"Old Lin, let me borrow your electric scooter!"

Lin Yi rushed out of his room, heading straight for Lin Dazhi, who was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper.

Just as he finished speaking, Lin Dazhi looked up at him.

"What do you need the electric scooter for?"

"I have to go out for something. Hurry up!"

Lin Yi was in a hurry, so his tone naturally wasn’t very pleasant.

In the past, Lin Dazhi would have chewed him out for that.

But now, as if possessed, he actually grabbed the keys from the nearby table.

After handing them to Lin Yi, he asked suspiciously, "It’s so late. What are you going out for?"

Lin Yi didn’t answer. He just took the scooter keys and ran out.

The moment the front door SLAMMED shut,

Liu Hongmei, who was busy reheating dishes in the kitchen, walked out.

"Who went out?"

"Lin Yi!"

"What’s he doing out? The food is almost ready..."

Liu Hongmei said with a frown.

Lin Dazhi shot her a glance. "How should I know? That little brat has no respect for his elders anymore. You should have heard his tone just now—it was like he was ordering me around!"

"When he gets back, I’m going to teach him a lesson..."

Liu Hongmei glared at Lin Dazhi.

Turning away, she spat, "Good-for-nothing."

Then she went into the kitchen and turned off the stove.

She, Lin Dazhi, and Lin Yu had already finished dinner.

Lin Yu had gotten home earlier than Lin Yi, and he’d gone to his room right after eating.

Now that Lin Yi was out, there was no point in reheating the food.

After turning off the stove, Liu Hongmei returned to the living room and sat down.

...

「Cyan Mountain Orphanage.」

In the suburbs of Xinghai City.

The area was vast and deserted, its old buildings long since abandoned.

The entire suburban area had become a no-man’s-land.

Lin Yi rode Lin Dazhi’s electric scooter, tearing toward the suburbs at lightning speed.

He had chosen the scooter mainly because he knew it would be difficult to find a ride back from there.

You wouldn’t see a single taxi all night.

After all, no one lived here anymore.

And no one would come out here in the middle of the night.

So, to be on the safe side, Lin Yi had made the last-minute decision to borrow Lin Dazhi’s scooter.

The trip, which would have taken just over twenty minutes by car, took Lin Yi a full forty-plus minutes on the scooter.

He stopped when he was less than five hundred meters from Cyan Mountain Orphanage.

Then he proceeded on foot.

"You’re the Demon Hunter?"

Suddenly, a girl’s voice called out.

Lin Yi was startled.

In the pitch-black suburbs, someone had spoken out of nowhere.

Anyone would have been frightened, caught off guard like that.

Lin Yi quickly turned to look.

In the moonlight, he could vaguely make out a shadowy figure.

"Are you... Snow Angel?"

"Yes."

As she drew closer, Lin Yi could finally get a good look at the girl before him.

She wasn’t tall, around 1.65 meters, but she had a great figure.

She wore a black leather jacket and black skinny pants.

On her feet were a pair of knee-high boots.

The outfit perfectly accentuated her figure.

Especially her full chest, which looked as if it was about to burst out of her jacket.

The girl wore a plain, solid black mask on her face.

Her overall impression was dark, oppressive, and unapproachable.

And above her head were four entries.

[4-star Martial Artist Certification]

[Wisdom Fruit (Purple): Possesses an fine aptitude for insight, born exceptionally clever.]

[Harvestable Path (Purple): When the fruit of the path is ripe, someone will come to pick it.]

[Starlight Fist: A legacy fist technique]

Just as Lin Yi was looking at her entries,

the girl said softly, "Follow me."

"Okay!"

Lin Yi nodded and hurried after her into a residential complex.

The buildings here had been abandoned long ago.

The complex was made up of red-brick buildings from the ’70s and ’80s.

Inside were several five-story buildings standing side-by-side, and further in, a few "tube buildings."

The path was difficult to walk, littered with debris and stones.

It was easy to trip if you weren’t careful.

Trailing behind, Lin Yi noticed that the girl seemed extremely familiar with the area.

She effortlessly dodged every obstacle, moving as if she were walking on level ground.

In a few minutes, the girl led Lin Yi to the roof of one of the buildings.

"Your mission target is inside the orphanage!"

The girl pointed to the orphanage nearby.

Only then did Lin Yi realize that from this rooftop,

the view was excellent. He could clearly see everything happening inside the orphanage grounds.

Cyan Mountain Orphanage had been around for many years.

It was said to have been here since the 1970s or ’80s.

That gave it a history of nearly a hundred years.

From its former glory to its current desolation.

Time flies. How many orphans had entered this courtyard, and how many had left?

Today, Cyan Mountain Orphanage still stood.

But it was more desolate and deserted, having lost its former liveliness...

The courtyard was large, with some children’s playground equipment still in it.

A few small white buildings stood there forlornly.

The windows on every floor were pitch-black.

Only one small white building, the one closest to them, had a single light on.

An incandescent lamp in the courtyard pushed back the surrounding darkness.

Suddenly, three people walked out of the lit building.

They were too far away to tell if they were men or women.

Lin Yi focused his gaze, curious about the three individuals.

The next moment, from outside the surrounding wall,

a black shadow leaped directly into the courtyard.

"Cat Demon?"

Lin Yi said subconsciously upon seeing the black shadow.

The girl glanced at him sideways but said nothing.

Then, they watched as the Cat Demon approached the three people and seemed to be talking with them.

Just as Lin Yi was wondering why a Cat Demon would be communicating with those three,

two of them quickly ran back into the small white building.

A moment later, they hurried out, each carrying something.

Although they were some distance away, Lin Yi could still make it out.

They were carrying two children...

Rage burned in his heart, and his eyes filled with killing intent.

’He truly hadn’t expected those three people to be making a deal with the Cat Demon.’

’Those two were clearly children from the orphanage, no older than five.’

Lin Yi’s gaze turned cold.

He turned to the girl and said, "Thank you for helping me find him!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Yi leaped off the roof.

Then, like a ghost flitting through the night,

he sprinted toward the orphanage at incredible speed.

The girl on the rooftop didn’t leave.

From behind her mask, her clear eyes glinted with a sharp light.

She silently watched Lin Yi until he vaulted over the wall.