Boss, I See You Have Exceptional Talent

This man was far faster and more responsive than Zhu Yan had expected.

The instant the severed hand rolled to his feet, the man lowered his head.

Barely a second after realizing what it was, he sent a razor-sharp wind blade straight toward where Zhu Yan was standing.

Unfortunately, it struck nothing.

The wind blade merely tore through the invisible Fog and split the fake-person customer behind it in two.

“The [Hunter]!” the man shouted. “The [Hunter] is here!”

Zhu Yan burst out laughing.

Like a mischievous child, he flew up onto the elevator platform and condensed into a human form. Still invisible, he patted the fake-person woman on the platform.

“I’m going up. Hurry.”

“Oh!” The fake-person woman jumped in fright.

Even so, it pressed the button to ascend. Zhu Yan maintained his invisibility as he watched the chaotic mess unfolding in the lobby below.

Then he turned off [Invisibility] and waved dramatically at everyone below.

“Goodbye, then—and thank your Captain Jin for his hospitality!”

The people below turned around. The man who wielded the wind blades sprinted toward the platform.

“There! Notify the people upstairs—don’t let him get away! He can turn invisible, for crying out loud!”

Before he had even finished speaking, the [Hunter] had vanished again.

A large group came rushing up. One of them even climbed the smooth wall with the agility of a gecko.

“…He should still be on that platform.”

The invisible Fog drifted lazily over the wind-blade man’s head and heard him speaking to his subordinates.

“Damn it. When did he even conduct the transaction?”

The Fog chuckled softly and drifted away.

What were they muttering about? How was he supposed to know?

All he knew was that the show was over. It was time to go see his fake-person friend.

…

Meanwhile.

The Fog pressed itself against the glass window and waited a full five minutes before Director Jin finally answered the phone.

“What?! He got away?!”

The voice on the other end sounded rather disappointed.

“Yes, Director. The [Hunter] threw a severed hand at us and ran.”

“Our people reacted as soon as they saw the hand, but we were still too late.”

“Director, the [Hunter] can turn invisible. We simply—”

Director Jin abruptly rose from the bedside of Jin Rongxu.

Jin Rongxu’s forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Growing bones was evidently extremely painful. His lips trembled as he tried to say something, but all that came out was a feeble, breathy sound.

Director Jin strode out of the room without hanging up the call.

The Fog followed him from afar through the glass window. When Director Jin entered the elevator, Zhu Yan descended in sync with it outside the building.

He watched as Director Jin returned to his office, his expression so grim it seemed his gaze might drip with darkness.

“What about the hand?”

Director Jin pulled open a drawer and took out a pistol.

“It’s still there,” the voice on the phone replied. “We didn’t dare touch it. We preserved it intact. Director, please take a look—”

“I’ll come over immediately,” Director Jin answered briskly. “Don’t touch that hand. It may have fingerprints on it. As for the money inside…”

He paused.

Under the bright white light of the office, Zhu Yan saw a flicker of hope pass through his eyes.

“If you’re sure you didn’t see him at the counter, the money might still be inside.”

“In any case, wait for me to get there.”

Director Jin opened the door and left.

The Fog spun, twisted, and leaped through the air.

…

Meanwhile, Zhu Yan tugged at his Demon Cloak and couldn’t help laughing.

No matter what, the money in that hand couldn’t possibly be “still inside.”

If it were, then that would mean the [Hunter] had failed in his duty!

“Hi there, my friend!”

A polite voice spoke up.

“Oh, I’m so glad you came! You haven’t replied to my messages in so long. I thought I’d never see you again!”

It was the fake person.

It was still wearing the old human skin that belonged to Zhu Yan’s uncle, though the smile on its face looked even more natural than before.

For a moment, Zhu Yan was distracted.

It was a shame his uncle had never worn an expression like that—especially not toward him.

The fake person’s black, glass-ball-like pupils were bright yet stiff. They rolled around as it inspected Zhu Yan.

“You level up so quickly! In such a short time, you’re no longer that little demon!”

Zhu Yan nodded at it. “Thank you for the compliment, my friend. I’ve saved up quite a few human skins, along with some little gifts for you…”

His ring still contained a great deal of human flesh—the leftovers given to him by The Human-Spider Supervisor. He hadn’t used it all yet.

The fake person was, after all, a long-standing customer. Giving it two portions of something tasty was perfectly reasonable.

It paid generously, and it ate quickly.

By the time the two of them emerged from the Hall of Mourning, the fake person had already gnawed through most of the three tiger-skinned human hands, crunching away happily.

“Shockingly delicious!”

“Shocking.”

“That’s right, shocking!” The fake person gazed at Zhu Yan with admiration. “Little demon, you’re incredible. Not only can you read human writing, you don’t look down on fake people either. And you can even get food like this. What a paradise!”

It began noisily sucking the sauce from the bones. Zhu Yan estimated that the bones probably belonged to Feng Yaozu.

“Food like this?”

“Yes, exactly.”

The fake person tried its hardest to imitate an expression of worship, but it had misjudged the force required. Its face ended up looking somewhat deranged.

“This flavor isn’t something a roadside restaurant could make. Oh, there’s a very rich [Trembling Delight] mixed into it. So pure…”

“And the cooking method is different, too. Ah, little demon. It’s wonderful following you around! Do you have connections with some high-ranking figures? Is that how you get your hands on this kind of thing?”

Zhu Yan wanted to tell it not to make that kind of expression while wearing his uncle’s skin.

His uncle wasn’t bad-looking, but he had a sleazy appearance. With the fake person twisting his face like that, he looked just like a Japanese soldier from an old television drama.

Zhu Yan raised one finger, signaling for the fake person to keep quiet.

“I’ve made contact with the creatures of the Eye of the Abyss.”

That wasn’t exactly a lie.

The fake person stopped slurping sauce.

“And with even more important figures above the Eye of the Abyss.”

That was absolutely the truth.

The fake person stared at him in shock, its eyeballs bulging so far they looked ready to fall out.

“Oh…” it lowered its voice. “Ohhh—what a paradise! You’re that amazing?”

The fake person eagerly grabbed hold of his robe.

“So, you know I’ve always wanted to enter the Eye of the Abyss.”

“Even though I’m only level 10 right now, I can disguise myself as level 18…but I don’t have any connections.”

Its pupils rolled around rapidly.

“Boss, boss, I can tell you’re extraordinarily talented. Could you level up quickly and help put me in touch with someone?”

“Oh! If we entered the Eye of the Abyss together, what a beautiful life that would be!”

Enter the Eye of the Abyss?

It wasn’t impossible. But whenever Zhu Yan thought of Ji Xiting’s frustrated expression over being a D-rank member, it made him uncomfortable.

If only there were another way.

Feeling guilty, Zhu Yan tugged at his hood and nodded along.

“No problem. But I’ll need some time…”