Chapter 44: The Hunter Who Conceals His Merits and Fame

A door appeared out of nowhere.

This not only baffled Ren Ye and the others, but even caused the shadow to utter an exclamation in surprise: "Huh? There is actually a door whose Starlight Source landing point cannot be captured?!"

Every profession originating from the Star Gate shares similar characteristics, yet each possesses distinct plasticity.

Simply put, every player is unique, making it naturally impossible to determine what their trump-card supernatural ability actually is.

Mr. He dragged the dwarf along, flying forward at extreme speed.

"Screech!"

As the two approached, the door bearing the four characters "Actors' Passage" abruptly swung outward. Bright white light flashed violently from within, making it completely impossible to see where it led.

"Chaotic Shadows—Flaw Marker!"

The true shadow suddenly straightened her body, her arms rapidly forming a cross shape across her chest.

Judging purely by the movement, it looked very much like some kind of ninjutsu from that little backwater place, but in reality, that motion... was a specific action ritual of assassination from ancient Chinese martial arts.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!"

In a single instant, the dense multitude of shadows on the stage began to flutter about chaotically, yet their sole target was Mr. He.

"Puff, puff...!"

Mr. He fled while dodging and weaving, but ultimately, five shadows pierced through his legs, his left waist, and his left arm respectively.

"Whoosh!"

"Bang!"

After the five shadows passed through Mr. He's body, he dragged the dwarf and plunged into a burst of white light, following which the door slammed shut.

On the cluttered stage, a voice suddenly rang out: "The show is over—Curtain call!"

The cold shout lingered, the red curtain slowly closed, and everyone felt the surrounding environment distort before finding themselves back in the fifth-floor corridor of the apartment building.

The shadow stood there motionlessly, while the various Year-Guardians looked at her with extreme vigilance.

"Swish!"

Ren Ye was even more direct; dragging his father's unconscious body with both hands, he ran straight to a safe spot.

...

Minhuang Road, Minhuang Grand Theater.

Inside an empty actors' dressing room, an old, dilapidated wooden board door suddenly materialized on the ceiling.

"Screech!"

The door opened, and Mr. He and the dwarf plummeted from the air, landing on the floor with a heavy thud.

The supernatural effect faded, and Mr. He returned to his original appearance. His second-stage title was Drama Fiend, and he possessed an exceptionally powerful supernatural ability. As long as he detached the "Entering the Stage" door from the miniature stage model beforehand and pasted it at a target location in advance, he could directly teleport back here upon exiting.

However, the distance could not be too far, and the target location had to be a theater with a steady audience—which was why he had come to Minhuang Road in advance.

Mr. He's clothes were tattered and his figure appeared somewhat disheveled, but he still gritted his teeth in utter perplexity and said: "I really cannot understand why a mere Ren Ye... would attract the shadow from the Fraud Chamber of Commerce, a ghost of unfathomable depth, and so many Year-Guardians. Even if this Star Gate is incredibly important, it shouldn't drive them to risk their lives like this?! The Year-Guardians have already violated the rules repeatedly, this is not normal..."

From his perspective, he still did not know that Ren Ye possessed another crucial identity—that of a person destined by Heaven's Pardon.

This vital information gap caused both sides to exert force in completely different directions.

"...They're all gone, only the two of us are left." The dwarf sat on the ground, wearing a look of lingering fear, yet he was deeply grateful: "Thank you, Mr. He."

Players of the Chaotic alignment were extremely casual and self-centered, rife with betrayal, schemes, and mutual sabotage... but one could not say that such a creed was entirely wrong; living for oneself held no inherent fault.

Only, while obtaining benefits at all costs, one might also pay a heavy price; it had two sides.

Therefore, Mr. He could completely have ignored whether the dwarf lived or died, because members of the brass-bell rank like him were a dime a dozen in the Bell Society, and there was no need to risk his own life.

"Say no more. That shadow is too troublesome, I definitely cannot defeat her." Mr. He got up, panting: "Let's go!"

...

Apartment fifth floor, in the corridor.

The shadow stood blankly in place, as if carefully sensing something.

"Whoosh, whoosh...!"

The surrounding Starlight Source fluctuations were violent; a large contingent of Year-Guardians had already arrived.

Xu Peng observed from the shadows and whispered to Gu Nian: "Our people have arrived, should we capture her?"

"Are you an idiot? How do you capture a shadow? Besides, can you beat her?" Gu Nian said with a serious expression: "I feel... that even a second-stage Year-Guardian might not be able to beat her."

"Then wouldn't this count as dereliction of duty?" Xu Peng asked foolishly.

"Go squat down together with your father Ren Ye." Gu Nian showed utter disdain for someone lacking in wits.

"Step!"

At that moment, the blankly staring shadow seemed to have finished her perception, and she suddenly moved.

At the Minhuang Grand Theater, just as Mr. He reached out to pull open the door, he suddenly froze in place.

"What is it, sir?" the dwarf asked.

"Get away from me! Quick, defense!" Mr. He roared, suddenly turning back.

"Whoosh!"

The dwarf retreated at lightning speed, instantly sacrificing three venomous insects to shroud his entire body in green mist.

In the apartment corridor.

The shadow abruptly swung her slender arm while clenching her right fist, her voice extremely excited: "Found you! Qi-flow flaw—Detonate!"

Several kilometers away, Mr. He, who was holding the doorknob, abruptly turned his head to look at the dwarf: "If I die... you...!"

"Puff!"

"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"

Before he could finish his sentence, five consecutive clusters of bloody mist burst forth across Mr. He's body, located precisely at his legs, his left waist, and his left arm—all the exact spots the shadow had pierced through earlier.

His bones shattered section by section, his flesh burst open, and blood splattered across half of the actors' dressing room.

His kneecaps split open, exposing gleaming white bone; a massive hole was blown into his left waist, and his left forearm was cleanly severed... His entire body looked as though explosives had been planted inside him beforehand.

Just moments ago, five first-stage Year-Guardians, alongside the second-stage Red Dog and Ren Ye, had at most made him look very disheveled, but right now... his breath was weak as gossamer, and his life force was rapidly ebbing away.

Not far away, the dwarf—who had escaped the blast radius—was initially stunned and bewildered, before finally trembling all over and calling out tentatively, "Si... Sir?!"

"I... I am going to die... You... you contact the person Old Yin introduced... and the two players from the Pure Land Star Gate haven't been found yet... They are very important... To the future... To the Bell Society... You must investigate." Mr. He spoke very weakly, appearing as though he might die at any second.

"Whoosh!"

The dwarf suddenly burst out of the green mist, using his body of less than 1.2 meters to directly hoist Mr. He's body onto his back. He grabbed Mr. He's severed left forearm along the way, and said word by word: "Just now you saved me, now I save you...!"

With that, three non-venomous gu-insects crawled into Mr. He's body. Carrying him, the dwarf rushed out of the theater, bolted onto the main street, and ran wildly.

Torrential rain poured down, but the dwarf dared not stop for even a second. While running, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number: "You need to help me save someone. He is heavily injured and will soon be wanted by the Year-Guardians. However... I have forty-five Starlight Sources and over a dozen props... If that's not enough, I can go rob some right now, but please save him no matter what... I am finding a way to get to your place now."

...

Apartment fifth floor, in the corridor.

The shadow sensed the situation once more, and waved her small fist with lingering excitement: "He's still not dead... Interesting, very interesting. You deserve a grand death ritual."

Hearing these words, everyone present felt their hair stand on end.

The shadow suddenly turned to look at Ren Ye hiding in the dark, and abruptly made a throat-slitting gesture: "You must grow up quickly! When the time comes, let's have a fight."

"?!"

Ren Ye froze for a moment, mentally cursing: "Are you out of your mind?!"

As her voice trailed off, the shadow swooshed, collapsing to the floor, growing thinner and smaller, until she finally transformed into an irregular line and vanished swiftly along the wall with a whoosh.

Seeing her leave, Red Dog completely collapsed from exhaustion, lying on the floor and breathing weakly while pressing a hand against the wound on his waist: "I... I think she clearly has no malicious intent. Ren Ye, you don't need to be afraid. If you can clear the Pure Land Star Gate... you definitely won't be weaker than her."

"It's more than just having no malicious intent; I even feel like she's helping us." Gu Nian paused, her logic exceptionally clear: "Or... or rather, helping Ren Ye. After all, her very first strike was in the university town."

"I've heard of the hunters from the Fraud Chamber of Commerce before, but generally, anyone who sees her display her supernatural powers ends up dead. We have very little data on her, so this time we must document it thoroughly." Huang Wei panted, immediately turning his head to look at Xu Peng: "Fake medicine peddler, give me two pills."

Xu Peng did not refuse, walking over with a deadpan expression: "Five hundred sources."

"...!" Huang Wei stared at him in disbelief: "Are you out of your mind?!"

"You have two choices: either beat me to death, or pay up." Xu Peng replied stubbornly.

"Damn your mother!" Huang Wei bounded into the air with rage: "Fine! I submit!"

Fifteen minutes later, thirty to forty Year-Guardians dismantled the wordless stele possessing spatial isolation functions, leaving behind only a few people to handle the aftermath before departing rapidly.

As Ren Ye was holding his father and preparing to get into the car, he suddenly heard someone shout from within the Xinyuan SPA parlor: "Affection arises with the toll of the bell, yet lingers long after the chime ceases. What you owe... you must return!"

Hearing the shout, Huang Wei immediately projected his perception, but detected no anomalies whatsoever.

"I reckon that ghost has already left." Huang Wei paused: "Quick, you guys head back to the headquarters first. I need to go to the Shanghai branch... Director Yan is going to explode with rage."

With that, the group rapidly departed.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, wearing his baseball cap backward, a wide T-shirt, and cargo pants, the old hipster walked out of the SPA parlor.

"You really don't want money?" The little battle wolf turned back to look at the dozen or so female technicians lining the walkway and the chubby boss, asking with a frown: "I... I never partake for free, you know."

"Old sir, as long as you're healthy, it's on the house!" The chubby boss thought to herself, *Please just hurry up and leave, I've had the worst luck today, she was just a hair away from calling the police.*

"I'll come back next time..." The little battle wolf waved his hand reluctantly.

The technicians watched him and chanted silently in their hearts: *Strict discipline! No customers over sixty-five years old, do not receive, do not receive...!*

...

Inside the smoothly moving car, raindrops pattered against the window. Ren Daguo slowly regained consciousness, his gaze bewildered.

"You're awake?!" Ren Ye asked with pleasant surprise.

"Where am I?" Ren Daguo abruptly turned his head to look around.

Huang Wei snapped his head back, staring at him with a stern expression, and said word by word: "I suspect... you are a player!"