“I possess all the characteristics of a human.”
“Flesh, skin, and blood.”
“But no clearly identifiable expression.”
“Something has changed deep within my heart.”
“.............”
“I think the mask of my sanity is about to fall.”
Cloudy today, strong winds.
The trembling strokes in the diary read as such.
...
Li Yue strolled along the street. The cold wind nearly blew away her hat. She walked on foot because there were no more horse-drawn carriages at this hour. They mostly served the middle class and above. Those still wandering about at this time could only be the lower-class miners; their weekly wages stripped them of the privilege of taking a carriage.
Moreover, it was far too cold at this hour, and people were prone to falling ill. If they carried workers, the carriages would inevitably be left with dirty marks and a faint stench, which would disqualify the drivers from earning money from the upper class.
It wasn't until she saw a few glimmers of light that she realized she had walked back into the city center, as only this area had the luxury of street lamps.
She looked at her own shadow, stretched long by the lights. Three or five of them followed at her feet, stumbling along the path.
She recalled the group of scum from earlier. She felt they would turn themselves in. The blood crystal she had forced the man to eat could indeed blow him to pieces, but she had no way of verifying if he had actually entered prison.
Well, if she ever saw him on the street one day, she would just blow him up then.
She took out the client's photo and examined it carefully to prevent any accidental kills or other mishaps when she used her magic.
The girl in the photo was quite good-looking, with a high bridge to her nose and curved eyes, appearing rather elegant. No wonder she had been targeted by those scum. If she was part of the previous batch of goods, then she should still be receiving her "education" inside that chemical factory.
She looked at her little home not far away, hesitating whether to go back for a short nap. She vaguely felt that something was wrong with her body. Her "heart" was beating very fast, and she couldn't feel the cold. Whenever she tried to calm the anger in her heart, the pain of having her heart gouged out that day and the sight of Roland, who was like family to her, dying before her eyes would surge up repeatedly.
Her trembling hand covered her face, and from between her fingers, blood-red snake pupils and a ferocious smile were revealed.
Forget it. There are classes tomorrow; it wouldn't be good for that girl to miss another one.
She began walking through the snow again. Her speed grew faster and faster until eventually, only a swiftly moving blood-red figure could be seen on the snowy ground.
...
Outside a plant cultivation chemical factory, Li Yue stood silently by the fence. She looked at the massive factory complex within, hidden in the night, as if gradually merging with the darkness. She watched in silence; this scene reminded her of another place.
St. Victoria Orphanage.
Innocent cities are all alike, but wicked cities each have their own brand of evil. This place nourished sin, allowing suffering to spread unchecked.
Li Yue wordlessly vaulted over the fence. She stood tall, gazing into the distance. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating, but she could vaguely hear extremely faint cries and screams.
She felt a dull ache in her "heart," and the scenery before her began to blur. She bit her own arm, the faint scent of blood stimulating her nerves. As for the pain, the wound had already healed before she could even feel it.
She walked straight ahead. Slender blood threads transformed into slashes. The sentries patrolling the snow found their heads separating from their necks mid-step, or their entire bodies split in two from top to bottom.
Li Yue reached the main entrance just like that. The sentry on the eaves holding a bolt-action rifle didn't say a word. It wasn't that he hadn't seen her; it was just that he, along with his rifle, had been sliced in half.
She sniffed the air, confirming that there were indeed no living souls left nearby. She silently marveled at her own infiltration skills, then with a slight spread of her palm, she sliced open the gate before her.
The sentries on guard were stunned. They didn't dare to move for a moment, holding their breath as they watched the young girl walk toward them.
Li Yue made a "shh" gesture and pulled a commission out from her coat, which bore the image of an elegant young girl.
“Does she look familiar?”
“N—No.” As soon as he finished speaking, his vision filled with the sight of his own headless, blood-spraying corpse.
“Does she look familiar?”
“.........” The sentry had seen something of the world after all. Though he was momentarily speechless from terror, he quickly regained his ability to talk.
“I... I've seen her. A few days ago, I even patrolled the area where she's being held.” The sentry tremblingly pulled out a map, his shaking hand circling a location that seemed to be deep within the facility.
“Thank you.” Li Yue walked past him. The sentry began to pant heavily. He hesitated for a second, preparing to activate the factory's alarm magic. But the moment his finger moved, his head slid off.
“A reward of ten more seconds of life, you scum.” Li Yue flicked her hand and took a blood crystal from her ring, popping it into her mouth. It wasn't that she had consumed too much magic; she just felt like eating one.
As for the pain and the emotions of struggling before death contained within it, Li Yue filtered them out automatically, as casual as if she were eating a snack.
This seemed to be an assembly line for manufacturing materials. She wondered if there would be workers here during the day. She passed through several doors, and plants cultivated in greenhouses began to appear along the path. She crouched down to look at the greenery for a moment, silently lamenting that they had truly grown in the wrong place.
She heard a rustling sound behind her. Soon, the commotion vanished, and two bodies tumbled down from the staircase landing.
