Gone

Su Jinglu felt an indescribable sense of detachment sweep over her whole body. The void and emptiness of it made her soul tremble.

A powerful cognitive distortion flooded her mind; she had lost something extremely important, and she had to get it back immediately!

At almost the same time, a bright ginger kitten crawled out from the hem of her uniform. It landed lightly on the ground, but its eyes were manic as it let out a sharp, hostile hiss.

This kitten was the manifestation of the gender she had been forcibly stripped of.

The Beast Tamer's ability just happened to be the control of small animals. Linked with the effect of the begonia hairpin, they complemented each other perfectly, creating a doubly revolting effect.

The newly born ginger kitten was immediately brought under the Beast Tamer's control. It became highly aggressive, arching its back and glaring fixatedly at its true master.

The emptiness in her body and the cognitive distortion made Su Jinglu realize what had happened in an instant.

She hadn't attacked the Beast Tamer directly before because she was wary of the threat he held in his hand.

But all such concerns vanished at this moment. She had already been hit; there was no longer any need for restraint!

"You're dead!" Kill intent surged in Su Jinglu's eyes. Shame and fury caused her to erupt completely.

Sss, sss, sss!

She waved her hands, and countless strands of tough, sticky spider silk shot toward the Beast Tamer like a blanket, attempting to bind him and seize the hairpin.

At the same time, several strands of silk shot toward the agitated ginger kitten to prevent it from running off and getting lost.

Although the Beast Tamer was emotionally unstable, his Super Male ability gave him incredibly sharp combat instincts.

He let out a roar and, instead of retreating, he lunged forward. His body erupted with startling speed as he tried to close the distance for a brawl.

His fists carried a vicious wind as he smashed at the incoming silk, only to have them get stuck to the threads.

"Stop her!" the Beast Tamer barked an order to the surrounding small animals while struggling to tear the silk apart.

Instantly, countless small animals surged toward Su Jinglu like a tide, interfering with her movements.

However, Su Jinglu controlled even more spider silk, weaving it into a massive web. It not only blocked the Beast Tamer's advance but also stuck the surging small animals into the mesh, leaving them to struggle and shriek in vain.

Seeing that it was difficult to land a close-quarters attack and that his pet army was trapped, the Beast Tamer's crimson eyes locked onto the encroaching silk, and a flash of madness crossed his face.

He held the begonia hairpin high, making a move as if to crush it.

"Stop! I know you want this thing. Take one more step, and I'll destroy it!" he threatened in a shrill voice.

Su Jinglu's movements faltered, her hands tied by the threat. She truly wanted to snatch the hairpin back to reverse this goddamn curse.

"You lunatic, you pervert! No wonder no one loves you! You don't deserve anyone's love at all!" she cursed through gritted teeth.

These words were like the sharpest needle, stabbing deep into the Beast Tamer's fragile and sensitive nerves.

His composure shattered, the string of his sanity snapped, and he roared with a distorted face, "Lies! Bullshit!"

"They both loved me! It's this world that can't accept us! they were just hindered by societal views and didn't dare to accept my love!"

He pointed at the small animals stuck to the spiderweb, defending himself manically. "Look! Look at them! Although they refused me with their words, their bodies are honest."

"The small animals their ██ turned into—every single one of them is very close to me. That is their true inner feelings!"

"Self-deception," Su Jinglu said mercilessly, continuing to poke at his sore spot. "That is just instinct under the distortion of the curse. No one would ever love a monster like you!"

"Agh!! I'm not a monster!"

"I'm just more willing to risk it all, I'm just braver! I'm pursuing true love—why can't anyone understand me?"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"

"Once everyone is dead, no one will be able to stop me anymore!"

The Beast Tamer's last shred of sanity was completely extinguished, and the Feral End state within his Super Male ability was triggered.

