Fang Xiu scrunched up his eyebrows, trying to figure out who was knocking.
_'Can it be the investigation agency? Or maybe Zhao Hao? Why would anyone bother to knock at such a late hour when calling was so much simpler?'_
Carefully, he stood up and made his way to the door. Instead of opening it immediately, he peered through the peephole.
Much to his surprise, a red, bloodshot human eye stared back at him!
The eye was wide open, with no visible eyelid. It was as if someone had gouged out the entire eyeball and pressed it against the peephole.
The whites of the eye were bloodshot, while the pupil was pure black. It looked as if the red veins had taken over the whole white part.
Right when Fang Xiu was about to react, the bloodshot eye suddenly sent out a burst of Spiritual Energy.
In an instant, everything went black, and Fang Xiu's consciousness sank as if someone had delivered a hard blow to the back of his head.
Fang Xiu had no idea how much time had passed when he woke up again. He found himself in a run-down warehouse, tied to a metal chair with icy steel chains wrapped tightly around him.
The place was huge, its rough concrete floor covered in dark, dried bloodstains. There were no windows; the only source of light came from a couple of hanging bulbs, casting a creepy, ominous glow.
A nasty, rotten smell filled the room, reminding him of decaying bodies.
Not far from where he was sitting, a row of torture devices were displayed, and each one was covered in dark, crusty blood.
It was obvious that a lot of people had met their end here.
Maybe because of the eerie setting, the number of Specters floating around seemed higher than usual.
A bunch of terrifying Specters were skulking about, some even circling Fang Xiu, drooling from their mouths. But they couldn't touch him until they were "seen."
Smack in the middle of the warehouse was an old, rusty meat grinder. The design was strange; facing Fang Xiu was a funnel full of rows of razor-sharp metal blades.
Not surprisingly, the meat grinder also had its share of dark, dried bloodstains.
Next to this creepy device, a man in an all-black outfit and a matching black baseball cap stood. He appeared to be repairing the machine.
Out of nowhere, the man seemed to sense something. He stopped what he was doing and quickly turned his head around.
Two bloodshot eyes, almost devoid of white, locked onto Fang Xiu's.
These eyes belonged to an extremely pale young man. He was so skinny he was practically just skin and bones.
Fang Xiu stared back without fear. He was well aware that this was the same guy who'd attacked him at his door earlier.
As for how he did it, it probably had to do with his eerie, Specter-like eyes.
_'Could he be psychic? Is his power connected to his eyes somehow?'_ Fang Xiu wondered.
"You woke up pretty fast, so you're clearly not a newbie psychic," the man rasped, staring intently at Fang Xiu. His voice dripped with a touch of madness. "Looks like you're a genius like me. Perfect. I really enjoy torturing prodigies."
The man talked like he was pleased with himself, his face splitting into a deranged, cruel grin.
Facing the madness, Fang Xiu showed no sign of fear. He calmly asked, "So, is the machine ready yet?"
The man seemed a bit surprised, then looked slightly flustered. "Sorry, it's been a while since I killed anyone, so the machine's kinda rusty. Just hang on a bit longer. It'll be ready soon."
"Speed it up. I don't like to waste time," Fang Xiu replied.
Seeing how relaxed Fang Xiu looked, the man hesitated. The next moment, his body started shaking like crazy, his face twitching non-stop.
All of a sudden, he broke into wild, insane laughter.
"So, you're the Fang Xiu I've heard about? You're quite a character, exactly the kind of person I like. But my cousin died, so you have die too."
"Ah, so you're Wang Ziteng's cousin?" Fang Xiu replied calmly.
The man nodded and said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Lin Ziyang, the genius cousin of my totally useless relative."
"You look pretty messed up in your head," Fang Xiu remarked.
Lin Ziyang laughed maniacally. "Messed up? Nah, I'm sober now more than ever. At least I know I need to get back at you for my cousin, right?"
Hearing Lin Ziyang's deranged words, Fang Xiu instantly thought of what he'd read about unstable Spiritual Energy on the Global Specter Forum. It was obvious Lin Ziyang was on the brink of losing his sanity, his Spiritual Energy going haywire.
"You're probably wondering why I'd want to get revenge on you for my cousin, right? You entered the Specter Zone together, and even went through some dangerous situation. A Specter killed him, not you. So why am I after you?"
Lin Ziyang's face suddenly twisted into an even uglier frown, his eyes fixed on Fang Xiu with a menacing look.
"Because you should've been the one who died! Why did you live when my cousin didn't? Does that mean he was weaker? I'm Lin Ziyang, and no one's better than me, including my cousin! Oh, and there's another guy, Zhao Hao, you should know"*(See translator's note)
"I'm the one who killed your cousin," Fang Xiu cut off Lin Ziyang's manic rant.
In the middle of him going crazy, Lin Ziyang stopped, looking lost.
"What did you just say?"
"I'm the reason your cousin is dead. To be more exact, I set him up. He could've lived, but I attacked him from behind, and he couldn't move. He could only watch as the Specter got closer and ate him alive. I just stood there, really enjoying his total despair," Fang Xiu said.
Without a pause, he added, "Oh, wanna hear the best part? When he was dying, he tried to drag me down with him. He grabbed my pants with his blood-soaked hand. Know what I did? I stomped on his hand, crushing it until I heard bones crack. The screams he made were truly delightful."
Lin Ziyang stared blankly at Fang Xiu for several seconds, looking completely shocked. Then, he snapped back to reality, getting even more manic and irate.
"F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! You should be dead, not talking! You make me look like a total idiot! Ahh!"