"Handsome, you sure took your time."
The woman pulled her clothes back on, casting a meaningful look at Yu Peng.
Yu Peng got up, got dressed, and headed for the door without responding.
"Hey, you haven’t paid yet."
"I don’t have money."
The moment those words left Yu Peng’s mouth, the woman’s fawning smile vanished instantly.
"No money, and you dare come here for fun? Are you messing with me?!"
The woman’s face turned vicious, her heavy foundation cracking like peeling paint on a weathered wall.
Yu Peng ignored her and continued walking down the stairs.
Of course, the woman wasn’t having it. She’d worked herself to the bone, her lips nearly chapped raw, and this guy? Just walked out with “no money”?
What a joke.
"Stop right there! You’re not leaving without paying today!" she shouted, grabbing his shirt.
Yu Peng didn’t resist, letting her clutch his collar.
"I’ve been doing this for years, and I’ve never met someone like you. Trying to dine and dash, huh?!"
"I’ve seen plenty of deadbeats, but a shameless freeloader like you? First time!"
"You should really find out who’s got my back around here. One phone call and you’ll be—huh?!"
Blood exploded across the wall, bits of flesh and gore splattering everywhere.
The stairwell was dyed in crimson.
Yu Peng slowly retracted the “longsword” protruding from his forehead.
Flecks of blood and meat still clung to his face. He glanced dismissively at the woman’s corpse.
"Finally, some peace and quiet."
Back Alley.
"Screw it, I’m done. Let’s shelve this quest for now."
From noon till four in the afternoon, Li Ran hadn’t found a single clue.
This back-alley district was a maze of alleys and tightly packed old houses. Finding the killer here was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The deeper they searched, the more they discovered that many original residents still lived in the area.
The neighborhood wasn’t abandoned—they just rarely came out during the day.
Once night fell, this street would be swarming with monsters.
As the sky darkened, continuing the search would become extremely dangerous.
"What about you? Not heading back?" Li Ran looked at Lu Zhaohui, who was still tagging along.
After investigating the crime scene, Lu Zhaohui had circled back and even helped search for leads on the killer.
"Uh… hey, could I borrow 10 points? I want to buy some food to store up. I’ll pay you back after I finish my guidance quest."
Lu Zhaohui looked down, nervously tapping his index fingers together. His whole posture screamed awkwardness.
Li Ran was speechless, but considering the guy had helped search all afternoon, he deducted 10 points and handed them over.
Li Ran advised, "If you spend those 10 points wisely, they’ll last you three days. But don’t think you can just hole up forever. Better to finish your guidance quest soon."
"Yeah, I’ll use that outline you gave me and win the girl over!"
Lu Zhaohui grinned with a dopey, good-natured smile.
Not a bad guy, really.
And it wasn’t that Li Ran was stingy with the 10 points.
He wasn’t some saint or charity case. Besides, if he ever came up short on points at a critical moment, it could cost him his life.
It was getting late, and Li Ran needed to head home to cook dinner for his wife and kid.
On the way back, he passed by a beauty salon.
A woman inside caught his attention.
She had dazzling white teeth and bright eyes—devilishly seductive.
Li Ran paused at the entrance of the beauty salon, his gaze fixed on the sultry woman inside fixing her makeup.
[Salon Owner: Yang Baobao. Real name: Yang Shuo]
[Mental Infection Class: A-Rank]
[Eerie Power: 800]
Just as Li Ran was waiting for more golden-finger prompts to appear, the woman inside sharply turned to look toward the door.
But outside, Li Ran had already vanished.
"That’s weird. I swear someone was standing at the door just now?"
The woman frowned slightly, but brushed it off and continued touching up her makeup.
Meanwhile, in the shadowy corner of a nearby wall, Li Ran’s figure slowly materialized, hugging the wall’s edge.
He pulled out an ID card from his personal storage.
The name on the card was clear: Yang Shuo.
"That seductive woman’s name is also Yang Shuo?"
She had a stunning body, tall and curvy, with elegant posture, a delicate face, and fair skin. From any angle, she was a near-perfect woman.
This ID card had been found under a bench in the residential area.
Golden-finger prompt: (Male's ID card: There's a beauty salon in the back alley of Xingfu Garden. You’ll find the person on this card there. Also, this item can be used as a bargaining chip.)
Yang Baobao?
