Chapter 24 - 18: Counter-Kill
An unprecedented feeling of weakness spread rapidly through his entire body!
[Mosquito Avatar Experience Points +1!]
[Concealment Proficiency +1!]
[Iron Body Proficiency +1!]
[Paralysis Proficiency +1!]
[Qi and Blood +0.1]
It turned out that just as the fist was about to smash into Lin Yi’s head, the invisible Mosquito Avatar had precisely blocked the blow in front of him.
The formidable body of a First-Grade Demon Beast, combined with the immense Defense Power granted by the Iron Body skill, allowed the Mosquito Avatar to withstand the full-force blow of a First-Grade Martial Artist completely unscathed!
Its optical camouflage ability concealed its form. From Triangle-eye’s perspective, he truly couldn’t see the Mosquito Avatar; he only felt his fist smash into an empty "air wall."
"Impossible! A Demon Technique?! An illusion?!" Triangle-eye roared. The extreme fear, paradoxically, ignited the ferocity buried deep in his bones.
Like a maddened tiger, he ignored the weakness from his rapidly draining Qi and Blood. His fists became a blur of violent shadows, hysterically pounding at the space all around Lin Yi!
He poured all his strength into every punch, making the air whine and keen!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG...
The muffled sounds of impact, like the beating of war drums, echoed densely in the narrow sewer space.
However, without exception, all of his attacks were perfectly blocked by the unseen Mosquito Avatar!
Which took the opportunity to bite him again.
Each contact was accompanied by an even stronger sensation of his Qi and Blood being stripped away!
[Iron Body Experience +1!]
[Iron Body Experience +1!]
[Iron Body Experience +1!]
[...]
A dense stream of system notifications continuously rang in Lin Yi’s mind.
Triangle-eye was on the verge of madness!
He could clearly feel his strength rapidly draining away. Every punch felt like he was overdrafting his own life, and an intangible fear coiled around his neck like a cold viper!
More importantly...
The boy he had viewed as prey was now just watching him with a cold gaze, and his body... hadn’t moved an inch the entire time!
The ferocity on Triangle-eye’s face receded like a tide, replaced by a growing terror so thick it threatened to overflow!
"A ghost! There’s a ghost! You’re a monster! A demon!"
Triangle-eye’s mental defenses completely collapsed!
He could no longer bear this unknown and terrifying method of attack.
His killing intent toward Lin Yi had long been replaced by boundless fear.
Now, only a single thought remained in his mind—
Run!
Flee from this bizarre, nightmarish boy!
He let out a terrified howl and turned without hesitation. He frantically poured his remaining Qi and Blood into his legs and fled for his life back down the dark tunnel he came from!
He wished his parents had given him two more legs!
A pity.
Lin Yi’s eyes were cold, without a trace of pity.
Since the man had shown killing intent, he was now an enemy to the death. How could Lin Yi let a tiger back into the mountains?
With a mere thought, the Mosquito Avatar silently gave chase.
A First-Grade Martial Artist’s speed was indeed far beyond that of an ordinary person, their explosive power astonishing.
However, compared to the Mosquito Avatar—which could fly and possessed the strength of a First-Grade Demon Beast—this speed was nothing.
In just a few breaths, the Mosquito Avatar easily caught up to the frantically fleeing figure.
The advantage of invisibility was now on full display.
Like a patient hunter, it would occasionally dive down, its sharp proboscis precisely piercing Triangle-eye’s exposed skin, greedily drawing out what little essence of Qi and Blood he had left.
Each slight sting brought with it a rapid depletion of his Life Force.
"AH! Get away! What is that thing?!"
Triangle-eye completely descended into hysterical fear.
He ran for his life while frantically swinging his fists and wildly slashing his dagger at the air around him, trying to drive away the invisible "Demon."
But with its optical camouflage, he couldn’t even see the Mosquito Avatar, so how could he possibly hit it?
Seen from a distance, he looked like a mental patient, a completely unhinged madman dancing and gesticulating on the filthy ground, performing a bizarre and terrifying one-man show.
The violent struggle didn’t last long.
When the Mosquito Avatar lightly landed one last time and drained the final trace of Qi and Blood Energy from Triangle-eye’s body, his frantic steps came to an abrupt halt.
His strong physique was long gone, leaving only a hideous, terrifying dried corpse. With a loud THUD, it fell stiffly into the cold, damp sewage, sending up a splash of murky water.
From a distance, Lin Yi, who had witnessed the entire event, sighed internally.
Killing for the first time, taking another’s life—an indescribably complex mix of emotions churned in his heart.
There was a faint, physical discomfort and an instinctive tremor at the loss of life, but more than that, there was the cold clarity of having survived a disaster and... a stark awareness of the disparity in power.
Fortunately, his avatar had carried out the killing. The direct, bloody impact was buffered by an invisible layer, allowing him to quickly suppress his turbulent emotions.
He walked toward the desiccated corpse.
’The invisible Mosquito Avatar... its power is this terrifying.’
Lin Yi thought, utterly shaken.
’A genuine First-Grade Martial Artist was toyed with like a clown and killed, completely powerless against the avatar... This is my real trump card!’
A powerful sense of security and anticipation for the future arose, dispelling some of the gloom.
He quickly crouched down and began to carefully search Triangle-eye’s body for loot.
First was the dagger the man had clutched tightly in his hand, even in death.
Lin Yi carefully pried it from his grasp. It was cold and heavy in his hand.
Using the light from his flashlight, he carefully identified the dagger’s style and inscriptions—
’Just as I thought, it’s a standard-issue, mass-produced item from the Hundred Arms Merchant Guild. A C-96 model dagger, a genuine Tier One Spiritual Weapon. Official price: eighty-eight thousand Huaxia Coins!’
A flicker of satisfaction flashed in Lin Yi’s eyes. He unhesitatingly tucked the valuable weapon into his belt.
Even if he couldn’t use it, he could sell it for seventy percent of its value.
That’s over sixty thousand coins!
Next, he grabbed the backpack Triangle-eye had tossed aside.
He opened it and saw it was also stuffed with a dense pile of rat tails. Although the quantity was far less than the massive amount in his own three backpacks, he estimated there were nearly two hundred.
This was an unexpected windfall!
Lin Yi moved deftly, stacking this backpack with his own three and slinging them over his shoulder.
After looting everything, Lin Yi stood up and left without a second thought.
As for the body, he couldn’t be bothered to deal with it. There were too many rats in the sewer; in less than a day, a hungry swarm would devour the corpse so completely that not even bone fragments would remain.
No one would ever notice his death.
And no one would ever suspect Lin Yi.
「Not long after.」
Lin Yi pushed open a manhole cover.
He climbed the ladder and emerged onto a city street.
The gentle midday sun poured down like a waterfall, its warmth instantly dispelling the bone-deep, damp chill he had picked up in the sewer.