Chapter 72: Sinking in Sin, Walking in Shadows

Evening.

Ling Wu returned to the villa outside the school. A wine-red supercar was parked outside, and the door was wide open. He glanced at the car with the unfamiliar license plate and walked into the villa.

The lights were not on, and the interior of the villa was bleached white by the moonlight. A pair of slippers at the entrance had been worn, and there were traces of someone having sat on the sofa, yet the entire living room was deathly quiet. Moonlight pierced through the shadows of the trees and spilled onto the floor beneath the floor-to-ceiling windows, and a breeze blew in from the window, revealing an eerie atmosphere everywhere.

"Bang!"

The villa door was blown shut by the wind.

A black shadow flashed past the window, approaching Ling Wu silently, but the youth tilted his eyes slightly, a cold glint flashing in his gaze. He reacted extremely quickly, spinning around to kick out, the power in his waist and abdomen exploding instantly, and the black shadow was kicked flying onto the sofa.

"Ouch!"

A cry of pain was emitted.

Before the black shadow could even crawl up, something hard and cold was pressed against the back of their neck. It was... a gun!

Ling Wu knelt on the sofa on one knee, his other hand fiercely pinning the person's waist and abdomen, pressing the muzzle against the back of their neck. His voice was cold and bone-chilling, emphasizing each syllable: "Looking to die?"

The youth's icy tone was enough to pierce into the marrow.

That person hurriedly shouted:

"It's me!"

"It's me!"

Ling Wu found the tone familiar, loosened his grip on the gun slightly, and looked at the person beneath him suspiciously: "Xi Huaizhi?"

"It's me, Ah Wu."

Xi Huaizhi lifted his face from the sofa, revealing his profile. Moonlight poured onto his face, his features handsome and beautiful, and his light blue eyes were suffused with a cold, white luster, clear and distant like a lake.

He could hear an imperceptible sigh from above his head.

Afterward, Ling Wu let him go, footsteps walked away, and immediately after, the lights in the villa turned on.

Ling Wu had just turned around when he was pulled into an embrace by Xi Huaizhi. His nose was filled with the scent of fresh soap. The youth hugged him tightly, even rubbing his cheek against his neck, and finally rested his chin on his shoulder: "That hurt!"

"I missed you to death."

"Did you miss me?"

Ling Wu pressed two fingers together and pushed Xi Huaizhi's head away: "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you have things to take care of? How did you get here so fast?"

He patted the other's shoulder, walked around Xi Huaizhi, sat on the sofa, and poured himself a glass of water.

Xi Huaizhi's light blue eyes were filled with smiles, and he crossed his arms: "Of course I was in a hurry to come and back up my great Magician."

"How did you get in?" Ling Wu stared at him: "Didn't we agree to wash your hands of it?"

Xi Huaizhi spread his arms and shrugged: "I already betrayed our Thief Family for you, but I haven't forgotten the skill of picking locks."

"Don't be angry, it was just to give you a surprise."

Ling Wu pinched the glass rim with his fingertips: "What a nuisance."

"You should be glad I didn't blow your head off."

Xi Huaizhi asked first: "How is your body? Did you see a psychiatrist after returning to the Empire?"

"My body is fine." Ling Wu's hand holding the cup paused, and he slowly raised his gaze: "I can control my emotions, why would I need to see a doctor?"

Xi Huaizhi watched him for a long time, then lowered his head, smiling as if in self-mockery.

"Let's not talk about this for now."

Xi Huaizhi walked to the shelf over there, brought out a Wooden Box, placed it on the marble coffee table, and tapped it with his knuckles: "Your things, I brought them back for you."

The Wooden Box opened, and inside lay a ten-inch Improved Military Knife, exactly the same as Ling Wu's other blade. Beneath the blade was a thick black cloth sheath with two compartments for blades, and there was a row of hidden snaps on both sides of the sheath.

Both of Ling Wu's blades were given to him by his teacher, a Marshal of the Federation. The teacher had once warned him with this sentence—

"Excessive rigidity is prone to breaking, excessive softness leads to decadence; only by balancing rigidity and softness can one accomplish great things!"

This was also the origin of these two Soft Blades.

