Thud!
The knife tip sank three inches into the wood, precisely stabbing between the burly man’s fingers on the table.
Just one millimeter off, and that finger would have parted from the palm.
The burly man shuddered all over, cold sweat instantly soaking his tank top, that hand even more frozen in place, not daring to move.
“I guess you won’t move.”
Gu Chen pulled out the knife, casually tossed it aside, his eyes contemptuous like looking at non-recyclable trash, “Afraid of even a knife, yet learning to be a guard dog? That settling fee Qin Mu gave you, enough to buy a coffin board?”
He straightened up, scanning the surrounding thugs itching to move.
“Scram. Call Buddha out to clean up.”
This craziness seeping from the bones actually intimidated this group of desperados.
This was Young Master Gu’s level.
Even with a delicate skin, once that soul went berserk, it could still crush people.
Clap, clap, clap.
A round of applause came from behind the rolling door.
The door slowly rose, a bald old man twirling prayer beads walked out.
“Brilliant.”
The old man looked at Gu Chen with a smile, “Little girl has guts. If that knife was half an inch off, Old Third’s hand would be ruined. You calculated he’d retract his hand, right?”
Buddha.
Gu Chen glanced at him, inwardly sneering.
Calculated?
I was totally aiming to cripple his hand.
“Too kind.”
Gu Chen fixed his hair, instantly switching back to that frail appearance, smoothly falling into the approaching Qin Hongyi’s arms, “Darling, my legs are weak, carry me in.”
Qin Hongyi’s mouth twitched.
This drama queen.
She cooperatively wrapped her arm around Gu Chen’s waist, looking at Buddha: “Since Buddha was watching the show, I’ll save the ticket money. Lead the way, to see Ghost Hand.”
Buddha took a deep look at Gu Chen, stepped aside to make way.
“Miss Qin, please. But you know that old monster’s temper, I can only take you to the door. Whether he helps, depends on your luck.”
…
Inside Night Color was a whole different world.
Through the dim corridor, the ears were full of deafening clamor.
Underground was a huge arena, surrounded by dense iron cages, in the central ring, two fighters were beating each other bloody.
The air was filled with hormones, the fermented smell of blood and money.
Gu Chen glanced and looked away.
This low-class fun was what violence freaks like Qin Hongyi enjoyed.
He was more concerned with the layout here.
Vent positions, surveillance blind spots, escape routes, he habitually etched these life-saving info into his brain.
“This way.”
Buddha led them through the arena, to the deepest heavy iron door.
Before entering, a strong herbal smell mixed with the pungent formaldehyde hit the face.
“You two on your own.” Buddha said, then slipped away like avoiding the plague.
Qin Hongyi took a deep breath, pushed the door.
Creak.
The room was dimly lit, walls full of jars, inside soaking various bizarre biological specimens.
In the center, a surgical table full of old bloodstains, a white-haired old man in a dirty white coat had his back to them, tinkering with a monkey corpse.
“Get out.” The old man didn’t turn, “Bad mood today, no clients.”
Qin Hongyi was about to speak, but Gu Chen beat her to it.
“Yo, Senior still researching how to transplant a heart to a monkey?”
Gu Chen covered his nose, disdainfully surveying around, “Five years, this monkey heart still won’t beat, right? Can’t handle rejection, only relying on formaldehyde soak to fool yourself?”
The old man’s tinkering froze sharply.
He slowly turned, revealing a withered tree-bark face, only those eyes shining brightly, with a crazy vibe.
“Little girl, you know a lot.”
Ghost Hand put down the scalpel, his skinny chicken-claw hands wiped blood on the apron, “You know five-year-old secrets? Whose junior are you?”
“Who I am doesn’t matter.” Gu Chen walked to a glass jar, tapped the wall, the heart inside trembled slightly, “What matters is, I know how to make this heart beat.”
“What did you say?!”
