After subduing several people infected by the red surgical knives, the group had gathered together and looked at this man who claimed to possess psychic energy as he stepped forward.
Though somewhat homely in appearance, the man exuded a simple and honest aura.
He pulled a dull lighter from his bosom, and a red quadrilateral broken line gradually emerged on his chest.
“A lighter?” someone nearby murmured in appraisal. “And it’s a quadrilateral. Rose Creek truly hides dragons and crouching tigers.”
“When I first entered this place, I was terrified of this world. But seeing others around me in even harder circumstances, sympathy grew in my heart. In the first three days, this lighter kept me company through the bitter cold, lit fires to dispel the darkness, and grilled my food over it. So even as it began to demonize into a Nightmare, I couldn’t bear to abandon it…”
{Xiaolin is my good friend!}
The Demonic Nightmare lighter spoke in a faint, minute voice—one couldn’t perceive that ethereal whisper unless paying close attention.
“May I ask your name?”
“Just call me Lin Site. I like this name; it used to be my online handle.”
*Slap!* After the lighter sparked, the thin and small Lin Site held it against his chest.
The others around saw nothing unusual besides that small, ordinary flame.
A girl who had been serving tea and water for Xu Aiyuan spoke with tearful eyes: “Xiaolin, you’re a psychic ability user? Why have I never heard you mention it before?”
Lin Site was silent.
Yang Zicang looked at Lin Site, who was a full head shorter than himself.
“I sense there’s something you’re hiding from us.”
Suddenly, the Bandage Doctor’s voice rang out:
{This isn’t your usual Cruxspace, where might makes right and weakness is just weakness. There’s no ‘Moon Shadow’ enemy that’s only a hair stronger than you, making you think you can still win. My strength is beyond the grasp of half-baked has-beens like you… hmph… don’t even try to fathom it.}
The crowd gathered like a campfire, standing back-to-back and staring around intently.
“Show yourself!” Yang Zicang snapped with fury.
{One more time. Hand over the Invisibility Orb and I’ll leave, maybe even split what you have among yourselves. Or else, from this point on, every minute that passes, one of you dies. Let’s start with this redhead first.}
The red-haired young man standing next to Xiao Yushan immediately let loose a torrent of curses, at no one in particular. But in the next second, several silken veils were weaving around him out of thin air.
[Network command!]
[Position Expansion, Thousand-rank!]
The gleaming silver quadrilateral erupted upward, slamming straight into the writhing steel-like folds of bandages that coiled down from above.
But at that very instant!
BOOM!
A mesmerizing, intense wine-red radiant glow suddenly burst forth from Lin Site’s body.
The light rose like tightly layered strands of silk, soaring outward and spreading. It stood in distinct contrast from the chrono-order-infused phantom flames shot through with red-and-gold. Instead, it resembled crushed brocade fragments regrouped, gathering like rugged peaks and churning tides—a breathtaking elegance paired with transcendent gravitas.
As the psycho flame spread, the bandages instantly made a puffing sound upon contact with the splendid satin flame, shattering into tattered gauze that fell down, becoming utterly decayed and ancient.
This time, the gauzes crumbled into ashes at the slightest touch of a finger, no longer able to serve as a vessel for “True Manifestation.”
“Amazing!”
“What formidable mental energy. Why didn’t you step forward sooner?”
Lin Site did not answer; his eyes only watched the surroundings quietly, on guard against the bandage-wielding doctor who might appear suddenly.
However, Yang Zicang’s gaze fell on this person’s actions. Although he was looking at him through the exquisite satin-like psycho flame, as if seeing a figure shrouded in dense red light blurredly sway, he could still make out that his lighter had always been kept to his chest.
The crimson model, almost merged with the magnificent satin flame, seemed to be… trembling.
Was the flame burning the model?!
“Lin Site!” Yang Zicang suddenly approached solemnly. “Is there some additional cost associated with your ability?”
Everyone around turned to look.
“Little Lin, say something!” a person said.
The girl being protected by Xiao Yushan’s men looked over and said mournfully:
“Just now, when the Rose Queen was in danger, why didn’t you step forward! Despite being so powerful, you hid in the town without revealing a shred of it all along!”
Lin Site looked down at Xu Aiyuan’s aged body lying on the ground, and a look of grief appeared on his face.
“My ability burns life force. Using life as fuel, it incinerates psychic energy to illuminate the ‘truth’ within range. Within this area, psychic abilities… are nullified.”
“What?”
“If I activate my ability, it will completely destroy the Queen’s bonded Demonic Nightmare.”
I see! Everyone suddenly understood.
The young girl, whose spirit was severely shaken by Xu Aiyuan’s death, stopped speaking and began to sob.
“No wonder you had to hide—indeed, it’s not something to reveal lightly.”
Yang Zicang said, “Once we’re out, we’ll give you a defensive Training Contract.”
Lin Site looked at Yang Zicang:
“I see myself as unworthy of Miss Aiyuan. I originally thought Flowing Cloud would be her destination, but she never accepted that strong man, let alone someone like me. Until you appeared, but… you… never mind!” His gaze turned cold, “Dispel your psychic centipede; everyone, get close to me! My protection range is limited!”
As the crowd drew near, his gritted voice sounded low: “Activate…!”
The circle on the man’s chest violently trembled.
“Activate? Activate what!”
Yang Zicang was suddenly alarmed, instantly sensed this person’s intention, “Wait!”
Boom! A splendid glow spread out!
