Yujing.
The manor of a certain transcendent family.
Silence reigned within the manor, save for the slow flow of foul-smelling blood.
“One, two, three...”
“Young-timer, middle-timer, old-timer—all present.”
“Oh. It seems we’re missing a little-timer.”
Yue Shi, still clad in his vivid red trench coat, strolled leisurely through the manor.
“My darling little sweetheart, where are you hiding?”
“Your mommy and daddy are looking for you. Come out now~”
Ravens circled above as demonic whispers echoed through the surroundings.
A small boy hid inside a wardrobe, deathly still, not daring to make a sound.
He had no idea what was happening, only that a villain had broken into his home.
The butler, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles—everyone was dead.
Only he was left.
Fear and hatred intertwined and spread within his heart.
He committed the enemy’s face to memory. If there were a tomorrow, he would have his revenge!
Crack!
A fist suddenly smashed a hole through the wardrobe door.
“Here's Johnny!”
“So you were hiding here. You really made me look, kid.”
“Disobedient children deserve to be punished!”
Yue Shi reached out to grab the boy.
“Ah!”
“Let me go! Let me go! I’ll kill you! The Bureau won't let you get away with this!”
The boy screamed and flailed like a little brat.
“What’s all the noise for? A family should be all together!”
Yue Shi hoisted the boy up to show him his family portrait.
Perhaps overwhelmed by the sight of his family reunited, the boy trembled violently and his eyes rolled back in his head.
“Since you’re just a kid, I won't torture you. No need to thank me; I’ve always been this kind-hearted.”
As he spoke, the boy became another member of the family portrait.
Much later, the manor gates were thrown open once again.
A team of people wearing Investigation Bureau uniforms rushed in.
Unfortunately, they were too late; not a single soul was left alive.
“What on earth happened here?!”
“Urgh...”
When the Bureau members saw the scene inside the manor, they were horrified. Some even vomited on the spot.
All the deceased were kneeling in a circle, the tops of their skulls removed and held in their own hands. Their mouths and eyes had been crudely sewn together into grotesque smiles.
Their internal organs had been hollowed out, mixed with brain matter, and piled in the center.
At first glance, it looked like some evil ritual, with cultists sitting in a circle, preparing to feast on a sacrifice.
“A devil... he’s a literal devil!”
“He didn't even spare the elderly or the children. This is too cruel!”
The Bureau members hastily reported the situation and cordoned off the scene.
Once finished, they looked at each other, their hearts filled with shock and fury.
How many years had it been since such a major case occurred in Yujing?
Meanwhile, Yue Shi was already heading toward the next location on his list.
He was killing them according to their genealogy!
Soon, he found a new target and repeated his previous actions.
Kill!
Destroy their legacy.
Exterminate their kin.
Sever their lineage.
Desecrate their graves.
Everyone deserved a miserable death!
Ghost followed Yue Shi, his heart pounding with trepidation.
Since leaving the orphanage, the two had barely stopped, heading straight for Yujing.
“You really have some nerve, doing this right under the Bureau’s nose.”
Yue Shi was indifferent; his ego was currently inflated to the extreme.
“By the way, where exactly is the headquarters?”
“I had my ravens scout the whole city, and I didn't see a single building that looked like the Bureau headquarters.”
“Is it underground?”
Ghost spread his hands. “I don't know either.”
“Fine. If I can't find the headquarters, I’ll go find the ancestral graves first,” Yue Shi said.
“I’ll dig up all their ancestors, grind their bones to dust, and dump them in a latrine~”
The two continued their killing spree, and news of their actions soon caused a massive uproar in Yujing.
At the headquarters level, ordinary investigators didn't dare face Yue Shi.
That was a ruthless man who could kill a captain!
Even when assigned mandatory missions by their superiors, many investigators chose to slack off.
They had a sense of duty, but that didn't mean they were idiots.
Running to their deaths in front of an S-rank fugitive served no purpose.
...
The Resonant Daoist and Boss Pi arrived at the site of the Su family manor.
The manor had indeed vanished.
It wasn't a disappearance in the traditional sense; there were no ruins, nor had it been leveled.
Rather, the area of the manor had been “cut” out.
The surrounding buildings and streets were perfectly stitched together, as if the manor had never existed.
The Resonant Daoist felt with startling clarity just how powerful Yue Shi’s spatial abilities were.
“The Su family manor might have been folded and hidden away. Yue Shi is probably inside right now, carrying out a massacre,” Boss Pi suggested.