Ghost Hand teleported to Gu Chen, grabbed his wrist tightly, surprisingly strong: “You can solve rejection?!”
“Sure.” Gu Chen smiled innocently, “But, treat my illness first.”
Ghost Hand then noticed Gu Chen’s abnormality.
He felt Gu Chen’s pulse, brows instantly knotted.
“Hiss…” Ghost Hand sucked in cold air, “Pulse boiling, qi and blood reversing, five organs six viscera all burning, this isn’t illness? You’re about to become a monster!”
He suddenly let go, circled Gu Chen twice like viewing a freak, eyes brighter.
“Eden… this is Eden’s failed product pulse! No, more perfect! You’re that unique semi-finished body?!”
Ghost Hand danced excitedly, saliva almost spraying: “Great! Dissect you, I can find the gene lock secret! My monkey can live!”
Saying that, he grabbed the scalpel from the table and charged, eyes seeing no live person, only lab rat.
“Qin Hongyi!” Gu Chen shouted.
Bang!
Gunshot.
The bullet grazed Ghost Hand’s scalp, shattering a treasured specimen jar behind him.
Glass shattered everywhere, formaldehyde flowing all over.
Qin Hongyi blew the smoke from the barrel, eyes icy: “Old thing, want to touch him, asked my gun?”
Ghost Hand looked at the bullet hole in the wall, then at Qin Hongyi.
“Qin family girl?”
Ghost Hand snorted, “Marksmanship declined. Back then your grandpa begged me to treat, knelt at the door three days three nights.”
“That was then.”
Qin Hongyi said coldly, “Now, he’s my person. Cure him, whatever you want. Crooked thoughts, I’ll blow up your dog den.”
Ghost Hand’s eyes turned, gaze back on Gu Chen, really reluctant for this fat meat.
“Cure him?” Ghost Hand cackled weirdly, “This gene-level rampage, no medicine works. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Gu Chen asked.
“Unless find an extreme yin extreme cold primer to suppress.”
Ghost Hand leered at Gu Chen, “But that thing hard to find. I have a folk remedy, if you agree to one condition, I can help temporarily seal this fire.”
“What condition?”
Ghost Hand pulled a black pill from his bosom, emitting a nauseating fishy stench.
“Eat it.”
Ghost Hand smiled creepily, “Then strip and lie up, let me insert needles. Relax, no knife, just study your acupoints.”
This scheme, even the next province could hear.
Qin Hongyi’s face darkened, gun raised again.
That black pill shoved in face, fishy stench drilling to crown, making one want to vomit.
Ghost Hand’s turbid old eyes stared at Gu Chen’s exposed snow-white collar, throat making hehe weird laugh, like a vulture eyeing carrion.
“Eat, eat and won’t be hot, hehe…”
Qin Hongyi’s finger already on trigger.
Just as she prepared to blow this old thing’s head, a slender pale hand reached over, lightly pressed down her muzzle.
“Put it away.”
Gu Chen’s tone lazy, a bit disdainful, “This shot, still compensate renovation fee, not worth.”
Qin Hongyi frowned tightly: “This thing problematic.”
“Of course problematic.”
Gu Chen pinched the pill with two fingers, sniffed near nose, then fingers exerted slight force.
Snap.
The pill crushed between fingers, black powder falling.
“Aphrodisiac beetle, toad venom, plus overdosed datura pollen.”
Gu Chen patted residue off hands, lifted eyelids, those peach blossom eyes where half humble seeking treatment?
All mockery.
“Ghost Hand? Who gave you this name? Self-titled?”
He advanced step by step on the dazed old man, mouth pulling a sarcasm.
“This is clearly Mei Gu San, a black-market drug that went extinct thirty years ago. Using such a low-grade aphrodisiac as a sedative—do you even deserve to wear that white coat?”
Dead silence.
Qin Hongyi stunned a second, then eyes surged with towering rage.
This old bastard, actually wanted to drug Gu Chen?