Yang Shuo, male?
A flash of realization crossed Li Ran’s mind—like the "specialties" of a certain Southeast Asian country in his past life.
A-Class Mental Infectant, Eerie Power: 800!
“This guy’s even stronger than Wang Qian?”
After everything today, Li Ran’s sense of danger spiked once again.
First, there was the S-Class Grandma Mi, then the low-key but terrifying bartender, and now—a horrifying transgender monster!
Li Ran glanced at his own stats and let out a wry laugh.
"If I can’t afford to offend you, can’t I at least hide from you?"
[Eerie Power: 380]
[Agility: 70]
[Strength: 70]
[Constitution: 50]
[Points: 1300]
Active Skills: (Shadowmeld) (Shadow Assault) (Blood Scythe Blade)
[Passive Skills: Thunder Scar, Focused Mind]
“If it wasn’t getting dark, I could’ve considered taking on this mission.”
He had originally planned to deal with the beauty salon, but searching for the real killer had cost him the entire afternoon.
Now that night was falling, even with the cheat finger, he wasn’t confident.
“Didn’t Deng Zhiwei say his master was a very beautiful woman with a hobby of collecting faces, and even made him deal with corpses…”
“Seems like this Yang Shuo is Deng Zhiwei’s master at the beauty salon.”
“No wonder that guy’s face looked so off.”
Li Ran couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was wrong, but the moment he saw him, something felt off.
Like a tech-enhanced face—instantly fake.
It’s just a shame that Deng Zhiwei was turned into that ghastly thing by Yang Shuo.
Li Ran looked up toward the horizon.
The evening clouds were especially red—like fresh blood.
Back at Building One, downstairs.
Li Ran repeated his old trick and melded into the shadows to head upstairs.
At the door of his home, he stopped.
Normally, whenever he returned home, he'd be greeted by a chilly gust or a pair of monstrous eyes.
But today, it was unexpectedly… cozy.
The air was filled with the aroma of home-cooked food.
Li Ran twitched his nose, surprised, and walked into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, a beautiful figure was busily moving about.
Her hair was tied high in a bun. A slender, pale swan-like neck. A cartoon apron cinched her waist as slim as an A4 sheet. On her perfect profile, a few beads of sweat glistened. She scooped a spoonful of beef stew from the pot and carefully sipped it at her lips…
“So beautiful.”
Li Ran was stunned.
“Huh?”
Su Bingyao was startled. She’d been so absorbed she hadn’t even heard him come in.
Her cheeks flushed slightly. She pouted and mumbled, “How long have you been standing behind me?”
“Just a bit. You were so focused, I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Li Ran lifted two grocery bags. “Didn’t we agree I’d do the cooking?”
“You’ve been out working so hard. I’ve got nothing to do at home. Cooking’s no trouble.”
Today, Su Bingyao’s smile was especially sweet, her mood clearly bright.
“Well then, I’ll wash the dishes later.”
As he spoke, Li Ran neatly organized the groceries into the fridge.
“I’ll go check on our son.”
“He went out to play this afternoon. Came back a little down. You should go see what’s up.”
“Oh, alright.”
Compared to the last few days, Li Ran could clearly sense a shift in Su Bingyao’s attitude.
Maybe it was the hypnosis yesterday—helped loosen the knot in her heart a bit.
Still, Li Ran knew that unless that prank text was resolved, her heart would always carry a shadow.
In Li Ziyang’s room.
His head was split open, and from his neck stretched a massive ghostly hand, currently playing with the toy rocking horse Li Ran had given him yesterday.
In the past, seeing this would’ve made Li Ran break into a cold sweat.
But now, he could beat his son with one hand—what was there to fear?
Li Ran stepped forward, grabbed that ghost hand and shoved it back into the boy’s body, then pressed the two halves of his son’s head back together.
Although there was still a visible crack, it looked way better than before.
“Son, what’s wrong? Who made you upset?”
Li Ziyang threw the toy horse to the floor, tears streaming down his cheeks in grievance.
“Tell Daddy. Daddy will make it right for you!” Li Ran pulled the boy close, comforting him gently.
“It was Fat Tiger… he… he said I was an unwanted stray kid… they stuck gum in my hair, threw my backpack, and even spat on me…”
Hearing this, Li Ran’s expression turned ice cold.
(End of Chapter)