Chapter 80

"Master, based on my analysis, Shi Ping is using the stratagem of luring the enemy away from their stronghold. We should return to the villa immediately."

Yun Yan's silhouette flickered into view, her expression puzzled as she watched Ye Qiu examine the wild boar that was thrown into the woods, writhing helplessly.

Shouldn't they hurry back to the villa? Perhaps they could intercept Shi Ping.

"I suspect he’s already got his hands on the serum," Ye Qiu said, crouching down to inspect the wild boar Shi Ping had bound and tossed.

Both the rope and the boar were ordinary enough, and it wasn't surprising that Shi Ping could subdue a wild boar. But there was a patch of viscous substance on the rope, clearly not from the boar itself.

"Yun Yan, analyze how Shi Ping evaded surveillance."

"Master, the analysis is complete," Yun Yan replied, astonished. "He somehow blends seamlessly with his surroundings while moving, making it nearly impossible for the cameras to capture him. The lab's test results are nowhere near his actual capabilities."

As she spoke, Yun Yan projected a video of Shi Ping appearing at the villa's entrance. He seemed aware of the camera's location, a sly, enigmatic smirk playing at his lips—clearly provoking Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu straightened up and called Tian Er Dai. Shortly after, the roar of a helicopter echoed overhead.

A burly man strode over, carrying a cage. "Mr. Ye, here's the sheepdog you requested."

Ye Qiu nodded toward the patch of slime on the rope. "Get to work."

"Yes, Mr. Ye."

The man bent down beside the sheepdog, whispering instructions. The dog sniffed around, soon locking onto a direction.

"Mr. Ye, this way."

The man and the sheepdog ran into the forest, which was dense and shadowy—the developers had chosen this site for its distance from the city’s skyscrapers and its lush greenery. The deeper they ventured, the more sinister it became.

After several minutes, even the man from the helicopter began to feel uneasy.

"Mr. Ye, it's late at night, and we're heading into undeveloped forest. There are bound to be snakes, bugs, and rodents—are we just going to charge in like this?"

Ye Qiu paused, watching the sheepdog sniff around, his thoughts distracted.

"Master, why aren’t we pursuing him?" Yun Yan asked curiously. "With Shi Ping’s speed, every minute wasted reduces our chances of capturing him by one percent."

"The one running ahead isn’t Shi Ping. It’s probably another wild boar."

"Master, aren’t you overestimating Shi Ping?" Yun Yan calculated the intelligence of every known lizard, combined with that of a young child, and still couldn’t believe Shi Ping would use both the stratagem of luring the enemy away and the tactic of feigned attack.

Could Shi Ping really be that intelligent?

It seemed unscientific.

She simply couldn’t make sense of it.

"You don’t believe me? You’ll see soon enough."

Ye Qiu took the sheepdog’s leash, snapping his fingers; the dog seemed to understand, tracking the scent.

Man and dog pressed on, soon catching sight of a shadow darting ahead.

"Nowhere to run," Ye Qiu called, accelerating with all his strength, covering a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, overtaking the wild boar.

"It really is just a wild boar," Yun Yan conceded, thoroughly convinced.

"But Master, according to the data, Shi Yuan Tu’s research focused on the fusion of humans and genes, especially adapting to environmental changes. Shi Ping is merely a lizard; his intelligence shouldn’t exceed thirty, let alone surpass eighty percent now."

"Shi Yuan Tu must be hiding something—not everything is stored on his computer. Given his affiliation with the Sacred Healing Society, he’s surely wary of robots, so his caution is understandable."

"Let’s go back. There are far too many secrets in that lab. We’d be better off buying it from Liu Chang Jie tomorrow."

…

"Hey, stop right there! I’m talking to you, are you deaf?"

"Damn it, of all people to run into in the middle of the night, it had to be you. What rotten luck."

The man cursed, spitting out foul words at the hooded, frail figure before him.

"You came out of nowhere and scared the hell out of me. What are you going to do about it?"

He seized the thin man’s shoulder, refusing to let the matter drop. "If you don’t make it up to me, I’ll kill you tonight."

"You want to kill me?"

The thin man turned his face, and suddenly the burly thug began to tremble violently.

Several seconds passed before the thug shrieked and bolted.

"Ghost!"

The sight was so terrifying that even a seasoned street tough like him couldn’t bear it.

"There’s a ghost…"

He tried to keep shouting, but a tongue—bright red—pierced his throat, the force lifting him off the ground.

A tongue.

He could only stare with wide, unwilling eyes, bouncing helplessly, before falling limp—a corpse.

Shi Ping swiftly emptied his brain and organs, then melted back into the darkness, merging with the night.

…

"Yezi, wake up! Stupid Yezi!"

Ye Qiu, half-asleep, sensed someone climbing onto his bed, the screen of their eyes flashing with light.

"Second Sister, it’s only eight in the morning. What do you want?" Ye Qiu groaned, turning over. "Second Sister, I got home late last night. I’ve barely slept."

"Stupid Yezi, check the local news from Linhai."

"I don’t want to. What’s worth watching?"

Xiao Yu Ru was persistent, straddling him and prying his eyelids open, her phone displaying the news.

"A major criminal case occurred in the city. The authorities are seeking useful clues. If you help solve it, there’s a cash reward—up to half a million."

"It’s just a bounty," Ye Qiu complained, swatting her hand away. "If you need money, just tell me. Is five million enough?"

"Not fifty thousand or five million—look at this guy’s throat."

Xiao Yu Ru shoved the screen right up to Ye Qiu’s eyes.

Now, Ye Qiu saw it clearly—a tattooed man lay on a stretcher, his arm inked with flowers, a heavy gold chain askew, burly and round-faced, clearly a thug.

"Just a street tough."

"A street tough? Look at his throat."

Ye Qiu noticed then how gruesome the corpse was.

Fortunately, Xiao Yu Ru hadn’t shown him the official media footage, which would have been heavily censored.

"Shi Ping."

Ye Qiu sat up abruptly.

Piercing someone’s throat wasn’t too difficult; anyone with training could do it.

But hollowing out the brain and organs? That was rare.

Especially when the wound was stained with a distinct green fluid—the same green fluid found on Qian Ming Xun and the rope used to bind the wild boar.