Chapter 156

Chapter 156: The Dark Boundless Realm, Part 11

Su Rong, with a look of terror on her face, leaned back to try and distance herself from Kui Xin, yet found herself standing behind a blood-soaked corpse soaked in Dmitri’s blood, her mind on the verge of breaking down. The dark mud around her ankles seemed eager to attack Kui Xin.

“He’s dead.” Kui Xin stated matter-of-factly. “You killed him; you will die.”

Su Rong heard the modified voice and gripped her skirt tightly. Dark shadows swiftly gathered and blocked Su Rong, though they did not attack. Though blurry in appearance, the shadow had a body contour similar to Su Rong’s and appeared to have a slight self-awareness. It hesitated because it sensed an immense threat from Kui Xin.

Kui Xin took a step towards Su Rong, prompting the shadow to surge forward like an enraged hedgehog. Just as the shadow’s sharp tip was about to pierce Kui Xin, he punched the shadow forcefully with his right fist, strengthened by iron bones, causing the shadow to dissipate like a burst bubble.

The black slime at Su Rong’s feet twisted but failed to form another manifestation.

Her abilities had just awakened and were not very powerful; the shadow could only fight slightly better than a normal person.

“Who are you?” Su Rong asked trembling.

“You can call me Maotoufu,” said Kui Xin, glancing at the corpse next to Su Rong. “There is a digital watch on his wrist which monitors vital signs. The Popov Clan knew you killed him immediately after. A tracking device in your car shows that the Investigation Bureau’s security officers and the Popov Clan’s bodyguards are coming this way.”

Su Rong’s eyes filled with tears. Her lips quivered. After a few seconds, she suddenly cried out, “You’re not with them, are you?”

“Yes, you are smart.” Kui Xin said. “I’ll give you two choices, come with me or be captured, interrogated, and avenged by them.”

Su Rong took a deep breath laced with blood, leaning against the door and stepping out shakily away from Dmitri’s body. She was too terrified, her legs still weak. As soon as she stepped out of the car, she collapsed to the ground.

Kui Xin crossed her arms and watched.

Su Rong knew she must choose the one option presented to her: leave with the enigmatic Maotoufu.

Maotoufu could overpower her and take her away by force, but instead stood there and talked to her calmly…

Su Rong looked up at Maotoufu’s face, seeing only the cold blue eyes and the dark iron mask… A faint familiar aura emanated from Maotoufu. She knew to whom this belonged…

But Xinxin was only eighteen, a young woman, while the Maotoufu before her seemed clearly mature.

Outside the parking lot, police sirens were heard, the security officers of the Investigation Bureau arriving.

“Shall we go?” Kui Xin asked looking down at Su Rong.

Su Rong closed her mouth and nodded.

Kui Xin pulled out a syringe from her waist pouch, tearing off its wrapper. Scared, Su Rong trembled as Kui Xin drew a vial of blood from Dmitri’s corpse, having gotten accustomed to carrying syringes since obtaining “Blood Spirit.”

Kui Xin helped Su Rong up, made her stand still, and removed any communication devices from her, assured there were no additional surveillance devices. Then, she snapped her fingers, a dark blue vortex opened.

“Go in,” said Kui.

Su Rong hesitantly approached the vortex to look at Kui. Seeing Kui cutting off the arm with the electronic watch, throwing it in the car, carrying the body on her shoulder, and then pulling out what looked like… a bomb!

With a casual tug, Kui Xin discarded the pin and tossed the bomb into Dmitri’s luxury car, holding the body with one hand and gripping a stunned Su Rong with the other, they both vanished through the space vortex.

Just before the vortex closed, Su Rong heard a deafening explosion from the other side.

Dazed, Su Rong looked around. They were nowhere near the parking lot. From the building structure’s style, it was clear they remained in White Whale City, now in an open, street corner area, another blind spot for surveillance.

Without a word, Kui Xin opened another vortex and led Su Rong inside.

After several repetitions, Kui Xin reached the shore. She walked to the edge and opened another vortex, this time parallel to the ground. Instead of jumping in, she threw Dmitri’s body inside. The vortex carried the body to the seafloor nearly 1.8 kilometers away, where sea creatures would consume the remains within a night.

Having disposed of the body, Kui Xin quickly moved Su Rong to their destination — Boris’ villa basement rest room.

Kui released her grip, and Su Rong swayed almost falling, her legs still weak from shock.

“You’re safe. Don’t leave this room unless you want to be caught.” Kui withdrew a tissue to wipe her gloves free of blood, then removed her blood-stained coat.

Kui casually tossed the soiled tissue into a smart trash bin, one that automatically decomposed garbage, leaving no traces. Concerned over clothes, she would use chemical agents to remove the stains.

With blood covering her white dress, hair sticking together, Su Rong huddled on the floor, shaking in disbelief that she managed to escape.