The tainted psychic energy within a dozen meters was instantly purged, creating a vacuum of inner power here, as if all anomalies ceased to exist.
In that instant, Lin Site froze after a stunned moment; the brightly gleaming Hua-Jin mental energy flames that had just spread out also vanished in a blink, falling like red dust.
When the colors faded and allowed everyone to see clearly, they discovered that, unbeknownst to them, a red surgical knife, tainted by a Demonic Nightmare, had been stabbed into Young Lin’s back.
“You all…” Lin Site slowly turned his head, incredulously scanning the crowd huddled behind him, then twisted his body, slumped to the ground, and died.
The crowd scattered in panic, glaring at each other with suspicion.
“Who killed him!”
Yang Zicang gripped his silver long spear, his eyes sharp as knives as he swept his furious gaze over these people.
“The killer is right here among us. Let me state upfront, it’s not me.”
“Was it someone controlled by the surgical knife?”
Someone pointed at the bound and gagged parasitics, who were only writhing futilely on the ground.
“Who was standing right behind him a moment ago!”
“It was him!” one person pushed and yelled.
“Weren’t you there too? And that other guy, the cripple—don’t you run!”
“This guy was there too!”
“Enough!”
Boom! The long spear in Yang Zicang’s hands burst into flames; he swung it at a figure wrapped in bandages that seized the opportunity to surge up, smashing a huge hole into it high in the air.
The White Shadow Nian Dragon took to the skies again, casting a wrathful glare down below like a twisted true dragon.
Nen abilities are inherently closely linked to a person’s spirit. At this moment, Yang Zicang’s emotions were filled with extreme grievance and fury, and the White Shadow Thought-Dragon, formed from his mental nen, also became charged with a palpable and explosive slaughterous aura!
He looked at the short, ugly man collapsed on the ground.
Someone was clearly willing to risk breaking the model just to sacrifice themselves and illuminate a small area free from nen interference, yet they were stabbed to death by their *own people*.
“His nen ability is so strong, and yet he died just like that. Could it be that someone was jealous of him, afraid he’d affect their chance to obtain ‘Silent Night’?”
“Was it you? The one you’re holding is ‘Silent Night’!”
“Bullshit. How could it be me.”
A few people pushed and shoved. “Prove it wasn’t you.”
Yang Zicang took out the Invisibility Orb and placed it on the ancient, rocky ground beneath his feet before glaring darkly and menacingly at the chaotic group of thirty or forty people ahead.
“It’s right here. Come and get it!”
His murderous gaze swept across the crowd. Suddenly, the White Shadow Thought-Dragon crashed into the crowd, snatched up two Psychic Bodies whose faces betrayed a hint of greed, and with two gulps, devoured them whole.
“Ah, Yang Zicang, what have you done!”
“Back then, I risked my life to save you! Is this how you repay kindness with enmity?!”
“You tyrant! It’s just a lousy invisibility model, and it reveals your true character.”
Yang Zicang’s face was shrouded in gloom. The screams of these people stirred not a single ripple in his ears.
“Sure enough, his generosity is just an act put on in the Lost Frequency Land to gain fame!”
Suddenly, Yang Zicang’s pupils darted sharply to the left. In an instant, the Century Weapon shot out from the spinning void black hole, blowing the head of a person who had placed their hand on a sword hilt, attempting to activate a resonator, to pieces.
The two female teammates next to him immediately covered their heads and screamed.
“Don’t kill me, I don’t want the Ability Sphere!”
The few who were still cursing fell silent, their throats tight, daring not to utter another word.
Anyone who showed even a trace of desire to possess the Ability Sphere would be mercilessly killed by this tyrant without hesitation.
……
The crowd felt they had truly fallen into a dragon’s den or tiger’s lair this night. How could they be so unlucky? Having come to save someone, they instead attracted such life-threatening trouble.
It would be one thing if it was just a bandage-wrapped doctor with no leads, but now there was Yang Zicang, a man on the verge of insanity, and a murderer hidden among them, their identity a mystery.
Everyone warily glanced at those around them. To each person, everyone else seemed like someone who could snap and assassinate them, the culprit tasked with stealing the Invisibility Orb for the bandaged doctor.
Boboli and Morrie moved to stand beside Yang Zicang. Suddenly, a person in the crowd extended a force field while raising a hand and shouting:
“Brothers, while the bandaged one is tangled up with that centipede, follow me to claim the Ability Sphere! Charge!”
After his roar, everyone looked at him. This man’s whole body suddenly went cold—was no one actually responding to him?
Bang! His head exploded into fragments.
In the slowly rotating black hole, the silver spear retracted again.
Young Master Wang, Captain Qin, and the others couldn’t help but swallow dryly with difficulty.
This was someone capable of being chosen by a being like Xingmiao to collect body parts for them. Even if his psychic ability was suppressed, not a single wave could be stirred up within the area around him.
Behind Yang Zicang, the curly-haired boy crouched down and said softly:
“Brother Yang, the person who used the scalpel to kill Xiaolin either had prior contact with Bandage or made contact during the chaos, using the concealment of the flames’ color to obtain the scalpel.”
Yang Zicang forced himself to suppress the consciousness on the verge of fainting from the effects of alcohol and rage. After thinking for a moment, he looked back at the crowd in front of him.
“If the scalpel was acquired through prior contact with Bandage before entering here… it’s highly likely this person isn’t from Hub Town. Then, those from lost frequency please step forward.”
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