It was to remind Ling Wu at all times to be like these two blades: able to attack when advancing, able to defend when retreating, possessing both exposed sharpness and the flexibility to deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces.

When Ling Wu arrived at the Empire, he only brought the left blade, leaving the right blade in the Federation. He hadn't expected Xi Huaizhi to bring it back for him.

"How did you bring the blade back?"

Xi Huaizhi sat close to him: "These two blades are like your left and right arms. I guessed that you couldn't do without either one. I didn't just bring your blade back to the Empire..."

He paused for a long time.

"I was afraid your medicine wouldn't be enough, so I brought that for you too."

After saying this, he fished a square-shaped object out of his coat.

What Xi Huaizhi held was a Cigarette Case. The edges of the case were inlaid with lily patterns, appearing vintage and luxurious. The body of the case was entirely in cool tones, and the pattern in the middle was the Magician from the Tarot Card, symbolizing strength and wisdom, with a string of foreign text at the top.

"Xi Huaizhi."

"You didn't come to the Empire just to help me." Ling Wu looked at the Cigarette Case in his hand, closed his eyes slightly, revealing invisible pressure: "You're afraid I'll die."

He raised his eyes, and the two looked at each other: "Right?"

A tense atmosphere permeated the air.

Xi Huaizhi stared straight at Ling Wu, as if trying to see through everything, yet in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a palpitation of being oppressed with nowhere to escape.

"I am helping you!"

Xi Huaizhi's expression was somewhat pained: "But I'm even more afraid that you'll die!"

"Do you know!"

"Ling Wu, do you know how terrified I was during the year you lost contact?"

Ling Wu remained silent.

Xi Huaizhi let out a heavy breath: "You killed Yin Cilan, and the evidence you deliberately left for the police has already been completely wiped by me. No one can trace it back to you."

"I cannot let you walk toward such an ending."

"Pei Ziying won't allow it, your teacher won't allow it, and I certainly won't allow it!"

Ling Wu acknowledged his sentiment: "Is this the matter you said you needed to handle?"

Xi Huaizhi's body stiffened; he had prepared to clean up after Ling Wu the moment he knew Ling Wu was going to take action, for he was well aware that for a high-IQ talent like Ling Wu, executing a perfect crime would not be difficult.

But he would not do that; he still had a conscience.

Even if the police could not catch him in the end, he would still turn himself in.

Xi Huaizhi leaned down, gripped his thin shoulders with both hands, and stared into his eyes: "Conscience has never been able to trap those demons and beasts, yet it has truly and firmly trapped you."

As sin rises and falls, he is determined to walk the path of light through the darkness.

"Ling Wu, go break free, give it your all, I am behind you."

Let the grievances be redressed, let the truth be brought to light, and let all unreasonable orders be broken and reshaped.

Ling Wu leaned back, crossed his fingers, and gazed calmly ahead; that gaze seemed to pierce through the treacherous fog to see the mastermind behind the scenes and see the manifestation of heavenly justice: "I never said this game of chess could stop."

Everyone must follow the steps to the very end.

He asked again: "Is Huo Xi still in Ganan?"

Xi Huaizhi nodded: "We have already precisely located him; he is currently still in Ganan, and with our people interfering, those trash from the Yin Family won't be able to find the specific location of Huo Xi and the others so quickly."

Ling Wu: "Good."

Xi Huaizhi asked: "Then when shall we set off to find him?"

"The Yin Family has already sent people to Ganan, and the Head of the Yin Family has returned to Beidu in a fit of rage; he will likely send Yin Huaiyu to lead his men on a trip to Ganan."

"This young master of the Yin Family has been ruthless since childhood and possesses astonishing courage; he is not someone easy to deal with, and we will likely face him head-on if we go to Ganan."

The Yin Family.

Yin Huaiyu.

Very well.

All the glory built upon the blood of Ling Tingwan should be dismantled.

Ling Wu picked up the extremely sharp Military Knife from the Wooden Box, the blade reflecting half of his elegant face; his eyebrows and eyes seemed to be stained with coldness by the blade's light, and he pressed two fingers together against the blade, sliding them slowly from the hilt to the tip: "Then let the slaughter begin; use the blood of the Yin Family to sacrifice to my blade!"