A Good-for-Nothing

224. Wu Fangshuo (II)

Translator: Dragon Rider

“You asshole are quite a fast runner, but now you have nowhere to run to!” Zu Zhichong and He Zheng chased the man up to the gazebo and subconsciously came to a halt at the sight of their target inside it.

It suddenly struck He Zheng that viewed from behind, the man’s figure looked very familiar – unduly familiar, actually.

With his cheek to them, the man was holding his chest, appearing to be in agony. His features were too plain to impress anybody, but when he showed them his whole face, He Zheng and Zu Zhichong both widened their eyes with amazement.

“Wu Fangshuo?”

The man abruptly lifted his eyes which then met theirs. He was still holding his heart tightly with his right hand. At the glimpse of them approaching, he quickly covered his face with the other hand, but when he came to realize that it was pointless to do so, he put his hand down and looked blankly back at them.

“So this is what you’ve been after.” Wu Fangshuo’s voice was so quiet that nobody but himself could hear it. He seemed to have said this to the air.

“Since you want to put up a smokescreen, I’ll grant your wish.”

“You…” He Zheng wanted to say something but words failed him. He took a deep breath, unable to believe what he was seeing, feeling as though something was stuck in his throat.

When they’d been in Hang City, that shy and reserved Wu Fangshuo who had once offered to take them to somewhere fun to demonstrate the hospitality of local people, hadn’t been the most conspicuous one of them, but He Zheng and all the others had felt his absolute sincerity distinctly.

“He Zheng, you…” Distantly, Chen Qianlin’s voice came from behind. When his eyes alighted on Wu Fangshuo sitting in the gazebo, Chen Qianlin also broke off in the middle of a sentence.

He Zheng’s and Zu Zhichong’s dramatic reaction outside the police station had come to Zhao Fei’s knowledge very soon. With the help of the Quadruple Orientation Mirror, Zhao Fei had located He Zheng, which was why he followed them up to this place.

But it’d never crossed his mind that he would see this scene.

Chen Qianlin’s face also clouded over with astonishment.

“Wu Fangshuo? Didn’t you return to Hang City?” Chen Qianlin slowly walked up to He Zheng to stand by his side, his eyes fixed on Wu Fangshuo’s face.

As though having written himself as hopeless, Wu Fangshuo turned the other half of his face around, which used to be smooth but was now covered with black throbbing veins, looking extremely horrifying. This was exactly what He Jin had looked like after transforming into his demon form.

At the sight of his face, they came to understand everything.

Zhao Fei furrowed his brows. “What’s going on?”

The expression in He Zheng’s eyes turned from incredulity into placidity. His voice was very low, but everybody present heard him.

“Wu Fangshuo, I never expected you’d… stoop to this.”

Wu Fangshuo was their buddy. Together, they’d confounded the Human Devil, participated in the Special Talents Training Program (STTP), and finished some missions. He Zheng recalled that before they departed, when Jin Qianlai had told him about Wu Fangshuo’s returning to Hang City, he’d been a little displeased with Wu Fangshuo’s leaving without saying goodbye, but in his heart of hearts he respected Wu Fangshuo’s decision.

However, nobody could have foreseen that Wu Fangshuo, who they all believed had returned to Hang City, would appear in this place in this form.

“Stoop to this?” Wu Fangshuo threw back his head and burst into hysterical laughter, a cold look in his eyes. “He Zheng, you and Chen Qianlin will never understand the likes of me.”

“I don’t have your good family background or your great talent, and I certainly don’t have Supt. Li at my back!” The instant Wu Fangshuo finished the last word, his eyes popped drastically and with that he abruptly lunged at them, his long, sharp fingernails aimed squarely at He Zheng’s chest.

“I want you to give me my life back!”

With a high-pitched clink, the Shadow Sword flew out of He Zheng’s hand and then went into Wu Fangshuo’s chest with a muffled puff.

But Wu Fangshuo seemed to be immune to pain. He launched himself forward and his sharp fingernails were within an inch of sinking into He Zheng’s chest. He Zheng didn’t have enough time to dodge aside, but another sword-light flashed over in mid-air and instantly cut off Wu Fangshuo’s arms.

Impassively holding a sword in his hand, Chen Qianlin eyed Wu Fangshuo frostily.

Not having expected that the two of them would join hands, Wu Fangshuo quickly backed off with the intention to flee, but he forgot that Zu Zhichong and Zhao Fei were also present, who would by no means let him escape.

Zu Zhichong made a sequence of exorcism mudras with both hands. The Qingwei Thunder Spell was way too powerful for a Demon’s Attendant of Wu Fangshuo’s level to defend against.

Instantly, sheet lightning accompanied by roaring thunder was conjured in the sky. A look of dismay flitted across Wu Fangshuo’s eyes.

The next second, glaring thunderbolt engulfed him. In a flash, Wu Fangshuo suddenly swiveled his head around. Both the panic and fear on his face had disappeared completely. His eyes rounded, staring fixedly at He Zheng’s face, the blue markings on the demonic half of his face starting to flow, as though they had come to life.

“Shit!” Zu Zhichong exclaimed.

All Wu Fangshuo’s veins burst, but the blood flowing out of his body was no longer scarlet but black.

“Practicing this forbidden skill was the sole reason why I devoured so many souls. He Zheng, neither you nor any of the others is going to make it out of this place alive!”

Wu Fangshuo was enveloped by black gas. Flashes of lightning struck him, dissipating the black gas, but when the lightning spell was over, the black gas gathered again, assuming human shape.

He Zheng was terribly astounded. This was the first time that he’d seen demonic Qi survive a lightning spell!

“Haha… You think you can kill me? In your dreams!”

Wu Fangshuo’s voice suddenly changed, as though it were some kind of synthesized voice. Also, it was blended with a female voice sounding familiar to all of them.

It was the Human Devil!