Chapter 166 – Get Your Hands on It First

Following Lin Xi and Qin Ling from a distance, Zhao Xinning abruptly stopped.

Lin Xi had just glanced twice at a shop up ahead and to the left. Zhao Xinning was certain that was their destination.

She could be so certain because she knew Lin Xi.

Every one of Lin Xi’s little habits was engraved in her mind.

Tonight, as on previous nights, Zhao Xinning had come to a part of the Black Market she had never visited before, searching for information on becoming a Demonized Human.

She never could have imagined she would stumble across Lin Xi and Qin Ling together.

Holding hands, no less.

Zhao Xinning wanted to cut Qin Ling down on the spot.

She knew who Qin Ling was. The last time she eavesdropped on Lin Xi, she had learned that Shi Yu was not the only pest around her. There were also Qin Ling, Zheng Mo, and Lu Yi.

Qin Ling had been the mastermind behind their bank robbery.

From that, Zhao Xinning had learned that Qin Ling was a pest of only middling combat ability, but considerable intelligence.

“Don’t follow them any farther,” Pluto said. “That shop should be their destination. Hide here and see what they’re doing.”

“I know,” Zhao Xinning replied. “If they keep walking, they’re probably going to circle around and check whether anyone is following them.”

“It must have been Qin Ling’s idea. What a troublesome pest.”

“Maybe she dragged Xi here… That damned woman. How dare she bring my Xi to a disreputable place like this?”

Zhao Xinning had no shortage of people she wanted to kill. All she lacked was power.

The moment supernatural power landed in her hands, she would go on a killing spree.

She would clear away the pests, confess to Lin Xi, and live a blissfully shameless life with her…

“Let’s find out what they’re doing first,” Pluto said.

“Mm.” Zhao Xinning slipped into the shadows of a nearby corner.

…

“No one’s following us. We’re clear.” Lin Xi and Qin Ling returned after completing their circuit.

Qin Ling scanned their surroundings again. Everything was silent. No one was there.

“I still feel like someone’s following us.”

“You’re imagining things,” Lin Xi said. “Didn’t we just circle around to make sure?”

“We did, but… I still feel like I’m being watched…”

“Who cares?” Lin Xi cranked her boyfriend energy all the way up. “If anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll throw a Fireball right back and vaporize them.”

“Mm.” Qin Ling nodded.

With Lin Xi beside her, there truly was nothing to fear.

All Qin Ling had to do was detect the danger and call out its position. Lin Xi could send a Fireball crashing into it in an instant.

The two entered the shop together.

“Whoa…” Lin Xi murmured. “Someone turned the whole place upside down. Was this a burglary?”

Qin Ling swept her gaze across the room. “Possibly.”

In the bedroom at the back, a man sat on the sofa with a dagger buried in his chest.

“So he really was murdered…” Qin Ling said regretfully.

The first person to notice something was wrong had also been a member of ZERO. He and the victim were partners who had remained in regular contact for a long time.

When the victim suddenly went silent, his partner immediately reported it to the organization.

That was how Qin Ling and Lin Xi had received this mission.

Until she saw the corpse with her own eyes, Qin Ling had held on to the hope that losing contact did not necessarily mean he was dead. Perhaps he was still all right.

Then cruel reality confronted her…

“They didn’t even take the murder weapon?”

Lin Xi silently mourned their fallen ZERO colleague.

May the monster-grilling master rest in peace…

“If we take the weapon away and investigate it, we should be able to find a lead, right?”

Lin Xi began pulling on a pair of gloves.

Qin Ling examined the corpse more closely. “That’s strange. There’s no blood on his clothes… or on the floor.”

A dagger had been driven into his chest, yet there wasn’t a drop of blood in sight.

“You’re right.” Lin Xi stopped before touching the weapon and studied the victim instead. “The corpse is so pale, it’s as if all his blood was drained…”

“Was this done by some blood-drinking monster?”

The Dark Realm had no shortage of monsters that drank blood. Shi Yu had told Lin Xi about them long ago, though she had never seen one herself.

“No,” Lin Xi murmured a moment later. “If a blood-drinking monster did this, wouldn’t draining him dry have been enough? Why go to the trouble of stabbing a dead man in the chest?”

“Perhaps…” Qin Ling speculated, “the monster held a grudge against him.”

“Ah!” Lin Xi exclaimed. “Do you think our grill-master colleague barbecued one of the blood-drinking monster’s own kind?!”

Qin Ling: “…”

“Do you think this is a fantasy novel where you can make up anything you like?”

Qin Ling offered a more plausible theory.

“Perhaps the blood-drinking monster belongs to the Dark Realm Alliance.”

“The conflict between ZERO and the Dark Realm Alliance has been going on for a long time. ZERO has destroyed plenty of powerful Dark Realm Disasters from their ranks.”

“In return, they’ve killed plenty of ZERO members.”

“Damn the Dark Realm Alliance,” Lin Xi cursed.

According to their previous analysis, the sniper from the Dark Realm Alliance might not have been the one who blasted Shi Yu in half. Even so, Lin Xi was fairly certain that the Evil Maid who had attacked her before belonged to them.

She had not forgotten that debt.

Qin Ling’s ears twitched.

“Someone’s coming,” she whispered urgently. “Hide.”

She and Lin Xi slipped soundlessly into the bathroom.

Leaving the door open a crack, Qin Ling murmured, “Get ready.”

Lin Xi understood. “Got it.”

The same thought had occurred to both of them: the criminals might be returning to the scene.

If the newcomers really were the killers, there would be no discussion. They would attack at once.

Judging by the footsteps, there were two of them.

They were cautious. They did not turn on the lights, using their phones for illumination instead.

“It’s still here.”

“Yeah. Good thing no one took it.”

The voices belonged to a man and a woman.

The man, who had spoken first, continued, “How could anyone take it? Touch it without protection and they’d probably end up like this guy-a dried-out corpse.”

“Exactly,” the woman agreed. “It’s far too powerful…”

“No kidding.” The man pulled on a pair of unusual black gloves and reached for the dagger in the victim’s chest. “This relic is on par with a Special-Grade Disaster. The Cursed Blade is ours.”

With a muffled rasp, he pulled the dagger from the corpse. Its blade gleamed a bewitching scarlet.

Hidden in the bathroom, Qin Ling heard every word. Her mind raced, and she grasped the broad outline of what had happened.

But there was no time to explain it to Lin Xi.

The priority was to seize the weapon first!

“Lin Xi!”

“Take down those two murderers!”

“We have to get the Cursed Blade back!”

Qin Ling’s voice rang through the darkened room.

“Got it!” Lin Xi burst from the bathroom and hurled two Fireballs at the man and woman.

She had no idea what was happening, but listening to Qin Ling couldn’t steer her wrong.

Questions could wait. Attack first.

“You-!” The man blanched. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined two people were hiding in the bathroom.

“Those Fireballs are strange!” The woman stepped forward alone to block them. “Take it and go!”

“Aah-!”

The instant the Fireballs touched her, she vaporized.

“What?!” A pair of blood-red wings spread from the man’s back, and he shot toward the window.

“Trying to run?” Lin Xi rushed to the window. “Qin Ling, do we need him alive?”

“Yes,” Qin Ling answered curtly.

“All right.” Lin Xi controlled the two Fireballs, burning only the man’s wings.

He plummeted from the air.

“Done. He didn’t land far from here.”

Lin Xi memorized the spot, then raced out of the shop with Qin Ling.