Dada dada!
The skull on the chess piece moved! And it kept emitting strange and horrifying tremolos—
"Warning!!"
"Warning!!"
"Black pieces are being destroyed by white: 10%......50%......"
"Warning!!"
"Warning!!"
"Black pieces are being annihilated by white: 80%......99%......"
The skull shrieked wildly, its evil energy climbing onto Wu Suowei's fingers, the back of his hand, his arm, and attempting to move further up...
Corrupting him, possessing him, assimilating him.
His smooth arm showed cracks, as if exquisite sculpture was being sliced and diced, peeled off, carbonized...
However, it could only go this far.
An even more powerful force surged up, like a torrent extinguishing molten lava.
Wu Suowei pressed down on this force with one hand, and after a brief stalemate—
Boom!
"100%."
The voice stopped abruptly, the black pieces shattered, and the agitated evil energy dissipated along with it.
The wind died down.
The residual shockwaves rippled into the distance.
Wu Suowei's clothes fluttered, he stood detached from the world, a smile of disdain gracing his lips.
............
St. Heart Hospital, Room 202.
Duan Chen's full-power strike hit an invisible psychic barrier behind the mysterious man, emitting a thudding boom.
"You were impulsive, Duan Chen. You should have shot me."
The man tossed Qin Ze, who was on his last breath, aside and slowly turned around.
It was still that stern donkey face, still those gentle eyes, but his face was drenched in layers of blood, making him look like a wrathful asura.
Gao Tiankai, or rather—the Black Robe Envoy of the Evil God.
He stood before Duan Chen, a contemptuous, cunning smile forming on his lips. Then, he placed his right hand on his temple and waved forward, greeting Duan Chen familiarly.
Duan Chen gritted his back molars, his eyes practically spitting fire.
He took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and then calmed himself, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
He shook it; only the last cigarette remained.
Click.
Duan Chen took it out, placed it in his mouth, and lit it, tossing the empty pack into the blood pool at his feet.
This was something he had foreseen, wasn't it? People always found rational explanations for things they didn't want to believe. He had even thought that even if it were truly Gao Tiankai, he wouldn't reveal his identity so soon.
After all, they were brothers...
Bah, to hell with brotherhood.
"I've wanted to tell you for a while, you should change this lighter."
Gao Tiankai laughed, "If I remember correctly, this was given to us by the beautiful proprietress when we celebrated joining the Spirit Hunter Guild and ate hot pot.
What was that restaurant called...
Good Omen? Good Days? Good Son? Good Fellow?..."
"Good Brothers," Duan Chen interrupted him in a deep voice, pointing the dark muzzle of his gun at Gao Tiankai's heart.
Gao Tiankai ignored the gun, a look of sudden realization on his face, and continued to ramble:
"Yes, yes, it was called Good Brothers.
I remember we ate three plates of snowflake beef, five plates of hand-sliced fresh lamb, and tripe the size of a washbasin. You taught me to swirl it seven up and eight down, saying that was the crispiest and most refreshing way. I thought to myself, will this even cook? But I still ate a whole big bowl."
Duan Chen exhaled a smoke ring, looking at Gao Tiankai's face through the hazy smoke.
It was so clear, yet so blurry.
"I remember that day we drank a case of beer and two bottles of baijiu.
You passed out on the table and started singing, 'If you sneeze, it must be me thinking of you...'
Hahaha, I almost laughed myself to death. You're a grown man, why wouldn't you sing a rock rap song?
Singing such a sissy song, it damages your handsome and suave image.
But you were drunk and couldn't hear anything I said."
"Do you remember what happened later? I hailed a car for you, helped you to a hotel, and when checking in, I patted you all over but couldn't find your ID, so I used mine to book a room.
The front desk girl was watching 'The Untamed' at the time. Coincidentally, Wei Wuxian was holding Lan Wangji in the same pose as we were, so the girl looked back and forth between us with an incredibly complicated expression.
I told her not to overthink it, I'm straight, I have a girlfriend, and she's a super beautiful, top-tier stunner...
Then you threw up all over me, the smell... it still tickles my nose when I think about it."
Gao Tiankai smiled with extreme tenderness, no trace of killing intent in his eyes.
If he hadn't been covered in blood and standing amidst a pile of corpses, he would have seemed like someone who had just returned from a drinking session, pulling you into a lengthy reminiscing session.
Gao Tiankai paused, then suddenly changed the subject:
"By the way, how long has it been since you saw Old Zhang?
He's been hanging onto his phone every day, I don't know where in the middle of nowhere he's gone to guard the dimensional gate.
Is there any alcohol there? He loves that stuff.
It's been six years...
Six years, hehehe.
Without you idiot accompanying him, or me nagging him, do you think he gets lonely?
Are people chosen by the gods destined to be lonely?"
Gao Tiankai's voice was desolate, his gaze mocking and mad.
The scenes of memory churned between the two of them.
Duan Chen, who had been silent, tossed the butt of his cigarette into the blood pool. Shadows fell across his face under the light, obscuring his expression.
All this rambling, wasn't it just to prove that you remember every detail?
You are who you are, Gao Tiankai, not some replacement for a sea monster.
"You don't need to tell me all these memories. I know you haven't been corrupted by the sea monster. No, I should say, with your strength as a senior agent of the Spirit Hunter Guild, a sea monster couldn't easily replace you."
Duan Chen spoke coldly, his finger pulling the trigger without hesitation.
"There's no point in talking. Let's do this."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets tore through all past images, hitting the invisible psychic barrier in front of Gao Tiankai before falling to the ground.
Then, countless bullets poured down like rain, emitting a deafening roar. The psychic barrier twisted and warped under the impacts, and finally shattered with a crunch.
"Aren't you going to ask me for my reasons?"
Gao Tiankai moved, dodging the bullets rapidly as he weaved through space, but maintaining a strange smile.
"No reason is enough to justify the innocent lives of over 30 people in your hands... Damn it, do you even remember you're a police officer?!"
Duan Chen charged forward, the whistling of his black blade reaching Gao Tiankai's ears. He blocked with his backhand, only to meet the flash of blue纹s in Duan Chen's pupils.
The Eye of Insight unfolded, and the world was outlined with complex, overlapping shadows, chaotic like the memories of the past decade.
This strike was bound to hit.