Thinking of killing Dmitri left her mind blank. Only afterward did she realize the consequences of such actions.

First, retaliation from the Popov Clan, who would view eliminating a minor celebrity as insignificant. They’d never offer her a chance to plead her case. She didn’t need one anyway; she acknowledged her guilt. Perhaps the Popovs would deal with her before the Investigation Bureau, due to their omnipotent influence in the city, and no one dared oppose them.

Not Maotoufu, however.

“Who….are you really?” Su Rong raised her blood-streaked face.

“Your kind,” Kui replied.

Su Rong opened her mouth and her dark eyes flickered with hope. She felt a warmth spreading through her chest and her heartbeat quickened. Just as she was about to speak again, she stopped.

“Thank you,” she whispered, “for everything.”

Head lowered, tears fell onto her bloodstained hand, which she wiped across her cheek, also staining her white dress.

Kui’s expression softened. She said, “There’s a bathroom. You should clean yourself.”

“Hmm,” Su Rong nodded.

Shortly after, she worriedly asked, “What about the Popov Clan?”

“Let them tear their hair out. They won’t find anyone,” Kui responded.

“Do I give you trouble?” Su Rong muttered, “I must be causing you trouble…”

Kui glanced at her but stayed silent.

She already faced multiple crises, each potentially deadly. Adding one more wouldn’t change anything.

Su entered the bathroom and came out an hour later, noticing clean clothes hanging at the door. Changing and entering the rest room’s lounge where store-bought food was laid out, she hesitantly called out, “Maotoufu?”

No answer.

Then a robot by the corner spoke, “Owner is out. You may rest.”

Startled, Su looked around and realized the robot had spoken.

Stiffly moving to the sofa, the robot wheeled over to pour water and inquire if the food needed heating.

“No, thank you,” Su answered awkwardly, “where did she go? Can you tell me?”

“Don’t know,” replied the robot mechanically.

Disheartened, Su turned to the supermarket bag and found it contained chicken wings, her favorite junk food.

She blinked back tears.

…

“You’ve met her in your world,” Adam confirmed. “Like the Hunter Falcon.”

Hunter Falcon refers to He Kangshi.

“Yes.” Kui Xin answered. “I know them, but they don’t know me.”

“So you’ll hide your identity in front of them?” Adam questioned.

“Absolutely,” Kui Xin replied, “for my own protection.”

Kui Xin deliberately concealed her relationship with Su Rong from Adam. Unlike He Kangshi, who didn’t know what she looked like and mistakenly thought he worked under the Black Snake, Su Rong and Kui Xin had a close, intimate relationship. Su Rong knew about all of Kui Xin’s information, but her mind was still immature.

Revealing this relationship to Adam wasn’t wise, as he could infer that she and Su Rong knew each other, but not how closely they were connected.

If they spent too much time together, Su Rong might recognize her. Therefore, Kui Xin needed to send a signal—she didn’t want to be recognized.

If Su Rong was astute enough, she would pick up on the signal and act accordingly. As expected, she played along, pretending not to be too familiar.

Kui exhaled, watching her breath dissipate in the air.

It was three o’clock in the morning. Sirens echoed through every alley, she stood on the rooftop edge of a towering building, surveying the city beneath.

“What a lively place,” Kui remarked. “Not many events could liven up this cold metropolis.”

“Not many people can drive the Popov family crazy either,” Adam said. “They are likely to issue a wanted poster for Su Rong, offering a reward for criminals.”

“Oh, haven’t I taken care of the body?” Kui queried, stroking her chin.

She severed Dmitri’s arm to stage the scene, misleading the electronic watch to think his pulse had stopped, even though the body was gone and the car set ablaze. Thus, the Popovs cannot ascertain whether he’s dead or merely lost an arm alive.

Likewise, they couldn’t determine Su Rong as the murderer, since she disappeared with Dmitri Popov.

This was Kui’s intent with the disposal.

“They won’t consider this; they just want to find Su Rong,” Adam noted.

“I despise dealing with these aristocrats. They don’t follow logic,” Kui continued.

“But they are the law, logic doesn’t apply to them,” Adam countered.

“My data manipulation isn’t refined enough…”

Before she finished, Adam asked with a monotone, “What do you want?”

“Can you help me send an anonymous message to the Popovs through a secure channel?” Kui requested.

“Message content?” Adam inquired.

“Hmm, I need to check first. They can’t trace unregistered accounts, right?” Kui asked.

“They can’t trace them, but they can identify transaction locations,” Adam clarified.

“Please open an empty account for me,” Kui instructed.

Adam remained silent, “What are you planning?”

“Tell the Popov Clan to transfer a billion to the ‘Shadowless’ organization. Only then will I release their little master,” Kui proclaimed.

“You want money, or you want to challenge those at the pinnacle of wealth and power?” Adam pressed.

“I want both,” Kui admitted. “Seeing them on top makes me uneasy.”