Upon seeing this, Xu Youyou quickly stepped forward and pocketed the electronic clock, which was barely larger than his fingernail.
He then crept over to the sleeping Zuo Lin'an with a mischievous grin. He peered closely from left to right, but seeing that Zuo Lin'an was fast asleep and completely unresponsive, he pulled back, feeling a bit bored.
Standing in the living room, he swept his gaze around.
It was deep into the night, and the interior was pitch black. Fortunately, his eyes had adapted to the darkness, allowing him to make out the general layout of the house.
Finally, his gaze landed on the basement door.
Muffled, continuous noises were drifting out from that direction; it was impossible to ignore.
“They took such a beating from me, yet they still don't know how to keep quiet?”
He scratched his head in annoyance.
“Whatever, I'll go over and kill a few of them now. Over thirty people crammed together is indeed a bit much. If this goes on too long, things might get out of hand.”
He quickly walked over to the basement door, shoved the sofa and the massive wardrobe aside, and threw the door open. Before the people inside could even react, he delivered a swift kick.
His foot caught the person right at the front, sending him flying backward and knocking down several others who had been crowding near the entrance.
Looking at the newly cleared space by the door, he casually grabbed the other man Zuo Lin'an had brought back and dragged him slowly inside.
Meanwhile, the people who had just been knocked to the ground were being helped back up by the others.
Seeing Xu Youyou approach, they scrambled backward in fear. However, the one who had just been kicked flying still had a big mouth.
“You bastard! Do you really think we're pushovers?!”
“There's only one of you! Why should dozens of us be afraid of you?”
“Don't be scared, everyone! Let's take him together!”
Watching a few young, able-bodied men charge at him with wild shouts, Xu Youyou let out a soft sigh. He easily dodged their fists, returning the favor with a few swift slaps.
He wanted to punch them.
But if his fist actually connected, these people probably wouldn't survive.
Seeing the strongest among them get taken down in just two or three moves, the rest of the crowd shrank back into the corners. They didn't even dare to speak, let alone look at him.
Xu Youyou, however, kept his eyes on the man who had been egging the others on to fight back.
“You've got quite the attitude, still thinking about resisting even now?”
The man was clearly terrified now, his entire body trembling, but he still tried to put on a tough front.
“What... what do you want?!”
“Are you really going to kill us?”
“Do you know what happens to you if you kill someone in Sin Hunter City? You'll die too! You'll die instantly!”
Xu Youyou raised a finger and casually mimed cleaning his ear.
“My ears are growing calluses from hearing that so many times. Can't you say something new?”
The man shook all over, though whether from fear or pure rage was hard to tell.
But Xu Youyou had no intention of wasting time. He planned to kill ten people first.
Starting with the man right in front of him.
However, he didn't plan to do it here in the basement. After all, with over thirty people packed inside, seeing a bloody scene might trigger a riot.
Xu Youyou had the strength to suppress them, but what if someone managed to slip away unnoticed?
Or what if he accidentally failed to control his strength and killed someone directly?
It was better to drag them out one by one to kill them. That way, the remaining prisoners wouldn't know what was happening outside and would only stew in their own fear.
“You! What are you doing?!”
Xu Youyou reached out, grabbed the man, and prepared to drag him out.
Terrified, the man screamed and shouted, but his only reward was a slap from Xu Youyou.
The moment Xu Youyou's hand connected with his head, he plunged into a deep sleep.
The others in the basement could only watch blankly as he carried the man away. They quickly averted their gazes, not daring to utter a single peep.
That was just how these scumbags were.
Out in the world, they killed indiscriminately; in here, they shrank back like cowards.
After leaving the basement, Xu Youyou randomly chose a nearby bedroom.
If he went too far, the other prisoners might try to escape.
Over the next few hours, Xu Youyou went back to the basement from time to time to drag someone out. He would engage in some friendly conversation first, and once the other party responded to him, he would disassemble them.
And whenever it was almost on the hour, he would bring a criminal over and have them wake Zuo Lin'an.
Just like that, the greater part of the night slipped away.
Around five in the morning, before the sky had even begun to brighten.
Zuo Lin'an walked out of the bedroom, looking rather exhausted.
Entering the living room, he saw Xu Youyou sitting on a chair. Not far in front of him, a man was tied to a pillar, staring at the two of them with a look of sheer terror.
His mouth was stuffed with something and bound tightly with a strip of cloth, making it impossible for him to speak.
Zuo Lin'an walked straight over and addressed the man. “It has been over a day since I arrived in Sin Hunter City. I have been killing one person every hour, and my kill count has now exceeded thirty.”
“Just now, I was able to vaguely sense the state of my specter body. The forming progress is currently at about one-third.”
“In other words, if I kill about sixty more, my specter body will be fully formed.”
After listening to his words, the bound man looked at him as if he were looking at a demon.
His eyes were filled with pure horror.
He already knew that the two before him were the rumored “students” who had come here to hunt down criminals.
Before this, no one had known why they did it.
But now, it was clear that it was all for this so-called specter body.
Yet, what difference did knowing this make now?
He couldn't escape. His fate was already sealed.
Having finished his piece, Zuo Lin'an turned and left, finding a random corner to sit down.
Right now, there were still ten people left in the basement, which was far from the sixty he needed. Moreover, he wasn't the only one who needed them; they would have to capture many more criminals later.
Only then did Xu Youyou reach out and gently pat the man's cheek.
“What are you looking at?”
The man shook his head in sheer panic.
Xu Youyou acted as if he hadn't noticed, continuing in a conversational tone, “Let me tell you, I've killed quite a few on my end too, though my count isn't quite at thirty yet. I'll put in some extra effort today and try to kill a few more.”
“My situation should be pretty similar to my brother's. If all goes well, my total kill count will probably also end up around ninety.”
Because of Xu Youyou's rule, the two of them absolutely could not communicate with each other, lest they slip up.
To bypass this, they had come up with their current method: using an intermediary.
The two of them would speak to this person separately.
Although it was a bit awkward, it at least allowed them to keep track of each other's progress.
And everything Zuo Lin'an had just said was true.
The exact moment his kill count reached thirty, he had suddenly felt a special conscious connection with the specter aura floating behind him.
Through this connection, Zuo Lin'an knew that his specter body was roughly one-third complete.
Thirty people equaled one-third.
In other words, with about sixty more, his specter body would be fully formed.
When that time came, he would face his final trial.
Rate on N.U.