His muscles swelled, veins bulged, and his eyes were left with nothing but pure crimson. He abandoned all defense and stopped controlling the small animals. Instead, he turned into an out-of-control beast himself, manically tearing at the surrounding webs and attacking everything indiscriminately.

Even the stuck animals were trampled and injured by his violent strength.

Snap, snap, snap!

The spider silk snapped strand by strand under his terrifying brute force!

Su Jinglu's expression darkened. She hadn't expected the opponent to become so violent.

The surging kill intent stung her nerves. she retreated rapidly, her hands dancing as more layers of spider silk were wound around him, but unfortunately, the effect was minimal.

Now, she could only hope the toxins attached to the silk would take effect as soon as possible.

Right then.

Swish, swish, swish!

Several unknown potions were shot accurately from the direction of the distant helicopter, hitting the Beast Tamer's back and thighs.

This was remote support from the Amber City Investigation Bureau.

At the same time, several support members appeared at the rooftop entrance, trying to find an opportunity to control the situation.

But all of this only made the Beast Tamer even more manic.

Yue Shi had already retreated behind the ventilation ducts at the very edge of the rooftop. His presence was extremely low, perfectly avoiding the center of the battlefield.

His gaze swept back and forth between the Beast Tamer and Su Jinglu, finally focusing on that begonia hairpin.

Chaos was the best time to fish in troubled waters.

Yue Shi quickly took out his phone, swiped his fingertip across the screen, and whispered a few instructions to the ghost possessing it.

The faint syllables were drowned out by the wind, snow, and sounds of fighting.

The phone screen flickered, and the ghost had already disappeared.

Meanwhile, a small raven hopped out of Yue Shi's shadow. Using the wind, snow, and the building as cover, it quietly left.

At this moment, Su Jinglu's situation was critical.

Having fallen into Feral End, the Beast Tamer's strength, speed, and endurance had all surged to a terrifying degree. Su Jinglu's silk was being torn apart by brute force, and the toxins had failed to take effect immediately.

She could only rely on her agile movements to constantly create new webs, barely managing to circle around him.

But from beginning to end, she never once asked Yue Shi for help.

Just as Su Jinglu was about to be struck by a punch from the berserk Beast Tamer.

A sudden change occurred!

A large amount of water suddenly gushed out from the spot beneath the Beast Tamer's feet.

The water quickly formed a rotating Water Prison, binding the Beast Tamer tightly within.

The Water Prison was not only difficult to break out of, but more importantly, it cut off all air.

The Beast Tamer had a powerful physique and endless strength. But once trapped in water and unable to breathe, no amount of strength could be utilized.

He struggled manically, but could only kick up splashes of water. His face rapidly turned red from the lack of oxygen.

More and more water gushed out onto the rooftop. Yue Shi caught a salty, fishy scent—the characteristic smell of the ocean.

Some unpleasant memories flashed uncontrollably in his mind.

The water gathered, and a figure slowly stepped out from it, as if condensed directly from the liquid.

It was Xin Yanzheng.

His expression was calm and his gaze sharp as he immediately scanned the surroundings.

"Support is finally here." Su Jinglu breathed a sigh of relief, the pressure on her instantly diminishing.

She was about to open her mouth to remind Xin Yanzheng to seize the crucial hairpin, but she saw a flash of final madness in the eyes of the suffocating Beast Tamer within the Water Prison.

He condensed all his remaining strength. Instead of trying to break free from the water, he clenched both fists and slammed them violently into the rooftop floor beneath him!

Boom!

The rooftop, which had already suffered structural damage from the previous fighting, had a large section collapse directly from this blow.

The Beast Tamer, along with the Water Prison trapping him, fell toward the floors below.

The collapse also briefly obstructed the pursuit of Su Jinglu and Xin Yanzheng.

"Oh no!" Su Jinglu cried out.

Dust and snow filled the air. The Beast Tamer had used his final full-strength strike and fallen unconscious. The begonia hairpin slipped from his hand, falling down the building along with him.

