Chapter 69: Shadows of the Past

July 25, 2014, lunar date June 29, 05:11 AM, sun and moon darkened.

A solar butterfly fluttered its wings lightly, bypassing the hospital’s already crippled security system, arriving before the basement-level electrical room.

Ning Zhe took a claw hammer from the wall-mounted toolbox, smashed the fully sealed glass cabinet, and physically disconnected all circuit breakers and transformers inside the electrical room.

Instantly, the entire hospital lost power; LED lights flickered out one by one, the MRI room stopped first, followed by oxygen generators, centrifuges, and other medical equipment—all crippled, plunging the hospital into eerie darkness and silence.

Meanwhile, in the eastern sky, the half-sun just rising above the horizon had moments ago emitted gentle light, but now all brightness vanished—the entire “world” was swallowed by darkness, the sun extinguished, just like every LED light in the hospital that had gone dark from the power cut.

On a commercial street in Taoyuan City, a tall, slender figure hurried out of a hotel, ignoring the pitch-black surroundings, descending the stairs without hesitation.

Ye Tian walked with relaxed ease, as if this lightless darkness were his true home; his tall, bamboo-thin frame melted into the shadows, vanishing utterly.

A few minutes later, Ye Tian appeared on the rooftop of a building just one street away from the hospital, and stopped advancing.

“Te Reng can sense the presence and movement of all shadows within a certain range. This distance is sufficient—getting closer risks detection.” Ye Tian pulled out his phone, lit the screen, and checked the time.

In total darkness, even the faintest light was blinding; the thin glow of the phone screen was blocked by Ye Tian’s gaunt frame, casting a blurred human shadow on the rooftop surface—due to the proximity of the body to the light source, the shadow appeared unnaturally tall.

But strangely, this tall, imposing human shadow was incomplete.

Ye Tian’s body was perfectly normal, with no functional defects or disabilities—only unusually slender. Yet the shadow cast upon the surface was mutilated: a massive gash on the right thigh, a disabled left arm severed at the wrist, a circular wound on the left shoulder as if a chunk of flesh had been carved away, the right hand relatively intact, the right leg…

Ye Tian’s shadow was scarred with horrifying wounds and deep gaps, yet his body remained unharmed, merely thin.

This incomplete shadow lasted only a few seconds; after confirming the time, Ye Tian turned off the phone screen and still had no intention of approaching the hospital—the streetlights along the road were still on; if he tried to cross, his shadow would appear under the light, greatly increasing the chance of detection by Te Reng.

“Troublesome,” Ye Tian shook his head, yet beneath his mask, a smile appeared.

At least the seller hadn’t lied—Te Reng’s ability perfectly matched his needs, precisely what he desperately required: kill that person, acquire Te Reng, and his own death countdown would halt… perhaps even reverse.

But soon, the smile faded. Ye Tian gazed across the street at the hospital building, frowning slightly: “What’s going on?”

Car horns and chaotic human voices rose from all directions; Taoyuan City’s urban center plunged into panic and chaos as the sun vanished. Roads blared with horns, windows across towering buildings lit up densely, like Christmas trees draped in decorative lights, illuminating the city from the night.

Taoyuan City had never before seen such a brilliant spectacle, as if immersed in an ocean of neon.

Yet amid this dazzling neon glow, one area remained utterly black: Qinzhou Medical College, Taoyuan West Branch Hospital—Ye Tian’s target.

“All the lights in the hospital are out…” Ye Tian frowned, hesitating.

The power cut was undoubtedly the work of the last two survivors and that intruding youngster—but what made Ye Tian hesitate was their motive.

The holder of Te Reng gains an extra sense, activated only by light—no light, no shadow, Te Reng’s rule becomes meaningless, leaving Ye Tian free to approach the hospital unimpeded. This is a foolish act of self-mutilation. Without a compelling reason, such a decision is unthinkable.

So what drove them to turn off the lights? A possibility surfaced in Ye Tian’s mind: “Perhaps they did this to… survive?”

“Suppose one of the three has already deciphered the rule ‘cannot be directly observed,’ and knows I’m about to approach in person—then turning off all lighting, plunging the hospital into darkness, might be their way of reducing visibility to restrict the rule’s activation…”

Clever.

According to Bi Shuiwan Estate’s account, all of them encountered the anomaly for the first time during that incident; before that, they were ordinary people. Meaning, the one possessing Te Reng was experiencing an anomaly for the second time—being hunted by me.

To begin reverse-engineering rules so soon after first contact… such psychological resilience and logical ability in an ordinary person… had he survived, the Ascenders’ circle might have gained another familiar face: Te Reng.

“Too bad. The direction is wrong. All effort is futile.” Ye Tian shook his head and vanished into the shadows.

A dark shadow skated along the wall, darted across the road, and slipped into the hospital.

Inside the hospital, Ning Zhe and Bai Zhi walked down the corridor, one holding a shotgun, the other a flashlight, heading to meet Feng Yu on the second floor.

Perhaps due to the tense atmosphere before the storm, neither spoke much; they moved in silence through the corridor, faintly sweet-smelling, toward the stairs—the power was out, so they had to climb.

Neither noticed that in the pitch-black darkness of the first floor, a shadow stirred silently, trailing behind them.

Ning Zhe and Bai Zhi climbed the stairs; in the darkness behind them, a pair of eyes opened—left eye amber-gold, right eye silver-metallic, luminous and beautiful, fixed directly on the tall, upright back of the man beside Bai Zhi.

Then Ning Zhe stopped.

“Ning Zhe, what’s wrong?” Bai Zhi turned around.

“I…” Ning Zhe’s voice was low and hoarse; his hands trembled, and the flashlight in his grip clattered to the floor, rolling down the stair steps.

But the shotgun in his other hand tightened involuntarily.

“I must… kill…”

Ning Zhe gripped the shotgun with both hands, aimed the barrel at his own chin: “I must kill…”

Then a gunshot exploded, shattering Ning Zhe’s skull into a spray of blood and smoke, pinkish brain matter and crimson blood splattering over Bai Zhi.

The thick stench of blood in the air confirmed the content of the mental imprint branded upon Ning Zhe: 【I must kill Ning Zhe】

On sale tomorrow

(End of Chapter)