Chapter 107: True Identity

When Lin Huang and Lin Xin returned to the hotel, it was already past ten at night. Feng Zhuoran was staying in the same hotel, with his room right next door, but Lin Huang didn’t notice his presence at all.

Back in their room, Lin Xin went to bed early, but Lin Huang tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

“Those two times the killing intent was clearly aimed at me—not just my imagination. But why did it suddenly disappear? Could it be that the assailant was killed?” Lin Huang pondered, struggling to understand what had truly happened. His guess was close to the truth, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fathom that the matter involved Leng Yuexin, who was currently far away in District Three.

Shaking off distracting thoughts, Lin Huang still couldn’t fall asleep. He opened the Imperial Mind Network and browsed through the news.

A local news story recommended by the network quickly caught his attention.

“Recently, the number of homicide cases in Summer Palace City, Base 7B61, has been increasing daily. These consecutive murders began four days ago, with sixteen deaths on the first day alone. By early this morning, the death toll had reached 121. So far, all victims have been ordinary citizens or those at the Black Iron Realm; no Bronze Realm individuals have been affected. This incident has drawn the high attention of the Alliance Government...”

“It’s been four days and they still haven’t caught the killer...” Lin Huang couldn’t help but criticize the city’s security system.

After scanning the news for a while, nearing midnight, Lin Huang finally felt drowsy. He closed the network and fell into a deep sleep.

In the neighboring room, Feng Zhuoran sat on the living room sofa and dialed a number.

Moments later, the call connected, and a video popped up. On the other end was Uncle Li, the same man who had previously spoken with Leng Yuexin.

“Good evening, Steward!” Feng Zhuoran greeted with a wave.

“How’s everything progressing?” Uncle Li asked directly.

“So far, so good. I’m watching over things these days, so hopefully nothing will go wrong,” Feng Zhuoran replied, sitting upright with his arms crossed and a smile.

“You don’t sound very confident. Has something happened?” Uncle Li immediately saw through Feng Zhuoran.

“There was a minor issue... The other side sent out an extraordinary being, but I scared them off.”

“They sent out an extraordinary being to hunt down that young man, Lin Huang?” Uncle Li furrowed his brow. “Is the dead guy’s identity suspicious, or does Lin Huang have some other secret?”

“After Miss returned last time, we checked Lin Huang’s background multiple times. He should be fine. The problem likely lies with the guy he killed,” Feng Zhuoran guessed. “I questioned that extraordinary being, but he didn’t say a word, as if there were taboos involved. That just raises more suspicions.”

“I’ll see if I can dig up more information. Thanks for your efforts these few days.” Uncle Li ended the call abruptly.

“Steward always hangs up so unexpectedly...” Feng Zhuoran muttered helplessly as the screen went black.

Closing the call window, Feng Zhuoran returned to his friends’ chat group, gossiping with old comrades. Extraordinary beings didn’t need sleep daily, giving them plenty of leisure time.

Around one in the morning, a message suddenly arrived from Uncle Li.

“The guy Lin Huang killed has a problem. His body is missing, and all traces have been wiped clean.”

Feng Zhuoran frowned and shook his head. “Lin Huang, Lin Huang, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into...”

***

Several hours earlier, a blood-red sword light descended into a forest. A man in a black robe glanced up at the sky behind him, then sighed in relief.

“Luckily, they didn’t follow!”

He removed the brim of his hat, opened the Imperial Mind Ring’s communication interface, and dialed a number.

“How’s the operation going?” came a voice through the device.

“Failed. Feng Zhuoran from the Leng family intervened, and he made it clear that the Leng family will handle this matter to the end,” the black-robed man replied immediately.

“Leng family...” The voice on the other end fell silent for a moment, then said, “Forget it. Withdraw everyone. If this escalates, it won’t benefit us.”

“But what about Mr. Huang? How do we explain this to him?” the black-robed man asked.

“I’ll handle the explanation. After all, it’s just a distant relative who died. It can’t be more important than our business. He only wanted to save face by having us act. We’ve done our best. If this drags on, the cost will be too high...” After ending the call, Zheng Yuan sighed.

The Zheng family was only a mid-tier noble family in District Seven, incomparable to the upper-tier Leng family. Yet, on the other hand, Zheng Yuan couldn’t afford to offend them either. Caught in the middle, he was troubled on both sides.

After an hour-long video conference with several other families, the final decision was to abandon the assassination attempt. As the initiator of the operation, he had no choice but to report the matter to Mr. Huang.

In his study, with doors and windows tightly shut, he dialed a number.

Two rings later, the call connected.

“Speak,” came a male voice, neither young nor old.

“Mr. Huang, here’s the situation. Our assassination attempt on Lin Huang was obstructed by the Leng family...” Zheng Yuan explained the whole incident.

Silence lingered on the other end for a long moment before the voice finally spoke.

“Understood. From now on, don’t do business in District Seven.”

The call ended abruptly, leaving Zheng Yuan stunned and confused.

“How could this be?” He redialed, but the number showed he had been blocked.

***

In District Two, inside a magnificent castle, a woman in a purple dress, seemingly in her early thirties, gently stroked a skull.

“Shan’er, you just won’t listen to your mother. Back then, when you liked those little girls, I specially had Old Huang set up this business for you in the remote District Seven, so you could manage everything behind the scenes while he handled affairs openly. Later, when you insisted on getting involved personally, I had Old Huang fabricate a fake identity for you, telling the noble families there that you were his distant relative, so they’d treat you as a supplier.”

“Being a supplier would be fine if it weren’t for your life cycle defect—you can’t cultivate life energy. You knew you couldn’t activate defensive armors or treasures, and needed Old Huang’s constant protection. Yet you sneaked out several times when he wasn’t around to scout girls, leading to this outcome!”

The skull’s eye sockets glowed with blue light, its jaws opening and closing as it spoke with a man’s voice. If Lin Huang were here, he would recognize it immediately—it was the voice of Wei Shan, the man he had killed.

“Mother, you must avenge me! Kill that brat Lin Huang, then imprison his soul and make it a corpse slave!”

“Shan’er, of course we will avenge you, but not in haste. The Leng family controls District Seven and has some ties to District Three. If I extend my reach too far, it will attract attention from District Three. I have other plans for your revenge. First, you must remain in the soul nurturing urn for three years. After that, when your soul stabilizes, I will help you find a corpse host of the undead type. Then you can live on in that form.”

“Mother, what exactly is this plan?” the skull asked anxiously.

“Bring her up,” the woman in purple clapped her hands.

A young girl with twin ponytails was led in by a maid. She looked timidly at the woman.

“Lily!” the skull exclaimed joyfully.

“Daddy!” Lily immediately rushed toward the skull, showing no fear.

“Lily, your father won’t truly revive until three years later. Do you want to avenge him?” the woman smiled at Lily.

“Yes!” Lily nodded vigorously.

“To become stronger will be very difficult, even possibly deadly. Are you afraid?” the woman asked with a smile.

“No!” Lily shook her head.

“Good. I will send you to Phoenix Island for a year of special training. If you return alive, I will send you back to District Seven. Then I will give you one month to kill Lin Huang.” After speaking, the woman nodded at the maid.

The maid turned and left with Lily, while the woman in purple stroked the skull again.

“Your daughter will avenge you. You must be pleased, right?”

“Mother, you understand me best...” The skull’s voice trembled with joy. “Lily, don’t disappoint your father...”