The Resonant Daoist sneered. “We’ll wait for him here.”
“Are you sure your method can really kill him in one hit?” Boss Pi looked at The Resonant Daoist’s secret weapon, feeling it was a bit unreliable.
It was a painting held in The Resonant Daoist’s arms, covered with a black cloth.
“Don't worry,” The Resonant Daoist said with total confidence.
“Why don't you tell me what that thing is first?” Boss Pi asked curiously.
The Resonant Daoist thought for a moment before shaking his head. “I can't. It’s best if you don't come into contact with any information regarding it.”
Boss Pi didn't press further.
Just then, The Resonant Daoist’s communication device rang.
After answering, his expression changed drastically based on just a few words from the other side.
“Let’s go. Yue Shi is no longer here!” he called out to Boss Pi.
...
Yue Shi was a man of his word.
He said he would dig up ancestral graves, and he did.
“This is the grave of the previous head of the Su family. Do you really intend to hold a dead man accountable?” Ghost asked.
“Is there a problem?”
“He’s been dead for years. Even if you whip his corpse, he won't feel a thing.”
“So what? Who cares about a dead man’s feelings? Desecrating a grave is for the living to see—to strike at those who are still alive.”
As Yue Shi spoke, he distastefully dragged the body out, doused it in gasoline, and set it on fire, not forgetting to record a video while he was at it.
“I guess the Su family’s ancestral graves really are billowing black smoke now~”
“You truly have no bottom line. You’re a literal bottomless pit of human morality,” Ghost complained from the side.
Even though he had discarded his human form, Ghost still occasionally felt that Yue Shi’s malice was physically nauseating.
How could there be someone this wicked in the world?
Pure, unadulterated evil that didn't prioritize profit, but simply lived to make others suffer.
As the old corpse burned, it produced a foul stench.
Yue Shi pinched his nose and stepped back, then posted the video to the Supernatural Forum.
He had fans too.
Many killers and deviants admired him greatly and left him glowing reviews.
Yue Shi never minded showing his darkest side—bloody, cruel, petty, and utterly ruthless.
He wanted everyone to know exactly what would happen if they crossed him!
“Yue Shi.”
A soft call came from not far away.
Yue Shi instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.
Two figures, a man and a woman, entered his view.
The woman was glamorous and shapely.
The man standing beside her had an immortal air, wearing a mask and holding a painting.
The painting was large, its frame tightly covered by a black cloth.
The moment Yue Shi turned to look, The Resonant Daoist whipped off the black cloth.
The timing was perfect!
At that exact instant, a large hand, covered in warm, viscous blood, suddenly clamped over Yue Shi’s eyes from behind!
The heavy scent of blood filled his nostrils, and Yue Shi froze on the spot.
For some reason, even though someone had suddenly approached and touched him from behind, his instincts hadn't triggered any counterattack warning!
Nor did he feel any repulsion!
This was inconceivable.
Yue Shi reached back, and the other person didn't resist.
After a couple of touches, the sensation from his palm was familiar down to his very marrow.
It was himself!
It was his future self!
“Don't look at that painting. Don't use Insight to read the painting’s information. Don't use the ravens to peek indirectly. In short, remember: do not observe that painting in any way!”
A weak voice whispered in his ear, his breathing ragged, warm air puffing against the side of his neck.
Yue Shi could feel the chest of the person behind him pressed against his back, heaving violently.
His future self was in terrible condition.
His aura was withered and chaotic; he seemed to be heavily injured.
What on earth had happened in the future to wound him so severely?
Yue Shi wanted to ask, but the warmth against his back suddenly vanished.
His future self had left.
The blood on his face was taken away with him, leaving not even a trace of the scent.
Returning to the past just to stop himself from looking at a painting?
He was usually extremely self-centered and rarely listened to others' advice.
But this time, it was a “warning” from his future self; he had to listen.
So he immediately squeezed his eyes shut, looking at nothing. The third eye on his forehead did not open.
All the ravens closed their eyes simultaneously and retreated into the shadows.
Since his future self had used Time Reversal to interfere with the past, it could only mean that he had suffered extremely terrible consequences because he had observed that painting.
Yue Shi was astonished. Given his current strength, what kind of trouble could possibly force him to change the past?
The Resonant Daoist and Boss Pi were even more astonished than Yue Shi.
“He knows a cloning technique?!”
Boss Pi cried out in disbelief, his face full of shock.
