You Shouldn't Have Brought a Knife

What's going on?!

Yan Xing looked around frantically but found that Lin Hao had completely vanished from the room.

Had he seen a ghost?

The blades around his body began to flutter chaotically, responding to his agitated emotions.

It was beyond bizarre how a full-grown person could just disappear right under his nose.

He suddenly noticed the door was slightly ajar. Sensing something was wrong, he rushed forward to open it.

But just as he reached for the handle, the door was violently kicked open.

Caught off guard, he was sent flying backward by the impact of the door, landing hard on the floor behind him.

Damn it!

His head was spinning, and the door had struck him right in the nose. He could feel something warm trickling from his nostrils.

He was bleeding.

He stumbled backward several steps, trying to wipe away the blood from his nose, but the impact had been too severe.

Each time he wiped away some blood, more would flow out, impossible to stop.

His hands weren't idle though. Sensing an intruder, he commanded all his blades to shoot toward the open doorway in perfect unison.

"Clink! Clink! Clink!"

Sparks flew in the darkness as metallic sounds rang out from the doorway. The more of these sounds he heard, the more his heart sank.

Either he was facing a steel plate rather than a person, or whoever it was had deflected every single blade.

If it was the latter, what terrifying reflexes and speed would that require?

He wiped another smear of blood and peered toward the doorway.

There stood a girl with silver hair wearing a baseball cap. She hadn't stepped into the light yet, so he couldn't make out her face clearly.

If it weren't for the unusual hair color, he might have mistaken her for Ji Mengyao.

"Who are you?!"

He demanded with barely contained rage, though a hint of fear crept into his voice.

This person was almost certainly another Awakened One.

Ning Yu finally stepped into the light, which illuminated her from behind, making her silver hair appear translucent and dazzling.

She stared coldly at Yan Xing, holding an unusually shaped straight sword with a blood butterfly ornament dangling from its pommel.

How beautiful!

This was Yan Xing's first thought upon seeing Ning Yu. After seeing nothing but zombies day after day, suddenly encountering such an otherworldly beauty made him momentarily forget his situation.

How could such a beautiful girl exist in this world?

He stared at her, mouth slightly agape.

But he quickly snapped out of it.

"You're an Awakened One too?"

Ning Yu observed his research facility uniform, surprised that someone like him could become an Awakened One. She had thought the two roles were completely separate.

But Yan Xing, having gotten a clear look at Ning Yu's weapon, suddenly let out a sinister chuckle:

"You shouldn't have brought a blade here. Come to me!!"

He suddenly reached out his hand, attempting to seize control of Ning Yu's sword from afar.

But nothing happened. The scene he had imagined of controlling Ning Yu's sword didn't materialize?!

Even he was dumbfounded, his hand awkwardly suspended in the air like some delusional teenager.

A moment of silence hung in the air, the scene frozen in time.

Ning Yu watched him with amusement, wondering what this fool was doing.

Yan Xing couldn't understand why his metal-controlling ability had no effect on this sword.

Could it be a toy sword?

Looking at the metallic gleam reflecting off its surface, he didn't think that was possible.

So he stubbornly tried again.

Still not even a tremor; the sword remained perfectly steady in Ning Yu's hand.

It must be fake, this has to be a fake sword!

"Shing!"

After watching his embarrassing performance with patience, Ning Yu swiftly brought the Blood Kite to his throat.

The blade precisely nicked his skin, drawing a small amount of blood which the Blood Kite immediately absorbed.

Now things got worse - having tasted blood, the Blood Kite began drinking eagerly. What should have been a tiny cut started bleeding profusely.

Yan Xing didn't dare move, but the itching sensation at his neck told him his skin was broken. Why was his vision starting to blur?

Ning Yu pulled the Blood Kite back slightly - if it kept drinking like this, Yan Xing would die.

"Did Zhuang Wugou order you to kill Lin Hao?"

Yan Xing responded with silence, as if determined to resist to the death.

Ning Yu just smiled contemptuously, picking up one of her bent blades from the ground and easily straightening it with her hands.

Yan Xing considered trying to control the blade to attack Ning Yu while she was distracted, but ultimately didn't dare. He had already realized he was no match for her.

"Don't waste time and needlessly suffer more."

Ning Yu took hold of his finger and slid the blade into the gap between his fingernail and flesh.

"AHHHHH!!!!"

The room echoed with Yan Xing's pig-like screams as his face contorted in agony, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Weren't you going to torture others? I see you don't even know how to properly torture someone. Let me teach you."

Ning Yu's words were like a demon's whisper as she smiled softly and picked up another bent blade from the ground, smoothing it flat with her hands.

Yan Xing watched her with terrified eyes, knowing another blade was about to be inserted under his fingernail.

Any thought of resistance was completely drowned by fear.

"Now, will you talk, or should I keep torturing you until you do?"

Ning Yu smiled sweetly, throwing his own words to Lin Hao back at him.

Yan Xing nodded frantically like a bobblehead doll, the excruciating pain in his finger destroying any courage to endure another blade.

"It... it was him. He discovered what Lin Hao was doing, but wanted to see what Lin Hao would do next, so he hadn't acted yet."

The words tumbled out of him rapidly like beans from an upturned container.

"Then why choose to act today?"

Ning Yu stared directly at him, giving him no time to catch his breath as she continued her interrogation, still playing with the blade in her hands - bending it, then straightening it again.

The metal seemed as pliable as clay in her hands.

Yan Xing watched her movements, swallowing hard before speaking:

"I... I don't know, he just ordered me to act, I... I... AHHHHH!!!!"

A second blade slid under his fingernail, and this time he broke down completely, tears and mucus streaming down his face.

He lay on the ground in a pathetic heap, clutching his hand and howling.

"I... I'm not lying... I really don't know!"

His whole body trembled with pain as he curled into a ball.

Seeing his state, Ning Yu believed he wasn't lying and changed her line of questioning.

"Why are you sending Awakened Ones out to die?"