Chapter 19: Heroic Aura

“My husband had a distant cousin named Li Weimin. He used to live on the first floor of that building. His business was very successful, and he made a lot of money in the past two years. After the New Year last year, his whole family moved out, and the house was left empty.” Sister Mei pointed at a nearby apartment building and explained to Lü Yang.

“Did both of your families buy houses here together?” Lü Yang asked Sister Mei.

“No, we bought ours later. Weimin lived here first. My husband was very close to him. Weimin’s business was big, and my husband often needed his help with business matters. Later, to make it easier for the two families to visit each other, my husband bought a house here. It’s just… we haven’t had the chance to decorate it yet…” Sister Mei’s voice trailed off.

Just then, Lü Yang’s mobile phone suddenly rang, startling both of them. Lü Yang quickly took out his phone and looked at it. It was actually Yi Ya calling.

That’s strange. Wasn’t there no signal? How did it get through now?

Lü Yang was starting to feel that many things in this Mysterious Domain couldn’t be explained by normal logic.

“When are you coming back?” Yi Ya asked Lü Yang.

“I…” Lü Yang wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to go back, but he had to be able to get back first, right?

“Hello?” Yi Ya asked again.

“I… I have something to do today and can’t go back. Let’s talk tomorrow.” Lü Yang shouted into the phone.

“Hello? Why is there no sound?” Yi Ya murmured to herself, then hung up.

Lü Yang tried to call Yi Ya’s number back, but his phone had no signal at all and couldn’t make the call.

“Do you have any signal on your phone?” Sister Mei looked at her own phone, then at Lü Yang’s.

“The signal is bad.” Lü Yang shook his head. “I could hear her, but she couldn’t hear me. Also, she could call in, but I can’t call out.”

A little while later, Yi Ya called again. Even though Lü Yang answered loudly, she still couldn’t hear him. After Yi Ya called out “Hello!” a few times by herself, she hung up again.

Lü Yang shook his head in frustration. His thoughts were getting more and more confused. Was this Mysterious Domain really cut off from the world? How could Yi Ya’s call get through, but he couldn’t call out? Was it just because of the bad signal?

…

They couldn’t find the Black Cat, and the only clue was broken. The time on his phone showed it was almost 8 PM.

Even though he didn’t know what the main Task of this Mysterious Domain was, based on his guess, if he couldn’t trigger the main Task within a certain time limit and end this Mysterious Domain, he might end up like Yi Yi, erased from this world completely.

A sharp, piercing scream came from not far away. From the direction, it seemed to be near the entrance of Sister Mei’s apartment building. Both Sister Mei and Lü Yang recognized the voice—it was clearly Xia Yan screaming.

Then Xia Yan’s screams turned into cries for help, extremely desperate, as if she had encountered something terrifying. After that, the lewd laughter of several Porters could be heard, and then, as if someone had covered Xia Yan’s mouth, her cries for help suddenly stopped.

Lü Yang grabbed his Iron Shovel and rushed over. Even though Xia Yan was foolish and had cursed at him earlier, saying things that made him and Sister Mei feel awkward and unhappy, Lü Yang wasn’t cold-hearted enough to stand by and watch her die without helping.

Sister Mei called out to Lü Yang. She could tell that several Porters were attacking Xia Yan, which made her very afraid. But she didn’t dare to be left alone, so she quickly followed Lü Yang.

Turning the corner of the apartment building, Lü Yang immediately saw Xia Yan pinned to the ground by four Porters. Some were holding her hands, some her feet, one was covering her mouth, and another was tearing at her clothes. Xia Yan’s top was already ripped open, her bra pushed up, and her pants pulled down most of the way. Her body struggled uselessly under the pressure of the four men, and she let out muffled sobs.

“You beasts! Let her go!” Lü Yang roared and charged forward. His Iron Shovel shot out, hitting the Porter who had pulled down Xia Yan’s pants right in the neck. Whether it was because the tip of the shovel was too sharp or because Lü Yang’s charge was too forceful, the Porter’s head was cleanly sliced off by the shovel and rolled some distance away before stopping.

Blood gushed out like a fountain from the neck of the headless Porter, splattering all over the others. Xia Yan’s naked body, pinned to the ground, was also sprayed with blood from head to toe. The scene looked extremely gruesome.

“Successfully hunted one Porter. Gained one Eerie Point. Current Side Quest completion: one-fourth.” A prompt sounded in Lü Yang’s mind.

The other three Porters, drenched in blood, were momentarily stunned. After creating such a bloody scene with his own hands, Lü Yang’s hands, feet, and entire body began to tremble. His heart pounded fiercely. After all, this was the first time in his twenty-one years of life that he had killed someone, and it was done so brutally.

“Beasts! Let her go!”

Even though his whole body was shaking, Lü Yang swung his Iron Shovel again, thrusting it toward another Porter. He knew very well the danger he was facing at this moment. If these three Porters regained their senses and fought back together, he might not be their match.

Perhaps because Lü Yang’s hands were trembling and weak, the thrust didn’t have much force. The Porter dodged to the side. At the same time, all three Porters released Xia Yan, turned around, and ran deeper into the residential area.

Clearly, the gruesome sight of their companion’s head being sliced off had terrified the three Porters. Lü Yang’s ferocity had completely scared them, and they didn’t have the courage to fight back.

Evil could not prevail over good. With the Iron Shovel in hand, Lü Yang was filled with murderous intent and looked imposing, as if he were a great hero radiating heroic aura.

After running for a while, the three Porters stopped and stood there, looking back from a distance. Their fearful expressions held a hint of unwillingness.

Lü Yang glared angrily at the three Porters. A surge of hot-blooded heroism rose within him, or perhaps he was tempted by the reward of Eerie Points. A strong desire to kill surged in him. He roared, brandished the Iron Shovel, and chased after them. The three Porters were terrified and screamed as they fled wildly into the distance.

Seeing that he couldn’t catch up, Lü Yang threw the Iron Shovel in his hand at the Bald Porter who was injured and couldn’t run very fast, lagging behind. The throw was accurate—the tip of the shovel struck the Bald Porter right in the calf. The Bald Porter let out a painful cry and fell to his knees.

As Lü Yang charged over, intending to pick up the Iron Shovel and continue attacking the Bald Porter, the Bald Porter suddenly flipped over. In his hand was a sharp Fruit Knife about half a foot long. He swept it toward Lü Yang in a stabbing motion.

Lü Yang quickly jumped back, but he still couldn’t avoid it. The blade of the Fruit Knife swept across the area just below his abdomen, near the top of his thigh. A burning pain shot through his crotch.

The pain sent another surge of blood rushing to Lü Yang’s head. He roared and pounced on the Bald Porter. First, he kicked the Fruit Knife out of the Bald Porter’s hand. Then, he and the Bald Porter grappled and fought fiercely. In his rage, Lü Yang swung his fists, punching the Bald Porter repeatedly in the body and head.