He reacted quickly, realizing The Resonant Daoist’s sneak attack had failed, and immediately turned to run.
Just now, another Yue Shi had suddenly appeared behind him and covered his eyes.
Except that other one was in a wretched state.
“No, that wasn't a cloning technique!” The Resonant Daoist’s expression was grim.
That painting was the secret weapon he had intended to use against Yue Shi.
His ability was unique; it caused him to passively receive many strange bits of knowledge.
Some of that knowledge didn't even seem to belong to this world and was extremely dangerous!
He had used some of that high-risk knowledge to create that painting, and it had only one effect.
Any living being, regardless of the method—directly or indirectly—who observed the painting’s true form would immediately stop thinking and get pregnant!
Their mind would only resume functioning once the delivery was complete.
The Resonant Daoist’s original plan had been foolproof: use Yue Shi’s confidence and curiosity to catch him off guard with the painting.
Whether he got pregnant or not didn't matter; the goal was simply to make Yue Shi stop thinking.
A person who couldn't think, no matter how great their abilities, wouldn't be able to use them!
At that point, they could do whatever they wanted to him.
Settle old scores, take revenge, skin him if they wanted.
But The Resonant Daoist had calculated everything except for the appearance of another Yue Shi to block his eyes.
The other Yue Shi didn't look like a clone. He had a gaping hole in his abdomen, missing limbs, and was covered in blood.
That state was very strange—it looked more like he had seen the painting and already given birth...
Now that Yue Shi had his eyes shut tight, The Resonant Daoist’s certain-kill strike was useless!
Boss Pi, who had already run a fair distance away, didn't forget to look back and shriek, “Do you have any other killing moves? If you do, use them now!”
“Don't worry, I have other preparations,” The Resonant Daoist snarled through gritted teeth.
Against a ruthless character like Yue Shi, how could he only prepare one move?
He held the painting with one hand and quickly reached into his coat with the other, pulling out a purplish-black talisman.
“Do you have any other killing moves? If you do, use them now!” Boss Pi shouted.
“Don't worry, I have other preparations,” The Resonant Daoist said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a purplish-black talisman.
“Do you have any other killing moves...”
The two had already fallen into a loop.
Knowing there was a risk, Yue Shi naturally wouldn't give them another chance to act.
Beside him, Ghost floated silently in place, his abdomen swelling at an incredible speed.
After about three minutes, a freakish creature, also an information lifeform, forcibly tore open his stomach and crawled out.
And the first thing this freak did after being born was...
Matricide!
The freak opened its mouth wide and bit toward the still-unresponsive Ghost.
Ghost had no idea what had happened. One moment his eyes were closed, and the next, a little monster had appeared before him.
This little monster was also an information lifeform, and it viciously bit off a chunk of his body, swallowing it whole.
Only then did Ghost realize his body was extremely weak, his state incredibly bizarre.
Seeing the little monster about to pounce for a second bite, Ghost grabbed it by the neck.
“Crushing abnormal information, recycling usable resources, formatting trash information...”
Ghost’s body flickered a few times, and the little monster was instantly refined.
“What just happened? Why was there an abnormal backup record inside me?”
Ghost rubbed his abdomen. He could feel that a portion of his information structure had been copied and given independence.
Yue Shi opened his mouth, then hesitated. Ultimately, he didn't speak the truth, saying only:
“Someone launched a sneak attack. You might have been hit by some kind of curse.”
After saying that, Yue Shi’s expression suddenly became strange.
He already knew exactly what his future self had encountered.
A segment of memory had appeared in his mind.
He had looked directly at the painting and stopped thinking.
By the time he regained consciousness, he was covered in wounds, and a little brat had crawled out of his belly!
The Resonant Daoist and the woman beside him had gotten into an argument.
One wanted revenge, wanting to return every bit of suffering he had endured.
The other firmly disagreed, refusing to allow the beautiful skin to be damaged.
Perhaps they thought victory was assured, so they let their guard down.
Yue Shi had taken advantage of the gap during their argument to quickly assess the situation and return to the past to change it.
The memory that had appeared was his own real experience.
The sensation of eyelashes brushing against his palm when he covered his other self’s eyes still lingered.
At the same time, he gained a preliminary understanding of the principles of time travel.
The timeline was unique, but it could be changed.
When he changed the “past,” he would return to a reset “present,” and the original “present” would be rewritten and overwritten.
He would retain the memories and experiences of the original timeline, becoming the intersection point between the old and new “realities.”
Rate on N.U.