After a thought, she opened the top of the greenhouse and threw the two corpses inside, slicing them into tiny pieces to serve as fertilizer for the soil.
Following the map, she continued through the darkness. Soon, faint sounds of banging on doors and harsh shouting reached her, along with the cries and wails of young girls—some growing weaker, some growing more intense.
She sniffed; the air was filled with the smell of drugs. However, these drugs had absolutely no effect on her and couldn't even contaminate her blood.
She kept walking. A batch of drugs nearby caught her attention. Ignoring the wails, she began to read the crude instruction manual for the pharmaceuticals.
This batch... hm, it lowers cognitive levels. Long-term consumption causes permanent damage, trapping the person in hallucinations. Their personality gradually becomes docile, and their submissiveness increases.
I thought they used magic to achieve those effects... Turns out it's all just synthetic horrors.
Li Yue was briefly speechless. She checked the map; there seemed to be a storage area in the top left corner which should have some warm clothing and perhaps antidotes for the drugs.
With a wave of her hand, a slash appeared on the iron door before her. She reached in with both hands and pried it open with brute force.
She walked in, intending to close the door behind her, but then she thought of her unusual way of entering and decided against it.
She slowly turned around. The people patrolling inside, the people in the cells, the people transporting drugs, and the people venting their lust were all dumbfounded at that moment. They froze in place, and even the constant wailing fell silent.
“Good evening.” Li Yue reached out a hand in greeting. The sentries closest to her were instantly sliced into fragments. She walked in and opened the first cell door. The scantily clad girls sat on the rag-covered floor; they didn't even try to cover themselves upon seeing a stranger, seemingly having lost all sense of shame.
Li Yue took out the photo and compared it one by one, finding that the target was not in this cell.
“Wait a moment. We'll leave together in a bit.” She stood up and casually slaughtered the sentries shivering in the corner. The girls didn't scream, but their numb nerves seemed to liven up a bit as they huddled together.
Then the second cell, the third...
“Found her,” Li Yue murmured. She looked coldly at a scantily clad woman who was clutching a young girl by the throat, her expression looking vicious and distorted.
What is this? Some kind of girl-on-girl thing? People in the big city really know how to play.
The target of the mission was lying in the corner, still showing vital signs.
“Don't move! If I use even a little magic, she's dead!”
Li Yue spread her hands, feeling a bit helpless. The noise behind her was growing louder; it seemed the reinforcements were starting to arrive.
“Eighteen apprentices, eight trainees, three magicians, one mage... and this one in front of me is also a mage.” Li Yue began to calculate, her tone carrying a hint of resignation. “Each with their own magic. With this many people forming a Demon Hunter Team, how much suffering and evil could be removed from this city?”
She felt a wave of futility. She lowered her hands and walked forward. The woman shrieked, the light in her hand growing brighter. The girl in her grasp remained expressionless, lying there numbly.
Suddenly, all the magical light vanished. The ground became unnaturally pitch-black, and the walls of the cells disappeared. The magic users outside looked at each other, seemingly losing the ability to sense their own magic at the same time.
“I didn't want to use this...” The blood-red in Li Yue's eyes deepened. Behind her, a moon flowing with fresh blood slowly rose. Everyone began to sink into an involuntary terror, their souls letting out wails of grief at that moment.
The Blood Moon in her heart—she had been able to use it at will from the moment she regained it.
Blood flowed down to the ground along with the moonlight, appearing as if it would swallow the world.
Li Yue gripped the woman's head with one hand and gave it a gentle tug, ripping it out of her body along with the spinal cord. The magic users behind her found their forms twisting, their bodies exploding one by one as their flesh and blood seemed to gain a consciousness of their own.
Their flesh and blood dissolved, and the blood-red world returned to normal. Li Yue walked to the corner and faced the girl, taking out a commission form.
“Are you Miss Diana? Your mother posted a commission to find you.”
“I... I am.”
“Good. The commission is complete.”
“Wait, I... what did my mother pay to have you go to such lengths...?” She looked at the red-eyed, expressionless girl before her, feeling a stir in her heart. The figure from a moment ago was etched into her mind: cold, powerful, and... kind? This seemed like a character that only existed in hero novels.
“Nothing at all. My empathy was just acting up.”
Li Yue led the girls out. She slashed through the thick walls and killed the guards in the corner along the way.
There were not only warm clothes here but also some food and antidotes. Li Yue sat to the side, letting the girls take the clothes and medicine for themselves. Her eyes were cast down, suppressing the thrill of slaughter in her heart.
The next location... I'll go there later. I might really need to rest.
Her body stiffened as she felt a warm embrace from behind. Her frame trembled violently as she forced down her instinctive reflex to slash, and the blood throughout her body stagnated for a moment.
“Thank you...” Diana, wrapped in clothes, hugged Li Yue. “May I know your name?”
“Nolan...” Li Yue broke free from the embrace and stood up. She waited quietly for the resting girls without saying a word, feeling as if something deep within her heart had been touched.
I might... really need to rest for a bit...
Rate on N.U.
