Chapter 213: The real HuMing!
HuMing was stunned by the one-eyed man's actions.
Amidst the dense smoke, the blade had been best to strike his heart. Yet, inexplicably, it had veered toward his pocket instead.
His mind raced to make sense of it, but a sudden sound nearby demanded his attention. He instinctively turned to look and caught a glimpse of a figure darting through the smoke. Without hesitation, he charged toward the commotion.
As he burst out of the smoke, he saw the figure vault through a window, disappearing from sight.
There was no way HuMing would let this rare chance slip by.
Noticing the dagger he'd kicked away earlier was now missing, he surmised the figure intended to flee. HuMing crouched to retrieve the handgun from Sui Zhao’s fallen grip, then leapt through the window in pursuit.
This was his closest chance of uncovering the truth. Even if the man couldn’t speak, HuMing was determined to extract answers from him.
Behind the residential area lay a dense forest. Originally slated for clearing by developers, the project had been shelved due to illegal construction issues.
The one-eyed man, seeing HuMing emerge right behind him, broke into a sprint.
He hadn't anticipated the earlier strike had not shattered the jade pendant—that was already a major mistake. Nor had he expected HuMing’s swift defense, which had kicked the dagger from his grasp.A normal person in that situation would instinctively protect their heart. But HuMing’s reflexes were extraordinary, far beyond those of an average high school student. No wonder his master had taken such extreme measures to eliminate him!
The night sky hung heavy, devoid of stars. The one-eyed man’s footsteps faded into the forest, but HuMing pressed on relentlessly.
He plunged into the darkness, where visibility was reduced to nothing. The dense trees encroached on him from all sides; in some places, he could touch two trunks simply by extending his arms.
Although the one-eyed man's footsteps had stopped, HuMing knew better than to assume he’d fled. The man’s mission was to kill him; leaving now would mean failure.
What gnawed at HuMing’s mind more, though, was the pendant. Why had the man targeted it specifically? Replaying the earlier moments in his head, HuMing recalled how the pendant’s string had been severed. Was the true goal to destroy it?
It dawned on him: the pendant his grandfather had left him must hold profound significance. Perhaps it was even tied to his origins.
HuMing thought back to meeting his grandfather, a man who had always seemed kind and harmless. But in hindsight, his grandfather’s parting words were full of hidden meaning.
“Return to where you belong,” he had said. Could it be the home that was originally meant to be his? If so, his grandfather must have known everything.
But why hadn’t he told him outright? Why had he left him to face all this alone?
There was no time to dwell on it. A sharp gust of blade wind cut through the air behind him.
HuMing dove forward, narrowly avoiding the attack. As the sound behind him vanished once more, his expression grew tense.
In this darkness, the one-eyed man held a clear advantage, as though accustomed to environments like this.
But HuMing knew darkness better than anyone.
No one understood what he’d endured in the past, nor how he’d survived that pitch-black room. He had outlasted the dangers of the shadows where countless other "tools" had failed.
This situation brought memories of those missions flooding back. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, his resolve hardening.
The faint hiss of air escaping his clenched teeth resembled steam venting from a pressure cooker—sharp and piercing.
Since coming to this world, HuMing hadn’t revealed his full strength. Han ShuYi had believed he had pushed him to the limit in their encounters, but the truth was, HuMing had always held back.
For one, he wasn’t sure if Han ShuYi had something like a “protagonist halo” with hidden luck. For another, Han ShuYi simply wasn’t strong enough to warrant his full power.
The one-eyed man, however, had proven troublesome in this darkness. Holding back now would be foolish.
“Today, there are only two outcomes: either you die here, or I do.”
“I already know the truth about the pendant. If you don’t kill me tonight, I’ll uncover everything, including the people behind you.”
“Will you really let me leave this forest alive?”
No sooner had the words left his lips than HuMing’s entire body tensed. He launched himself toward the forest’s edge, his speed unmatched.
At the same time, a shadow leapt down from the trees, dagger flashing in the dark. The blade’s cold gleam was stark against the blackness.
The one-eyed man was startled. How had HuMing deduced the pendant’s secret so quickly? Regardless, if HuMing knew, he couldn’t be allowed to leave.
Yet just as he landed, HuMing spun around, his movements resolute. In his hand was a handgun.
But hadn’t the bullets in that gun been spent?
The one-eyed man’s pupils constricted in shock.
In the brief flash of gunfire, the one-eyed man’s horrified expression was illuminated for HuMing to see.
HuMing’s gaze was icy, filled with lethal intent—the coldest he had ever seen. Without hesitation, HuMing fired twice, shattering the man’s knees and crippling his ability to escape.
The one-eyed man let out a muffled groan. He knew he had failed. Desperate, he tried to bite down on his tongue to end his life. Even if HuMing wanted to save him, the forest was too far from a hospital. Blood loss would surely kill him.
But before he could act, HuMing appeared like a ghost, dislocating his jaw in one swift motion.
The man instinctively slashed at HuMing with his blade, but HuMing deftly twisted it from his grasp, driving it through the man’s hand and pinning it to the ground!
NotesEditor Note: