Chapter 55 – Bewilderment

Lu Yuan felt as though he had shattered something.

A massive mist of blood burst open before his eyes.

“Whoosh—whoosh—”

The scene snapped back to reality.

Lu Yuan stood still, maintaining his punching stance, gasping for breath.

A tall figure with half of its head missing collapsed in front of him with a thud.

After hitting the ground, the body quickly shriveled, its limbs and torso showing signs of melting.

“Is it dead?”

Lu Yuan stared blankly at his fist, then at the Ratman’s corpse on the ground, momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

A moment later, a deep sense of lingering fear washed over his face.

“That was close.”

It had been too close.

If he hadn’t triggered A Moment of Inspiration, if he hadn’t deliberately studied Lin Zhiqin’s crane cry punch, Lu Yuan couldn’t imagine what the outcome might have been.

In that split second, it was as if he had walked through the gates of hell and back.

“Squeak—squeak—”

The sound of a rat’s squeal pulled Lu Yuan back to reality. He spotted the remaining giant rat wriggling its fat body, quickly scurrying away.

Lu Yuan’s eyes turned cold as he dashed forward.

The giant rat was fast, but perhaps because of being slammed into the wall and kicked by Lu Yuan earlier, its brain was injured.

After running a short distance, it stood there stupidly, not moving.

Allowing Lu Yuan to catch up.

When Lu Yuan returned from the depths of the alley, carrying the giant rat’s corpse back to the original spot, his calm gaze suddenly sharpened.

The Ratman’s corpse, which had been melting with half of its head missing, had somehow disappeared.

All that remained was a huge black stain.

Following the trail, Lu Yuan pursued it out of the alley, only to stop at an open manhole.

“Escaped?!”

“Even with half its head gone, it didn’t die?!”

“Or was it taken away by an accomplice or something?”

Lu Yuan’s face darkened.

As he stared at the manhole, which continued to emit a foul stench, debating whether to go down and chase after it, the sound of sirens echoed from the distant street.

Red and blue lights flashed, approaching quickly.

“Whoosh—whoosh—”

Clear water from a bottle of mineral water gently flowed into Lu Yuan’s cupped hands.

Once his hands were half-full, Lu Yuan brought them to his face, splashing the water vigorously.

“Here—”

A packet of tissues was handed over by a small, delicate hand.

“Thanks.”

Lu Yuan expressed his gratitude, quickly pulling out a few tissues and carefully wiping the grime off his face and body.

It took three or four bottles of mineral water for Lu Yuan to barely clean his face and hands, but he still smelled terrible.

His dirty, half-wet T-shirt and pants, combined with his matted hair, made him look like a homeless person who had been sleeping in a garbage dump for a week.

Lu Yuan had never felt so disgusted with himself. The stench was so bad that even he found it hard to bear.

But there was nothing he could do for now; he’d have to wait until he got home to take a shower.

“Didn’t expect you to be quite handsome.”

A muffled voice spoke up beside him.

Lu Yuan turned to see a young female police officer with big eyes and fair skin, pinching her nose as she spoke to him.

She was holding a bottle of mineral water and some tissues, having helped him clean up earlier.

“Here, the rest is for you to drink.”

The young police officer, probably unable to stand the smell anymore, shoved the mineral water and tissues into Lu Yuan’s arms, pointed to a figure not far away, and said, “Wait over there. Our Captain wants to ask you some questions.” She then hurriedly walked off to the side.

Lu Yuan unscrewed the bottle and took a few gulps; he was indeed quite thirsty.

He wiped his head and clothes with the tissues, glanced around, and threw the trash into a nearby garbage can. Following the young police officer’s instructions, he walked over to the Captain.

“We collected a large amount of female hair, scalp, and facial tissue at the scene. We’ll need to take it back to the lab for genetic comparison to confirm the victim’s identity.”

“Any leads on the suspect?”

“Based on the information provided by the caller and the blood and footprint evidence we collected, we have reason to believe the suspect escaped through a sewer nearby.”

“Send a few people down there to take a look and remember to bring two electronic dogs.”

“Yes, sir.”

As Lu Yuan walked up behind the captain of the criminal police, he overheard the conversation between him and a police officer.

Under the captain’s orders, several officers carefully retrieved two silver-gray boxes from the trunk of a car.

When the boxes were opened, each contained a palm-sized, frisbee-like device.

The officer who opened the box pressed a few buttons on the device, causing it to emit a faint blue light before it began to hover in the air.

Lu Yuan found the so-called “electronic dog” fascinating.

Suddenly, the captain, who had his back to Lu Yuan, covered his nose and cursed, “Did you crap your pants? Why does it smell so bad?”

The officer standing opposite the captain, who was reporting the situation, also covered his nose and discreetly pointed at Lu Yuan.

The captain was momentarily taken aback before turning around.

He was a middle-aged man with a square face and a stern expression.

Upon seeing Lu Yuan, the captain’s severe expression immediately softened, and he lowered the hand covering his nose.

“You’re the one who called the police?”

“No.”

Lu Yuan shook his head.

Indeed, he wasn’t the one who called; it was a girl passing by who made the call. But she had disappeared before the Ratman went berserk, probably scared off early on.

“I’m the one who reported seeing a giant rat here a while ago.”

Lu Yuan added after some thought.

The middle-aged man turned to speak quietly with the officer beside him. When he turned back to Lu Yuan, his gaze had a hint of curiosity.

“You said you just fought a Ratman, and the dead giant rat we found was kept by the Ratman. You killed the giant rat, and the Ratman got injured and fled?”

“It could have run away, or it might have been taken by its companions. I’m not sure if it’s dead.”

Lu Yuan carefully corrected the captain’s statement.

The middle-aged man smiled at this, then abruptly changed the subject.

“You’re still in high school, right?”

“Yes, I attend Jiaoyan No. 4 Middle High School, Senior Year 2.”

“Do you practice martial arts?”

“Yes, at Yuan Martial Arts Gym, No. 231 Fandou Street.”

Lu Yuan patiently repeated everything he had just said during his statement.

He suspected that the middle-aged man, who was the police captain, might have just arrived at the scene and was only beginning to understand the situation.

As the captain continued questioning him, he suddenly asked, “A month ago, the girl who was kidnapped and brought to this alley, was it you who saved her?”

Lu Yuan was taken aback. After a moment’s thought, he calmly nodded, “Yes.”

He hadn’t intended to keep this from the police for long, so he figured it was better to admit it openly.

“Impressive, for someone so young, you’ve got quite the skills.”

The middle-aged man praised Lu Yuan, seemingly finding him more agreeable.

He reached out to pat Lu Yuan on the shoulder but withdrew his hand quietly upon catching a whiff of the sewer stench.

“If you’re such a hero, why not let people know? We were planning to give you a silk banner.”

“I didn’t want my parents to worry.”

Lu Yuan replied, then earnestly added, “Same goes for this time.”

“I understand. But keeping it all a secret isn’t good either. I’ll call your parents and just tell them you did a good job reporting the incident.”

The middle-aged man rubbed his nose vigorously, seemingly unable to stand the smell emanating from Lu Yuan any longer.

Waving his hand, he said, “Alright, you can go. It’s late, and you probably need a shower when you get home.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuan nodded, then suddenly asked, “May I ask you something, Officer?”

“Go ahead.”

“What exactly is this Ratman?”