Chapter 90

Chapter 90

“Don’t worry, Director.” Yu Wei slowly drew his saber. “Tang Tian may have become a Spirit Wielder, but I taught him everything he knows. I can handle that little bastard.”

“Tell Anran to hold on. As soon as I finish things here, I’ll go support her.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sharp whistle of wind came through the earpiece. Tang Tian and Yu Wei had begun fighting.

“Old Yu? Old Yu!” Ling Fang shouted twice in panic, but no answer came through the earpiece.

Ling Fang nearly ground his molars to pieces.

He drew a handgun and shot dead the ghost charging toward him while contacting the Logistics Department.

“Yang Liuqing.” As soon as the call connected, Ling Fang said, “We’re in serious trouble. Bring your people and provide support. Old Yu stayed behind at the office and encountered someone from the Eleventh Realm. Every member of our Department has run into ghosts and can’t disengage.”

Yang Liuqing asked, “Should I support the office?”

“No,” Ling Fang refused. “Sending your people there would probably only get them killed. Support Ye Anran. Once she’s free, have her go help Old Yu.”

“Understood.”

Yang Liuqing quickly sprang into action.

The Logistics Department did a little of everything, but its members were far weaker in combat than true Operations Department personnel. At most, they usually stood in for others and used tools from the Technology R&D Department to capture lesser ghosts.

Sending them into a real fight with blades drawn would be using them as cannon fodder.

Under normal circumstances, the Logistics Department entered the field only as a last resort.

And now, they were fast approaching that last resort.

Headquarters had approved the personnel transfer, but the new member could not take up the post immediately.

Since Future City’s danger level had risen to Level Three, the Department’s existing members had been showing signs of buckling under the strain.

He could only hope the situation was not as bad as he feared and that Old Yu would hold on.

Ling Fang stared at the growing horde of ghosts before him, his expression set with the resolve to risk everything. One hand controlled his crossbow while the other drew a blade, allowing him to attack at range and defend himself at close quarters.

The sky above Future City had not cleared after the recent rain. The city remained shrouded in gloomy clouds and drizzle.

The air carried an oppressive heat that promised another storm, along with the faintest trace of blood drifting through the sultry air.

–

Ten o’clock that morning.

Every field operative in the Special Incident Response Department had left the office. Yu Wei was the only one remaining.

He was a rough man who preferred charging into battle and slaughtering monsters to handling paperwork.

When he finally finished the backlog of documents, Yu Wei breathed a profound sigh of relief.

The rest of the time was his to spend as he wished.

Staying behind on duty was always this dull. There was nothing to do.

Sitting on the sofa, Yu Wei recalled what Xie Qingling had said before leaving.

He also remembered the contact still saved as “Wife” in his phone.

But Yu Wei did not take out his phone.

He had decided when they divorced that he would never disturb her again in this life. A few words of encouragement from Xie Qingling would not change that. Once Yu Wei made a decision, he neither wavered nor regretted it.

Some paths offered no reason to turn back once taken.

He took out a velvet cloth and slowly polished his great saber.

Absorbed in the task, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps.

It was not Xie Qingling or Ye Anran. Those were not a woman’s footsteps.

But it was not Dai Xingyu either; Dai walked with a light, quick stride. Nor could it be Shen Huaizhou or Ling Fang. Those two moved almost soundlessly, their steps crisp and efficient. Neither would deliberately stamp hard enough to make a noise, as if issuing a challenge.

Yu Wei’s polishing hand stopped. Saber in hand, he immediately rushed out of the office.

The newcomer was a tall man in a black hooded T-shirt.

One arm bore a full-sleeve tattoo. He was blind in one eye and wore a black eyepatch over it.

Carrying a cloth bundle, he strode openly into the office as if returning to his own home, his expression and posture utterly at ease.

“Tang Tian!” The veins at Yu Wei’s temples bulged instantly. “You still have the nerve to come back?”

“Hahaha, Master.” Tang Tian casually tossed the cloth bundle aside, then kicked it farther out of the way.

He opened his arms and walked toward Yu Wei, grinning with wild arrogance. “It’s been a long time. Did you miss me, Master?”

Miss him? Yu Wei wanted him dead!

Memories of his fallen comrades reddened Yu Wei’s eyes with rage. He wanted nothing more than to cut Tang Tian down where he stood.

At that exact moment.

His earpiece crackled to life.

“Old Yu. All of us encountered ghosts outside. I’m sending someone from the Logistics Department to relieve you. Leave immediately and support Ye Anran.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Director.”

Yu Wei gripped the saber hilt in both hands and bent slightly at the waist, gathering himself to strike.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s Tang Tian.”

“Tang Tian came to the office. He sought us out.”

“He came right to our door and gave me the chance to purge this traitor myself.” Killing intent surged in Yu Wei’s eyes. He stopped talking to Ling Fang, raised his saber, and roared, “Haaah!”

He sprang into the air, both hands gripping the hilt as he raised the great saber high and brought it cleaving down at Tang Tian.