"The hairpin!" Su Jinglu's face changed drastically as she threw herself toward the edge of the rooftop regardless of everything.

But the wind and snow were too heavy, and her vision was blurred. She couldn't see that tiny hairpin at all.

Su Jinglu's heart sank. She didn't have time to think, nor could she bother with the stairs. She used her spider silk to cling to the exterior wall of the building and swung herself down with frantic haste.

Xin Yanzheng looked at the collapsed corner of the rooftop and the jumping Su Jinglu, his brow furrowing slightly, but he did not follow.

His body melted, dissolving into the puddles of water, and he left.

Yue Shi stared in the direction Xin Yanzheng had gone, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Divine erosion?

What a massive ticking time bomb.

He took another look at the messy rooftop, then turned toward the fire escape, walking downstairs at an unhurried pace.

On the floors below, it was still a scene of chaos.

Many people stuck to the spiderwebs were still screaming and struggling in vain, while small animals scurried around nearby in agitation.

The Amber City Investigation Bureau was going to have its hands full. These people had suffered severe physiological and psychological trauma and had been stripped of their gender. It was unknown if this curse could be reversed.

Yue Shi walked to the elevator lobby and pressed the down button.

The elevator doors opened to an empty car.

When he reached the first floor and stepped out, the lobby was still a mess. A small number of people were still obsessively chasing after those small animals.

Yue Shi keenly noticed that the appearances of these people were undergoing subtle changes.

Their beards were disappearing, their Adam's apples were flattening, their facial features were becoming softer, and their body contours were shifting toward a neutral state.

Everyone was gradually becoming like that Beast Tamer—impossible to distinguish by gender.

Walking out of the hotel's main entrance, the scene outside was even more shocking.

Many corpses lay scattered across the snowy ground. It seemed a frantic scramble and trampling event had occurred here just now, and many people had died.

Some bodies were twisted, some heads were crushed, and blood stained the gray snow red.

Nearby lay the flattened remains of some small animals. Yue Shi offered a mocking look; it seemed some people were destined never to be whole again.

He didn't pay much attention to the miserable state of these ordinary people and walked straight toward the general direction where the Beast Tamer had fallen.

Soon, he saw a cordoned-off area.

The Beast Tamer seemed to have been killed. Several Investigation Bureau staff members were setting up a perimeter.

Yue Shi stood at a distance, not approaching, because he saw Su Jinglu going mad, searching everywhere for something.

"Has anyone seen a hairpin? A begonia-shaped hairpin!"

Su Jinglu's voice was urgent and shrill. She disregarded her image, rummaging beside the Beast Tamer's mangled corpse and searching back and forth through the surrounding snow.

Yue Shi noticed that Su Jinglu's appearance had also undergone a clear change. Her female characteristics were rapidly fading, and her image was becoming more and more androgynous.

Clearly, the curse effect of that hairpin wasn't just making certain organs disappear; it was stripping away all external characteristics that could express gender.

Presumably, it wouldn't be long before Su Jinglu also became a person of indeterminate sex.

The surrounding investigators were confused at first, not understanding why Su Jinglu was so obsessed with finding a hairpin at a time like this.

But they still chose to help her search.

"Those of you who arrived first, did you see the hairpin he was holding?" Su Jinglu asked repeatedly.

The group looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Quick, move faster! We must find that hairpin!" Su Jinglu ordered in an irritable tone.

Seeing that some people didn't take it seriously, Su Jinglu looked around, ignored her sense of shame, and said in a low voice, "That thing is also the source of this supernatural incident. If we don't find it, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

This time, everyone's expression changed. Realizing the gravity of the situation, they all sprang into action, searching carefully over a larger area.

"Quick! Search the surroundings! Don't miss a single corner!"

But their intensive search was destined to be in vain.

They combed through the nearby snow, the bushes, and even the sewer openings, but found nothing at all.

In the end, they could only expand the cordoned area, hoping for a more thorough search later.