Volume One: First Steps in the City Chapter Seventeen: Relentless Pursuit

The Emperor Ao tossed the MP4 player to Mad Blade, then looked at Lu Yi and said, “Tell us exactly what happened.”

Lu Yi recounted, in general terms, what the store clerk had told them the previous night.

Emperor Ao then turned to Li Xinran. “And then?” After hearing Li Xinran’s account, his brow furrowed deeply.

“Hey, there’s something fishy here. Let me lay it out so everyone can judge for themselves,” Deng Zhi suddenly interjected. “According to what they said, they encountered monsters. So, is there any monster corpse or fur? No. The only monster that was supposedly killed vanished, and the rest were sealed in a mirror.

“So, with such a powerful person involved, can we go and pay them a visit? No, that master is busy dealing with the monsters in the mirror.

“Fine, but aren’t there still the master’s juniors? Oh, they’ve been sent away for rigorous training. Such coincidence—is that even possible? In this world, is anything really that coincidental?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Since Deng Zhi was clearly making things difficult for him, Lu Yi showed no intention of being polite.

“Nothing,” Deng Zhi replied, hands clasped behind his back as he paced around Lu Yi. “To put it nicely, I think you were duped by a prank. Someone played a trick on you, using sleight of hand so there’d be no evidence left after the fact. If I’m being blunt, then it’s all nonsense, nothing but a product of your imagination.”

“Every event leaves a trace. You say it’s too much of a coincidence—I don’t disagree. But the black house where I stayed last night is right there, and it surely bears some evidence. It’s impossible for the house to vanish just because we left,” Lu Yi said, gesturing toward the direction they’d come.

Emperor Ao nodded, thinking this pointless debate should end. Just as he was about to wrap things up, the high school student suddenly exclaimed, “Isn’t that the way we came from? I remember there’s only one black building there—a haunted house.”

His words caused a stir among the group. “I vaguely remember that too,” many newcomers echoed, nodding.

“Captain, how about I try opening up one of the storefronts?” one of Emperor Ao’s teammates suggested.

“Do you know how to activate one of those light nets?” The teammate had no answer. Emperor Ao pondered for a moment, then looked at Mad Blade and the others. “Who’s driving over to check it out?”

“I’ll go! I’m curious about this now too,” Mad Blade chuckled, jumping into the car. He pointed at Lu Yi and Li Xinran. “You two, hop in. There’s room for one or two more.”

Deng Zhi and Fang Hao each grabbed a seat.

“How can this be?” Lu Yi stared in astonishment at the black, two-story house behind the new wall. He was sure that wall hadn’t been there the day before.

“You said you spent the night on the second floor, and the monster came in through the window?” Mad Blade asked.

“That’s right,” Lu Yi replied instinctively.

“Then take a look. The second floor has security bars on every window. If the monster broke in that way, why are the bars still intact? And you said you saw claw marks on the window—did you see the shadow of the bars?” Mad Blade continued.

“No… no, I didn’t,” Lu Yi shook his head.

“Haha, I knew it!” Deng Zhi slapped his thigh, laughing.

“Oh? Let’s hear your theory,” Mad Blade prompted him.

“You guys have seen those prank videos from abroad, right? In one, the prankster installs a high-definition screen the size of a window on a wall, and the screen displays a normal outdoor scene. Then, during an interview, the screen suddenly switches to show the city under missile attack, while the power to all other appliances is cut. The people inside think the city is being bombed and react accordingly.

“So, let’s say these two are telling the truth. The house they entered must have had similar screens. The screen would show a normal view at first, then in the middle of the night, switch to a prank scene. Actors dressed as monsters, already hiding in secret passages, would jump out when cued. The door must be specially made, and the rest is just stage magic,” Deng Zhi concluded smugly.

“But—” Li Xinran started to mention the real equipment they’d gotten from the old lady, but Lu Yi stopped her immediately.

“And think about it,” Fang Hao interjected. “You said the monsters had claws as long as two finger joints, and broke in from the second floor. If such creatures really roamed the town at night, the walls would be covered in claw marks. But we haven’t seen a single one on our way here.”

“Right, why didn’t I think of that?” Deng Zhi burst out laughing. After a moment’s pause, Mad Blade chuckled as well. “Alright, since it’s all clear now, I’ll wait for you in the car.”

“You two can mull it over yourselves,” Deng Zhi said, laughing as he walked past Lu Yi.

Lu Yi stepped forward and gripped the sturdy iron gate, his mind full of doubts. At that moment, someone approached him—it was Fang Hao.

“What do you want?” Lu Yi asked absently.

“Feeling discouraged?” Fang Hao smiled. “Although I said all that, it doesn’t mean I don’t believe you.” He fiddled with the MP4 player that had belonged to Lu Yi. “In fact, I think it wasn’t you who found the black house last night, but the black house that found you. And I don’t believe all you experienced there was just a monster attack.”

Hearing this, Lu Yi couldn’t help but shudder. Memories of the old woman brandishing the demon-hunting dagger and threatening his left eye flashed through his mind—she’d said that dagger could kill him.

Lu Yi suppressed these thoughts and asked in confusion, “Then why did you say all that earlier?”

“Because that guy wanted it to go that way, so let him have it,” Fang Hao replied, inserting a TF card into the MP4. “Here,” he said, tossing the MP4 to the unprepared Lu Yi, who fumbled to catch it. On the screen, scenes from the previous night at the food street began to play.

“You’re just giving this to me?” Lu Yi was surprised. He’d originally approached Li Xinran with this in mind, thinking Lu Ningyu and the others would eventually tell her what happened—but now Fang Hao handed it over directly.

“Of course not. I only came to ask you one question.” Fang Hao turned to face Lu Yi. “During the entire monster attack, did the city give you any hints?”

Lu Yi was startled; he’d expected Fang Hao to ask about other rewards or how he’d obtained them, not this.

“Alright, I get it.” Noticing Lu Yi’s reaction, Fang Hao smiled in satisfaction.

“What do you mean, you get it?” Lu Yi protested. He was sure he hadn’t said a word.

Fang Hao shrugged. “Let me put it in a way you’ll understand. After a test, when you compare answers, if someone mentions an option you don’t recall, it means you definitely didn’t choose it. Same principle here. Of course, if you were a master of microexpressions or had nerves of steel, the result might be unreliable. But with you, it’s ninety-nine percent certain.”

What—he’s calling me easy to read? Lu Yi thought, disgruntled.

Seeing Lu Yi still staring at the window and its surroundings, Fang Hao leaned in and whispered, “That monster broke in through the window, ended up in the mirror, and left not a trace after dying. Doesn’t that setup sound familiar?”

Lu Yi’s eyes widened. “You mean—it means—”

“Exactly. It must be some kind of creature that can move through reflective surfaces, and those special windows are what kept it out,” Fang Hao said, smiling. He went on, “I think, when you saw the claw marks on the window, there was actually no shadow from the creature, and before the monster broke in, you never saw its form at all.”

Lu Yi fell silent. It was true—he hadn’t seen the monster’s shadow through the window, and when he glimpsed it with his left eye, the scene around the monster didn’t resemble the town at all. He instinctively raised his hand to his left eye, but quickly remembered Fang Hao was still there.

“If you had this theory, why didn’t you say so?” Even as he spoke, Lu Yi realized it was a pointless question—Fang Hao was always holding things back.

But Fang Hao just smiled. “I’ve already picked the right person to speak up about this.”