Sharp, sleek black cars invaded the desolate street of Lucien’s temporary abode.
Their engines growled like ferocious beasts prowling for prey. They swept past the store Lucien had visited a couple of days ago.
The girl from the store emerged briefly, watching six black cars thunder down the street with a gaze of envy and bewilderment.
"It’s not often we see so many luxury cars enter this vicinity—only broke people live here." Chapters fırst released on novel~fire~net
She sighed and gazed at the sky.
"When am I going to save enough money and escape this wretched neighborhood?"
Shaking her head, she retreated into the store to continue her work.
She wasn’t the only one who watched and peered at the convoy. Nearly everyone in the neighborhood did, because just as she’d said, it wasn’t often that one got to see a fleet of cars prowling into their estate.
Many people even shuttered their windows and doors, fearing it might spell trouble. People just roamed around these days, hunting for each other’s misfortunes.
Eventually the cars screeched to a halt before the building. Beyond the gate sat an old woman in the yard, cross-legged, tending to some green leaves she’d gathered earlier in the day. She was smiling, but the savage sounds of the cars stopping abruptly distracted her, causing her to glance toward her gate.
She slowly stood and headed toward the gate. As she tried to open it, some fat guy smashed through the gate with his legs alone, causing the old woman to stagger back, fall, and roll away.
"What the hell? I never knew someone was there! Shit! Old lady, you aren’t hurt, are you?"
He smirked with satisfaction as he glared down at the woman with a condescending stare, hands stuffed in his pockets.
Thena was resilient—even though she looked to be in her eighties, she was quite physically agile. She was already standing, groaning and clutching her back as she did.
She groaned harder as she straightened up. She turned sluggishly, wanting to sit on the bench, but the guy sent his leg flying again and kicked her rear.
She tumbled and struck her head against the table’s edge, then rolled back—still conscious but groaning in agony.
At that moment, another car arrived. The person within it stepped out. All the men in black suits parted and created a pathway for him leading to the compound.
As he entered and saw the old woman sprawled on the ground, the young man with long hair scowled.
Silence followed his question; everyone hesitated. But they were all staring at the fat guy standing near Yinhui.
The guy immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed.
"Sect Leader! Please, I only acted on your orders—please do not—"
Before he could finish the statement, Yinhui’s left leg had flown across his face. The man, despite his bulk and size, flew back and crashed into the stacks of containers and buckets in the corner.
Yinhui, hands still pocketed, moved closer to him. He raised his leg and began stomping on the guy’s face.
His expression was impassive, his hands remained in his pockets even as he continued smashing his pristine, glossy black shoes into the fat guy’s face. Blood splattered—both on his face and around—but his eyes didn’t flinch.
Everyone kept their distance, heads bowed, mouths parched as they occasionally swallowed hard.
Eventually, Yinhui stopped and slowly walked back to the center of the yard where the woman lay.
He stood above her body, staring down at her with a sinister expression.
"You shameless old hag, I know you haven’t fainted, so stand up and stop pretending."
The lady stirred and slowly stood, sitting on the ground with a pouty mouth. She looked at Yinhui and rolled her eyes.
"You certainly haven’t grown manners since you left here, you shameless warthog."
"You’d better watch that sharp tongue of yours. I’m not the same person I was three years ago."
She looked him up and down, then down and up, crude judgment written all over her face.
"You’ve grown your hair, I see. Quite nonsensical if you ask me. You also wear fine clothes now and have lost your countryside accent. You must feel high and mighty, like you’re on top of the world or something—but you’re only a wreck in the end. Selfish, self-sabotaging, insecure, greedy bastard."
Yinhui’s expression turned murderous.
He stepped closer and grabbed her by the collar, easily hoisted her up, and slammed her onto the table. He gritted his teeth, glaring down at her.
Then he exhaled and released her.
"I didn’t come here for you today. You love helping stray cats, don’t you? And I have a habit of killing your stray cats. It would often frustrate you to the point of death—do you remember?"
Hearing that, Thena’s face changed, a small frown creasing her brows.
Yinhui grinned like a madman.
"I must have hit the nail on the head. You do have another stray. This time, one I’m very interested in."
Thena glared at him and stood up.
"Are you a fool? Are your stupid mind and insecurities so overwhelming that they’ve caused you total blindness? You are without morals, you lack empathy, you are wicked and unreasonable. Just how far are you going to go to prove a point?"
Yinhui looked at her with a strange gleam in his eyes.
"Oh? Is that anger I hear? Thena, you’re angry? You almost never cared about me."
"You were a fool—one with no hope of repentance."
Yinhui waved his hand dismissively.
"Repentance is for the weak. I don’t need that rubbish."
He exhaled and looked at her, raising his chin.
"Once again today, old lady, I shall take away from you this pathetic stray you’ve found for yourself."
Immediately, the poor old woman got up and tried to stop him, shouting his name.
However, he smacked her away with his elbow and walked inside with the men in black suits, each of them looking like an armored tank.
Yinhui entered the house and made his way to his former room.
There he could see a young man lying on his bed, wearing his headgear.
’That thing... I destroyed it before leaving... how is it intact?’
Yinhui was certain he had. However, he shook his head and dismissed the unnecessary thoughts.
He glanced back at them and ordered.
Confused, one of the men asked.
"Should we remove the headgear first?"
However, Yinhui’s frown turned vicious.