, remain beneath anyone else?

A smile of heartfelt joy appeared at the corner of his mouth. Before that joy could reach his brows, an icy aura suddenly came from behind him. It was so cold that every pore shuddered. Alarmed, he abruptly turned around. A cloud of mist rushed at him and struck him squarely in the face. Before he could react, his head separated from his body. His clever head flew out the window and landed with a thud in a mass of mangled flesh. Not far away lay his father's head. Both had their eyes open, equally unable to rest in death.

The sky darkened.

The blood-red sunset spilled everywhere, brilliant and decadent.

A transparent figure appeared in the villa's room, leaning against the window. With two pitch-black holes for eyes open wide, it admired the scenery outside alongside the corpse opposite it, which had only its torso left. Water gushed from its eyes, flooding the room, the villa, and the entire estate. Having tasted human blood, the Polluted could no longer restrain its malice. Almost tangible killing intent pierced the sky above the estate. Before long, that malice would erode it, turning it into a grim reaper of slaughter.

But at this moment, it was still itself, able to lean quietly against the window and watch the birds and sunlight outside.

In the distance, the Ability Control Bureau's convoy was heading toward the estate, its engines roaring.

Polluted could sense ability users by the power spilling from their abilities and their unique magnetic fields. Ability users sensed the Polluted through the contamination they emitted. Even when a Polluted did nothing, contamination would spill from it—a conglomeration of negative emotions such as malice and murderous intent. When a high-level Polluted released it deliberately, it could instantly increase the concentration severalfold.

And at this moment, the malice in the suburbs had pierced the sky, contamination surging skyward. Thus, every ability user knew that the Polluted had shown itself.

In a corner of the city, Ye Jiang walked along a deserted street. The gathering dusk further diluted her already faint presence. With a roar, a motorcycle sped past her, lifting the hem of her clothes and her hair, but its rider did not notice her.

Another roar-another modified vehicle drove past.

Ye Jiang stopped. She looked down at her two frail legs, then up at the vehicles receding into the distance. Slowly, she raised a hand toward another approaching vehicle-

Please give me a lift.

She tried to hitch a ride.

But no one paid her any attention.

One vehicle after another passed her by.

Ye Jiang: "..."

She pressed her lips together.

She looked up toward the suburbs.

[I'm leaving.]

Remembering her fellow patient's farewell, Ye Jiang tugged at the corner of her mouth unhappily.

The books haven't even been returned, and we haven't explained things to their owners. What's this about leaving?

If my fellow patient leaves, won't I be suspected of stealing the books?

She had to bring that friendly but rather impolite fellow patient back.

Chapter 6: Gathering, gathering together.

Night had fallen completely. The city's remaining streetlights came on one after another, illuminating Ye Jiang's frail figure as she headed alone toward the suburbs.

The suburbs were still far on the horizon, the journey seemingly endless, so Ye Jiang was in no hurry. Hurrying would do no good. She stopped beneath a streetlight to rest.

Bang!

Thud!

Bang, bang, bang!

Something was happening in a distant neighborhood. Unidentifiable noises kept coming-collisions, explosions, and human shouts, all mixed together, leaving one baffled.

The nightlife in this city seems livelier than its days, Ye Jiang thought. Noticing that her slippers were a little dirty, she lowered her head to brush them off. The next second, a shadow lunged fiercely at her. She shifted slightly to one side, and the charging shadow swept past her and slammed hard into the streetlight behind her.