“Report, target spotted, target spotted, over.”
“Received. Hold position and stand by. Do not alert the enemy, over.”
After receiving the order, Li Gongyan crouched low and hid himself in the undergrowth.
He held a tactical telescope and watched the man inside the abandoned building from afar, so tense he could almost hear his own heartbeat.
This was his first hunting mission.
His father was a high-ranking member of the Secret Society.
Thanks to the protection of his elders, all the work he had done before consisted of relatively safe tasks like surveillance and searching.
Within the Secret Society, Li Gongyan’s talent in daoist arts already placed him among the “heaven’s favored sons.”
Combined with the excellent learning environment provided by his father’s generation, no one of his age could even come close to matching him.
This had also filled him with abundant pride.
Xu E had previously been rated only as Level 2 in the Secret Society’s danger assessment.
His mentors and seniors had all praised his ability, saying he was nearly ready to face Level 2 demons.
Although the intelligence provided by Li Jue indicated that the prey’s danger level had risen higher, the pride he had carried for so long made him unable to resist wanting to claim this credit all for himself.
He had heard enough of the snide remarks in the Secret Society about him relying on his father’s connections.
In the pitch-black unfinished building, the thermal imaging of the telescope showed Xu E standing up.
He was looking this way from afar, as if he had discovered Li Gongyan’s presence.
The two confronted each other in secret for a while.
Then the man began running downstairs and sprinted off in another direction.
Li Gongyan could no longer hold back.
Ignoring his superiors’ orders, he chased after him alone.
Hearing the accusations and roaring in his ear about his unauthorized action, Li Gongyan simply took off the headset.
Neither of them made a sound in the darkness.
Shouting at this moment was meaningless and would only easily expose their movements.
Soon Li Gongyan was led by Xu E to a remote and hidden location.
Xu E stopped and turned around.
Li Gongyan still did not clearly understand his own situation and arrogantly mocked him, “Why aren’t you running anymore? Ready to submit and wait for death?”
“Coming after me alone—who lives and who dies isn’t decided yet.”
Li Gongyan gave a contemptuous smile and had just taken a talisman paper from his pocket when in the next instant Xu E charged right in front of him.
He had no time to react before the talisman was torn to shreds, and he himself was kicked hard, a sharp pain exploding in his chest.
So fast!
Then Xu E adjusted his posture and lunged again immediately.
Sharp claws and teeth flashed with cold light.
Li Gongyan hurriedly dodged backward, but a bright red claw mark was still left on his chest, the wound throbbing with intense pain.
“Is that all? Rushing here to die—then I’ll grant your wish!”
Only at this moment did Li Gongyan begin to understand a little.
This was real combat to the death.
There were no unnecessary words, and no chance would be left for him to wait.
What was pursued was a single fatal strike, giving the opponent no opportunity to counterattack or escape.
All the techniques and skills he had studied for more than ten years became useless in this instant.
The shift between heaven and hell happened in the blink of an eye.
Li Gongyan’s mind went blank.
Fortunately he dodged Xu E’s next attack, hurriedly put the headset back on, reported the situation to the others, and requested support.
***
The television was playing the exciting duel between Kirito and Death Gun.
Ying An stared fixedly at the screen, completely absorbed in the images on the TV, yet his mind kept being disturbed by the noise of the hair dryer beside his ear, which made his ears hurt.
He really wanted to watch this episode in peace and quiet.
“Sister, are you almost done?”
“Almost. Don’t move.”
Li Jue was drying his hair for him.
He sat on the woman’s plump, snow-white thighs wearing only a thin shirt.
The warm air blew across Ying An’s wet black hair.
The feeling was very comfortable, just too noisy.
“Does that count as cross-dressing as a woman?”
Li Jue asked while looking at the fighting Kirito.
She often watched anime together with Ying An.
Those passionate or heartbreaking plots never stirred much emotion in her, but she could still understand what she was watching.
Understanding a child’s interests and hobbies was also an important part of being a good parent.
It also let her check in passing whether the little guy had come into contact with anything he shouldn’t have from television and the internet.
She had previously seen a boy who had been led astray by the abstract culture online, singing a weird tune of “Big banana, a big banana” while performing some strange abstract dance.
At the time she had thought that if Ying An ever turned into something like that, she would definitely give him a severe lesson.
“This is inside the game. He just chose a female character. It’s not like he’s dressing up as a girl in real life.”
“But his appearance in the game looks a lot like his real-life one.”
Li Jue finished drying his hair and turned off the hair dryer.
“It was probably made that way on purpose.” Ying An jumped down from Li Jue’s lap and looked at her.
“Does Sister think it looks good?”
“It looks good. If Xiao An put on some makeup and changed into a different outfit, he could definitely be dressed up as a pretty girl too.”
“No way, no way. I’m a proper manly man. I don’t want to become a girl.”
Li Jue smiled, put the hair dryer away in the cabinet, and just then her phone rang.
She went out to the rooftop to answer the call and talked with the caller for a few sentences.
Half a minute later she returned to the room, picked up the remote, and turned off the television.
Ying An frowned unhappily and asked her, “Sister, what are you doing?”
“Come here. Something important.”
Ying An was completely confused.
Li Jue took his hand and led him out onto the rooftop.
Outside, the night sky was woven with stars, and the evening breeze was chilly.
“It’s so cold. What is it already?”
Li Jue used her demon power to enhance her vision a little, then led Ying An to the edge of the rooftop. “Give me your hand.”
Ying An blankly raised one hand.
“The other one.”
He raised the other hand.
Li Jue lightly drew a line across the black-gold bracelet on Ying An’s wrist.
The bracelet suddenly transformed into a large black-and-red bow connected to his wrist.
“So cool! Sister, how did you do that? Teach me, teach me.”
“First I’ll teach you how to shoot an arrow. Stand properly, straighten your back. Press the web of your hand against the grip…”
“What’s the web of the hand?”
Li Jue pinched the soft flesh between his thumb and index finger.
“Right here. Press it against the grip. Spread your legs to about the width of your shoulders. Use three fingers of your right hand together to draw the string…”
While speaking, she guided Ying An’s hands and taught him how to draw the bow and shoot.
When he drew the string, a black-gold arrow appeared out of thin air on the string.
Ying An’s eyes lit up with excitement.
This bow was something Li Jue had obtained in 202 BCE.
She had disguised herself as a soldier and mixed into the Han army.
Han Xin had surrounded Xiang Yu at Gaixia.
During the final charge, she took the opportunity of the chaos to seize this Overlord’s Bow.
Later, after she refined it multiple times, it became what it was now.
She had even given it a new name—Zhuyan.
“What are we going to shoot?”
Ying An asked.
Li Jue raised her hand and gently brushed across the boy’s eyes, then pointed toward the suburban area on the western side.
“Look over there. Can you see it?”
“Wow, such a huge dog!”
She half-squatted, held Ying An in her arms, supported his hands, and whispered by his ear,
“That’s the demon that attacked us last time.”
“It’s him.”
“Come on, draw the bow with all your strength. Aim carefully. You only get one chance.”