While Lu Yunzhi poured out her heart, Jiang Qianyu lived every moment of what she described.
She couldn’t help but think: these were living people.
Whose parents were they? Whose children?
If she killed them all, wouldn’t she become a murderer?
No matter their crimes or what they’d done to the woman in white—it wasn’t her place to judge.
But she faced another truth: if she didn’t kill them, she’d be the one to die.
These tenants blocking the door weren’t here for idle chat.
Left unchecked, they’d unleash the same cruel methods on her that they used on the woman in white. If she were truly human here, even ten lives wouldn’t save her.
So when the first old man charged in, she hesitated not a second. She shaped her Soul Threads into a blade and drove it straight through his chest.
His body showed no wound—but his soul tore open. Jiang Qianyu yanked it free and devoured it.
Kill. Consume. One after another. She cleared every tenant at the door. Even the woman in white behind them—absorbed completely, leaving not a trace.
What grievances haunted the woman in white? Were the tenants controlled or mutated? Jiang Qianyu didn’t care.
Did they expect her to hold court and sentence each one?
She had no time for that.
Instead, the Nightwatchers intrigued her.
They preached Hunters must never kill the living—no matter the crime.
Yet their own leaders set traps for comrades.
If Lu Yunzhi had rushed in blindly, those souls would’ve flooded *her* stomach. Then the Nightwatchers would declare this poor young Class B Hunter “mutated.”
Their team would “regrettably” eliminate her to protect others.
Maybe even add: *“She was a good Hunter in life… just lost her head.”*
If the Nightwatchers were truly noble, why had her orphanage burned to ashes six years ago?
Jiang Qianyu patted her flat stomach, watching the five Hunters step into the building.
“Just ate… why am I hungry again?”
A night breeze stirred. Her dark crimson slit pupils narrowed. Behind her, tenants bound by thousands of Soul Threads rose eerily from the floor—blank-faced, shuffling like walking corpses toward the stairs.
·
·
“Is this really a Class B mission?” The male Hunter scanned the hallway, kicking aside an empty water bottle. “Something feels off.”
He pulled a palm-sized compass from his pack. The needle spun wildly, refusing to settle.
“Whoa!”
“Liu Yongkang, what’s wrong?” He halted suddenly. The female Hunter behind him bumped into his back and huffed.
“There’s—so many things here!” Liu’s face paled. He showed the frantic compass to the group.
Everyone stiffened. This gadget worked only on Class B missions—to roughly locate monsters.
On Class A missions, multiple entities would scramble its reading.
“Wait,” the leader cut in. “This could be psychic interference. The anomaly here is mental mutation. Any object tainted by her mutated psyche might attract the compass.”
Relief washed over them. Otherwise, dozens of monsters would be lurking.
“Captain, what now?” Liu Yongkang asked.
“Clear the anomalies first. Save some souls for Lu Yunzhi when she arrives.”
“Captain, is this really…” The female Hunter trailed off under everyone’s stares and fell silent.
They were turning a comrade into a monster.
Then reporting back with the “evidence.”
They knew why: mutated souls were the most “nourishing”—especially a Nightwatcher’s.
Better Lu Yunzhi be the scapegoat than one of them someday.
“Boss! Price for one night?” Liu Yongkang tapped the window.
From his angle, a figure sat behind the glass.
“Hey, boss.”
“Eighty-one.” The moment he spoke, a withered hand pushed a key through the slot.
The key to Jiang Qianyu’s room.
·
·
“Something on my face?” Jiang Qianyu glanced back. Lu Yunzhi was still staring, unblinking.
“Hehehe, nope!” Lu Yunzhi bounced back to her carefree self in a flash.
“Then why…”
“Xiao Yu, you’ve really changed lately.”
“Is that so.”
“Of course! You’re so cool now!” Lu Yunzhi hugged her from behind, cheek pressed to Jiang Qianyu’s.
“Maybe I’ve just made peace with things,” Jiang Qianyu sighed. No use explaining—Lu Yunzhi’s brain worked on another frequency. “Aren’t you heading to the mission site?”
“Eh, chill! It’s only ten. Midnight’s the deadline.”
“No prep needed?” Jiang Qianyu rubbed her temples.
“Pfft! Just a Class B mission? Watch a *veteran* Hunter work tonight!” Lu Yunzhi’s nose nearly touched the ceiling.
Jiang Qianyu wondered: with this mindset, could mutation even touch her?
Unless it was artificially induced… Lu Yunzhi’s spirit was practically invincible.
