24: Chapter 24 A Dark and Windy Night, A Night for Murder

2 AM, the victory banquet had long since ended.

Although Captain Qin Hu strongly insisted on sending a special car for escort, or even personally seeing Lin Yuan home, Lin Yuan refused.

He had just made a breakthrough in the Spiritual Qi Baptism Pool; both his body and mind were in a state of heightened sensitivity after extreme excitement, and he needed to adapt to this brand-new power.

The streets were empty, with only the cold wind rustling waste newspapers on the ground.

Lin Yuan walked with his hands in his pockets, seemingly casual, but in reality, his Spiritual Telekinesis spread out like spilled mercury, silently covering a hundred-meter radius.

Since awakening his Spiritual Telekinesis, the world had changed in his eyes.

The flow of the wind, the crawling of insects, the sound of distant breathing... nothing could hide.

Suddenly, Lin Yuan's footsteps paused slightly.

[Ding! Warning! Killing intent lock-on detected!]

[Direction: In the shadows to the rear left. Danger Level: Medium.]

[Source: Third Rank Peak martial artist.]

"I just leveled up, and someone's already eager to deliver experience points?"

In the shadows, "Shadow Ghost," dressed in a pitch-black tight suit, was pressed against the wall, controlling his breathing and even his heartbeat to the extreme.

As a renowned assassin in the underworld of Jianghai City, countless martial artists had died by his hands, including two official martial artists at the early stage of the Third Rank.

"This kid actually stopped? Did he notice something?"

Shadow Ghost's eyes were sinister as he stared at Lin Yuan's defenseless back.

"Impossible, he's just a student who recently broke through to the Second Rank. No matter how high his talent, it's impossible for him to see through my Shadow Stealth."

The double commission offered by the head of the Zhao family tempted him, and even more so, required him to finish the job quickly.

"Die, genius."

Shadow Ghost moved.

His entire being seemed to melt into the air, the ink-colored dagger in his hand coated with a lethal poison that kills on contact. He instantly crossed the ten-meter distance, aiming straight for the medulla oblongata at the back of Lin Yuan's head!

This strike, named "Backstab," was his signature move.

The cold gleam of the dagger had already touched the fine hairs on the back of Lin Yuan's neck. A flash of bloodthirsty pleasure crossed Shadow Ghost's eyes.

"It's over, this ten million was earned too eas—"

Just a split second before the dagger pierced the skin, a sudden change occurred!

The Spiritual Telekinesis in Lin Yuan's mind erupted instantly.

Mental Shock!

An invisible mental spike, moving faster than lightning, stabbed violently into Shadow Ghost's brain!

"Ah!!!"

A tearing pain radiated from the depths of Shadow Ghost's soul. His movements instantly stiffened, his mind went blank for a brief moment, and the originally fatal strike froze in mid-air.

Expressionless, Lin Yuan's right hand shot out like lightning, accurately gripping Shadow Ghost's neck.

The terrifying monstrous strength brought by the God-Demon Body Forging Technique erupted instantly!

"Crack!"

Shadow Ghost snapped out of the mental pain, his feet kicking wildly off the ground as his hands desperately gripped Lin Yuan's wrist to pry it open, only to find that the hand was like cast steel, unmoving.

He widened his eyes in horror:

"A... Mentalist?!!"

"How could you possibly be a Mentalist?!"

At this moment, Shadow Ghost's heart was filled with despair and resentment toward the Zhao family.

Letting an assassin like him get close to assassinate a Mentalist who could perceive everything?

What the hell was this if not sending him to his death!

Lin Yuan didn't waste any words; he applied slight pressure with his fingers, crushing Shadow Ghost's shoulder blade bit by bit.

"Ah!!" The scream was squeezed back as soon as it left his mouth.

"Who sent you?" Lin Yuan's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Although I've already guessed, I prefer to hear you say it yourself."

A look of resolve flashed in Shadow Ghost's eyes.

Since he had fallen into the hands of a Mentalist, there was no escaping, but he could not be humiliated.

He gritted his teeth, attempting to bite down on the poison capsule hidden in his molar to commit suicide.