The blow fell with the force of a collapsing mountain. Tremendous power and blistering speed stirred a shrieking gale. Yu Wei’s attack was broad, direct, and ferociously forceful, without a single fancy or superfluous technique. It relied entirely on raw strength and met its target head-on.
Years of grueling practice, years of mourning and regret for the former Director, and years of hatred for Tang Tian all poured into that simple, unadorned strike. They became an earth-shaking force that would cleave Tang Tian in two with a single blow.

Tang Tian planted his feet. Rather than retreat, he raised a bare arm to block the blade.

His body was plainly flesh and blood, yet when it met Yu Wei’s blade, it rang with a metallic clang, as though two pieces of steel had collided.

Yu Wei scowled and steadily added more force. The pressure made Tang Tian’s knees buckle, nearly driving him to the ground.

But Tang Tian ultimately steadied himself. He raised his one-eyed face and stared at Yu Wei with a grin that never reached his eyes. “Master, this strength of yours… You’ve grown old.”

Yu Wei’s expression did not change. Years of battle had instilled extraordinary discipline in him. A few words from an opponent would never shake his emotions enough to distract him. When he saw that the strike could not injure Tang Tian, he withdrew his saber and turned the downward chop into a rising slash along Tang Tian’s side.

The blade struck Tang Tian squarely across the chest, carving open a wound. The tremendous force also sent him staggering backward.

Tang Tian’s shirt split apart, revealing a gash torn through his flesh as blood welled from it.

A full-powered blow from an Acquired Spirit should have cut Tang Tian’s body in half, yet he remained standing.

Far from panicking at the blood spilling down his chest, Tang Tian’s remaining eye blazed with fanatical excitement. He stared at the red blood pouring from his wound until even his eye turned crimson.

He cupped the flowing blood in both hands, brought it to his lips, and licked and sucked at it frantically, as if savoring some incomparable delicacy.

“So much… So much blood. Can’t waste it. Can’t waste it…”

As Tang Tian murmured and continued drinking his own blood, the once-fatal gash across his chest healed.

A monster…

Yu Wei’s face remained cold and stern as his vigilance rose another notch.

His own blood still stained the corner of Tang Tian’s mouth. Tang Tian swept it away with his tongue, the last trace vanishing between his lips. His uncovered eye looked sidelong at Yu Wei with contempt. “You see it now, Master? You’re no longer the man you were three years ago, and I’m no longer the man I was then either.”

“You wouldn’t let me receive a blessing. You refused to give me an offering. But I did it anyway. I received a blessing! I have powers you could never possess!” Enormous pride and ecstasy spread across Tang Tian’s face, an expression Yu Wei had never seen on him before.

He had changed.

Yu Wei knew that obtaining what he had always desired had allowed Tang Tian to cast off every pretense. This was his true nature.

“Envious? Jealous? As an Acquired Spirit, all you can do is train without end, sharpening your combat instincts and techniques. But what good does that do? Before an Innate Spirit like me, you aren’t worth shit!”

Tang Tian broke into crazed laughter. The arms he stretched out thickened and lengthened at an unnatural speed.

Veins bulged across the muscles like earthworms. His skin turned bluish purple, showing faint signs of decay. Tang Tian’s nails rapidly lengthened and blackened until they resembled an animal’s claws rather than human hands.

The transformation happened in an instant.

Yu Wei tightened his grip on his saber and charged, intending to interrupt the mutation before it could progress any further. But the moment Yu Wei stepped forward, Tang Tian vanished from sight.

Gone!

No. He had not vanished.

Yu Wei pricked up his ears and heard wind stir beside him – the sound of Tang Tian moving at tremendous speed.

He was circling behind Yu Wei to launch a sneak attack!

Combat instincts ingrained so deeply they had become part of his muscles made Yu Wei whip his saber up to guard his back in that split second.

Clang! Tang Tian’s black claw slammed into the great saber.

His strength had increased enormously, far beyond anything a human could possess. The impact drove Yu Wei several hard steps backward and sent sparks spraying from the blade.

When the ambush failed, Tang Tian clicked his tongue and suddenly sprang into the air. Like a frog, he raised one black claw and swiped it toward Yu Wei.

Yu Wei brought his great saber upright to guard his body while launching a high kick at Tang Tian’s face.

The kick connected, and Tang Tian grunted. Yu Wei was about to pull his leg back when Tang Tian opened his mouth, revealed a set of fangs, and bit viciously into the top of Yu Wei’s foot.

Stabbing pain shot through him. Yu Wei’s expression changed as he sensed something was terribly wrong. He immediately raised his saber and slashed it horizontally at Tang Tian.

With the wet sound of steel entering flesh, the blade severed Tang Tian’s right hand.

The force of the blow also made Tang Tian release Yu Wei’s foot and sent him crashing to the ground.

The immediate danger over, Yu Wei looked at Tang Tian’s severed right hand on the floor. At least he had dealt the bastard a heavy blow. He was about to advance and finish him with one strike when Tang Tian burst into laughter.

“Master! Master! Hahahaha!” Tang Tian sounded beside himself with excitement. “Look at your foot. Look at the wound where I bit you.”

Tang Tian’s fangs had torn Yu Wei’s shoe to shreds.

At those words, Yu Wei lowered his head and looked at the top of his foot.

In only a few seconds, the bite had begun to rot rapidly. A ring of black hair had sprouted around the wound.