Chapter 354: Reviewing the Details

Worried that the ghastly thing might drift in from outside the window, Li Yuning pulled the curtains shut after checking the situation outside, then squeezed in behind the room door sealed with Talismans with Wang Han; at least that area could be guaranteed to be somewhat safe.

The two sat side by side, silent for a long time, their thoughts in disarray, suspicious of everything around them; the unknown danger was their greatest fear right now.

Wang Han suddenly took a deep breath and slapped his cheeks hard; the slaps were loud, and two palm prints immediately appeared on his face. He forced himself to stay calm and muttered to himself, "I cannot be too immersed in the current predicament; let me rethink this starting from the source."

Li Yuning glanced at him, "What do you want to do?" Although she was more pessimistic, her emotions were also more stable because of it.

"The starting point of the incident was the 'accidental death' of Zhao Zheng. In reality, it was the materialization of the Child of Cruelty that caused him to die an unnatural death. But the appearance of the Child of Cruelty is related to the Abnormal Flower Vase that his wife, Lu Min, brought back from the Baizhou City Socialite Gathering. It can be said that regardless of whether Zhao Zheng's death was intentional on Lu Min's part, it is inseparable from her, and the root cause that facilitated this matter is the Abnormal behind the Socialite Gathering..." Wang Han briefly reviewed the whole affair.

"The Abnormal force behind this Socialite Gathering is the ancient Blood Rose Knights. We have already learned from the deceased Zhao Qian what the purpose is that these members want to achieve." Wang Han looked at Li Yuning, his eyes—uncovered by the Copper Coin Mask—radiating a crazy, rational brilliance, "They want to resurrect the Bloodthirsty Empress who has been asleep for many years, and we came here precisely to stop the resurrection of the Bloodthirsty Empress, and incidentally resolve the issue of me being marked as prey by the Child of Cruelty."

Following Wang Han's train of thought, Li Yuning said, "But judging from the things that have happened along the way, they actually already know our purpose. Perhaps from the moment we started coming into contact with their affairs, we have been watched."

"Yes, and I think this is something they did on purpose." Wang Han continued to analyze, "Think back carefully, who was the second victim after Zhao Zheng died? It was Hu Mo."

"He followed Zhao Zheng and was killed by the Child of Cruelty only a few hours later, and because of this, I became the next prey marked by the Child of Cruelty after witnessing it following Hu Mo."

"In terms of this hunting efficiency, I should have actually died long ago, but I have lived until now. Although this is inseparable from the credit of Lin Laoban, the vast majority of the reason is definitely not here."

"Have you thought about why they are not in a hurry to kill you?" Li Yuning asked.

"I don't know, I can't be sure." Wang Han gave an ambiguous answer, but still very calmly continued to analyze with Li Yuning, "If we analyze the three of us—Zhao Zheng, Hu Mo, and myself—Zhao Zheng's identity was that of a family descendant with a small local background, and his profession was the security captain of the Baizhou TV Tower. Secretly, he and his wife Lu Min were engaged in the evil business of hunting living people to satisfy their inner emptiness. Hu Mo had a commoner background and was also a member of the Baizhou TV Tower's security team; he had no power or influence but possessed a certain level of spiritual perception ability that exceeded that of ordinary people. My identity is similar to Zhao Zheng's; my profession is an Enforcer rookie, and I might also possess a certain level of spiritual perception ability."

Based on what Wang Han said, Li Yuning also inferred, "The reason for Zhao Zheng's death should be relatively clear. If the Blood Rose Knights were trying to recruit Lu Min into the organization, then regardless of what Zhao Zheng's identity was, he had to die."

To this, Wang Han said in a grave tone, "Then don't you think Zhao Zheng's method of death was too strange?"

Hearing this, Li Yuning was silent for a moment. She tried to jump out of her fixed thinking and think from another angle, and suddenly her beautiful eyebrows jumped in shock, "Why did they have to dispatch the Child of Cruelty to kill?"

"Exactly, why did they have to use the Child of Cruelty to kill? I know the Child of Cruelty is an Abnormal creature; using it to kill would definitely not easily expose traces. If it weren't for the fact that Team Leader and I remained vigilant and held a shred of doubt until I confirmed it with my own eyes, I'm afraid that according to the general process, everyone would only think Zhao Zheng died in an accident."

"But the hunting method of the Child of Cruelty is too unusual. The necessary condition for it to hunt is to be 'seen' by someone. And Zhao Zheng was clearly not a person with high spiritual perception. The probability of him wanting to see the Child of Cruelty and materializing it is about as small as an ordinary person casually cursing someone and having it come true."

"Therefore, because the success probability of Zhao Zheng's method of death was so small, his 'coincidence' was very likely an inevitability caused by human intervention. The Blood Rose Knights had actually noticed that there was someone like Hu Mo, who possessed talents different from ordinary people, by Zhao Zheng's side."

Li Yuning frowned, "Listening to you say this, it seems to be the case." The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

"Of course, this is just a guess of mine; perhaps it really was just... a coincidence." Wang Hanyi was the same, but he chose to temporarily avoid this unease because he still had to remain calm and continue thinking, "So, Zhao Zheng died because someone wanted him to die, and the reason Hu Mo was killed so quickly by the Child of Cruelty, I think it is very likely because of my existence."

"Hu Mo died, so the hunting mark will transfer to you." Li Yuning analyzed from the result, "They want you to be the next target hunted by the Child of Cruelty."

"I possess characteristics that Hu Mo did not have, but there are too many differences between me and Hu Mo; I couldn't think of the real reason for a moment." Wang Han recalled Hu Mo's performance before his death; perhaps it was something Hu Mo said or did that caused him to have to die right then and there, "Could it be that painting?"

Wang Han suddenly remembered something. He searched himself, found that he didn't have what he was looking for, and asked Li Yuning, "Do you have paper and a pen on you?"

Li Yuning reached into the small shoulder bag she carried with her, which seemed to contain everything, and actually pulled out a black ballpoint pen and a small notebook.

Wang Han snatched the two items, lay on the ground, and began to draw. Cold sweat flowed from his forehead, and he muttered, "Think carefully, I still remember," then his pen moved like a dragon or snake, drawing rapidly in a wild, cursive style.

Li Yuning watched what Wang Han was drawing from the side. When she saw the strange, twisted lines he drew slowly piece together the appearance of an indescribable, twisted monster, she seemed to understand the content of the picture, and cold sweat immediately poured down like a waterfall, "Enough! Stop drawing!"

Stunned by the sharp reprimand, Wang Han stopped the pen in his hand and stared blankly at Li Yuning.

"I have already seen that thing. When I was exorcising the mutated Zhao Qian at Zhao Qian's house, the posture she transformed into under the influence of Abnormal power was exactly this appearance." Li Yuning adjusted the angle of Wang Han's drawing slightly, letting Wang Han look at the picture from another angle, and Wang Han felt his hair stand on end.

It was actually a strangely twisted rose.