Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 50: Probing
It was true he had hacked them up.
But this time, he had only killed Black Blood Species, not ordinary people.
The problem was, even he found that explanation hard to believe.
Besides, Hanlin Garden was an old residential complex, nearly twenty years old, built for resettlement housing.
There was no way it had hallway surveillance. At most, there might be a camera in the elevator, and whether it even worked was another question.
Under these circumstances, there was no way to prove his innocence.
Fortunately, there was one piece of good news.
Perhaps because everyone here was already dead, the huge commotion he’d caused hadn’t drawn a single person over to investigate.
If he wanted to, he still had enough time to escape.
So, he currently had two choices before him.
One, stay here and wait for someone to find the bodies and call the police, but he would 100% be arrested as the murderer.
After all, he had in fact attacked people with an ax, and the marks from his chopping were clear evidence.
Two, leave immediately, abandon his current identity, use his makeup skills to change his appearance and identity, and go live somewhere else.
If he moved fast, escaping wouldn’t be difficult with his set of skills.
Given Hu Qi’s personality, he immediately discarded the first option.
’There are too many variables involved with that one.’
As for the latter—abandoning his identity and starting over—it would also mean losing the chance to obtain the Limit-Breaking Technique, which was now within his grasp.
Thinking of this, his expression turned grim and uncertain.
’This was a completely unexpected disaster.’
Carrying the ax, he returned to his apartment.
He glanced at the corpse on the floor, casually grabbed it, and tossed it into the hallway.
Then he shut the door.
His gaze fell upon the cage holding the Camphor Tea Duck.
It was splattered with quite a bit of blood.
He suddenly remembered reading somewhere that ducks stop laying eggs when they’re frightened.
’Don’t tell me this Camphor Tea Duck has...’
But when he got a clear look at the situation inside the cage, he dismissed the thought.
The Camphor Tea Duck wasn’t the least bit distressed.
On the contrary, it was casually drinking water, its rear end tilted up and wiggling from side to side.
It seemed to be in an extremely good mood.
But when Hu Qi’s gaze fell on the water it was drinking, he instantly lost his composure.
Instead of clear tap water, the bowl was filled with blackish-red, bloody water.
"You idiot, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Hu Qi’s expression changed. With a low curse, he immediately opened the cage and snatched the Camphor Tea Duck out.
Interrupted from drinking the blood, the Camphor Tea Duck seemed quite displeased. It flapped its wings and scrabbled with its claws, trying to break free.
But how could it possibly escape from Hu Qi’s grip?
He went into the bathroom, turned on the shower head, and adjusted the stream to its narrowest setting, which instantly increased the water pressure.
Holding the shower head in one hand, Hu Qi pried open the Camphor Tea Duck’s beak with the other and began to rinse it out.
After the whole ordeal, the Camphor Tea Duck was quacking nonstop, and feathers were flying everywhere.
But at least he managed to wash all the bloodstains off it.
Fortunately, judging by its energetic state, it would probably be fine.
After that, Hu Qi rinsed the bloodstains off himself as well.
He then changed into a fresh set of clothes and stuffed the Camphor Tea Duck into a bag.
Then he grabbed his keys and headed straight downstairs.
However, he didn’t take the elevator, opting for the stairs instead.
As he descended floor by floor, the upper levels were deathly silent.
There was no movement, just an abnormal quiet.
The situation only improved once he got below the sixth floor.
There were no bloodstains in the hallways.
Through the security doors, he could faintly hear a child crying in the night and the complaining voice of an adult.
Without lingering, Hu Qi made his way downstairs.
He walked out of the building’s entrance.
Across all of Building 8, most of the windows were dark.
Only a few windows near the third and fourth floors still had lights on.
Other than those, everything was shrouded in darkness.
’If I’m not mistaken, everyone in this building is probably dead, except for those on the lower few floors.’
’There might be survivors, but that’s not my problem.’
’Anyway, I’ve already killed the Black Blood Species. Even if there are survivors, they won’t be in any more danger.’
If it were daytime, the abnormality in this building—so many people killed—would have been discovered long ago.
Unfortunately, it was the middle of the night, when people are at their sleepiest.
With that thought, he turned, got on his electric scooter, twisted the throttle, and sped away.
A short while later, Hu Qi pulled over on the side of a road two blocks away from Hanlin Garden District.
He took out his phone.
He opened his contacts list.
His finger paused just as he was about to tap a certain number.
Then, he backed out and logged into the Paper Crane social media app.
He found the person he was looking for.
And placed a video call directly.
The video call connected after just a few rings.
"Hello? You’re Hu Qi, right? What’s up? Why are you calling me so late?"
Lin Tong’s face appeared on the phone screen.
He was wearing a tank top and was in a brightly lit training room, clearly not yet asleep.
"I was attacked by Black Blood Species..."
Hu Qi calmly and briefly described what had just happened.
"What!? Where are you right now? Find a place to hide, I’m on my way!"
Lin Tong was shocked and quickly urged him.
"Remember, whatever you do, don’t let that thing find you..."
Before he could finish, Hu Qi’s calm voice cut in.
"It’s fine. I killed them."
"I’m calling to ask you, Senior Brother Lin, if this situation can be handled. Will it implicate me? If not, I’m going to have to run for it."
’The Black Blood Species were killed?’
Lin Tong’s expression froze.
Before he could even process that, he heard Hu Qi talking about running for it.
The corner of his mouth twitched as he instantly understood what Hu Qi meant.
"Hu Qi, don’t worry. Killing Black Blood Species is a meritorious act, not a crime.
As long as you didn’t kill the ordinary people, you’ll be fine.
I’ll send a specialized team to handle things there. You don’t need to worry about it.
Right, where are you now? I’ll come find you."
...
「In the training room.」
Lin Tong hung up the phone, his expression grave.
He gathered his things and prepared to leave.
"What’s wrong?"
Just as he was walking out of the training room, a figure approached him.
It was a tall, beautiful young woman.
Her gaze swept over Lin Tong.
She asked him directly.
Her long, silk-gold hair was tied up high in a neat, clean ponytail with a hair tie.
Her skin was pale.
Beneath the stray strands of hair on her forehead was a pair of sharp, hawk-like, wine-red eyes.
"Second Senior Sister, two Black Blood Species massacred most of the people in a building. One of the core recruits from this intake was in that building..."
Lin Tong explained the situation.
When the blonde woman, whom he had called Second Senior Sister, heard that Black Blood Species had slaughtered nearly an entire building’s worth of people, an utterly terrifying killing intent suddenly erupted from her.
Lin Tong felt it most acutely. It was like being thrown into a frozen wasteland, battered by icy winds.
But when she heard that the Black Blood Species had been killed, the woman’s killing intent faltered, and a trace of surprise appeared on her face.
"Hm? Interesting. To be able to kill two Black Blood Species alone before Limit-Breaking... Even if they were just the lowest-level Blood Slaves, that’s not something an ordinary person could do!"
"I’ve got nothing better to do anyway. I’ll go with you to see this person."
"...Uh... alright!"
Faced with this request from his Second Senior Sister, Lin Tong didn’t dare refuse and could only nod in agreement.