"Want to die? Did I agree?"

Lin Yuan's gaze turned cold. He clenched his left hand into a fist and punched Shadow Ghost heavily in the stomach.

This punch displaced Shadow Ghost's internal organs, causing his mouth to open uncontrollably, leaving him without even the strength to bite the poison capsule.

"Since you don't want to talk, I'll see for myself."

Lin Yuan's eyes suddenly became deep, and the system notification rang out in his mind.

[Target's mental defense line detected as collapsed. Activate Soul Search function?]

"Yes."

Boom!

A vast amount of memory fragments flooded into Lin Yuan's mind like a revolving lantern. He filtered out irrelevant memories of killings and locked onto the most recent scene.

In the scene was the Zhao family's luxurious study.

Zhao Shanhe's face was distorted as he ordered the Shadow Ghost in front of him: "Not only must Lin Yuan be killed, but to pull out the roots, I've already sent another team to the city hospital. That's his weakness. Create a medical accident and send that sickly sister of his on her way too! A family should be together and complete!"

After seeing this memory, the faint light in Lin Yuan's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a sky-high blood-red killing intent.

This killing intent was so intense that the air temperature around him plummeted, and the weeds by the road instantly frosted over.

"Good, very good!"

Lin Yuan started to laugh, but that smile was colder than a demon's.

Grievances of the martial world should be settled in the martial world; trouble should not involve family.

But the Zhao family should never, ever have touched Lin Xiaoya.

She was his only bond to this world, the reverse scale he would protect with his life.

A dragon has a reverse scale; touch it, and death is certain!

"I originally planned to wait until I went to Magic City to slowly deal with you all, letting you live a few more days."

Lin Yuan looked at the twitching Shadow Ghost in his hand, his tone grim. "But now it seems you're tired of living."

"Crack!"

Lin Yuan expressionlessly snapped Shadow Ghost's neck, and this Third Rank Peak assassin was casually tossed into a roadside trash can.

Lin Yuan glanced at the time on his wristband.

2:15 AM.

At the hospital, there were SWAT teams and doctors arranged by Captain Qin Hu; the people sent by the Zhao family wouldn't get in, so his sister was safe for now.

But it wasn't enough.

As long as the Zhao family existed for one more day, this fly-like harassment and threat would never stop.

"Since you don't want me to leave in peace, then tonight..."

Lin Yuan took out Shadow Ghost's encrypted communicator from his pocket, used the system to crack it, and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice before connecting, and Captain Qin Hu's somewhat wary voice came through: "Hello? Who is this?"

"Captain Qin, it's me."

Captain Qin Hu on the other end was stunned, then immediately noticed something wrong with Lin Yuan's tone: "Lin Yuan? What's the matter so late? Were you attacked?"

"Yeah, the Zhao family sent a Third Rank assassin named Shadow Ghost. I've already killed him."

"What?! Shadow Ghost?!" Captain Qin Hu was shocked, then flew into a rage. "Is the Zhao family crazy?! How dare they publicly assassinate the top scorer of the Gaokao! Where are you? Are you hurt? I'll bring people over right away!"

"No need, Captain Qin."

Lin Yuan interrupted him, and as he spoke, he leaned over to pull out the poisoned dagger from Shadow Ghost's corpse and wiped it on his sleeve.

"I'm calling because I want to trouble you with something."

"Say it! As long as it's not illegal, I'll do it for you!"

Lin Yuan looked toward the brightly lit wealthy district on the other side of the city and said flatly:

"Tonight, I'm going to do something a bit out of line. Quite a few people might die, and it'll cause a bit of a stir."

"I'll have to trouble you, Captain Qin, to help me clean up the mess later."

Captain Qin Hu's hand holding the phone was shaking. He understood what Lin Yuan meant. This kid... was going to wipe out the family?!

"Lin Yuan! Calm down! The Zhao family has a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist in residence, and..."

"Beep... beep... beep..."

The call had already been disconnected.

Then, he slowly drew the C-grade combat blade—black moon—from the violin case (disguise) on his back.

"After tonight, Jianghai City will have one less wealthy family."