"Every bit of resentment you accumulate will add another step on your path to death."
He Ao tucked the compass into his bag, planted his feet on the ground, and burst forth, instantly charging towards Qi Ke.
This compass was a Transcendent prop that Mu Xiu used to track the Dancing Girl, absorbing the blood she had spilled on the ground when He Ao had confronted him.
After the mutual destruction of He Ao and Mu Xiu, it was the habit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to clean up the contaminated environment and recover all Transcendent items.
Thus, He Ao went straight to Selena and, as expected, borrowed the compass from her.
However, this device had a clear distance limitation; it could only point out the general direction unless one was very close.
He Ao had been wandering around the entire venue to confirm whether the Dancing Girl was in this theater. This attempt continued until he spoke with Christos, at which time he saw the blonde girl on the stage.
And confirmed the girl’s identity through the compass.
But he couldn’t make his move then. The audience was all around, and there seemed to be security staff everywhere. If the situation spiraled out of control, he risked not only being attacked but also harming the innocents.
So he waited until Qi Ke returned backstage.
"You’re going to kill me?"
Qi Ke’s eyes flickered, her voice tinged with laughter.
He Ao felt a tingling sensation rise from beneath his stomach, surging to his brain and causing his body to stiffen momentarily.
His short sword collided with the silver dagger, and he was unable to resist Qi Ke’s force as his paralysis had rendered him incapable, the sword knocked from his hand.
In that instant, Qi Ke wrapped around him like a slithering snake, her soft body pressed into his embrace, chest against chest, breath against breath.
At such close range, he looked into the enchanting face of the woman in his arms.
He Ao felt his entire body uncontrollably heat up.
"Such strong resistance, your soul must taste delicious," Qi Ke tiptoed slightly, her moist lips brushing against He Ao’s ear, "The gods will relish your soul."
Her soft tongue emerged, touching He Ao’s already somewhat cold earlobe.
The warm sensation spread up from his earlobe, quickly enveloping his cheek and invading his brain.
He felt a powerful urge driving him to pin the woman before him against the wall and violently tear her clothes apart.
Seeing He Ao , Qi Ke smiled sweetly.
One hand slipped through He Ao’s coat, reaching for his abs, while her other hand raised the silver dagger, aiming for Christos’ neck nearby.
Yet, just as she was about to release the dagger, she suddenly felt a tremendous force tightening around her waist.
He Ao wrapped one arm around Qi Ke’s waist, pulling her firmly into his embrace, while his other hand seized her wrist, the one with the dagger.
Qi Ke’s head rested on his shoulder, her face not visible to him.
"What are you doing?"
The dancer, who had always been so composed, asked with a quivering voice. The hand she had extended towards He Ao’s abdomen turned claw-like and plunged forcefully into his muscles, red blood flowing profusely.
At that very moment, without hesitation, He Ao bowed his head and bit into Qi Ke’s snowy neck.
He had already made a cut below this neck with his short sword, where the defenses were not strong.
His sharp teeth followed the cut made by the blade, puncturing the pink flesh. He Ao bit down hard, tearing through the delicate muscles and the blood vessels beneath. Soon, he felt a warm, sweet liquid tinged with the taste of iron rushing into his throat.
Now, Qi Ke’s hand had ripped through his abdominal muscles, and his red blood streamed down his body, intense pain shooting to He Ao’s brain.
But no matter the pain, He Ao kept his bite on Qi Ke’s neck, sucking her blood.
Qi Ke was too agile; if it came to a head-on fight, the one who would end up being dragged to death would certainly be him, with his use of Super Memory being time-limited. Therefore, he had to feign a vulnerability to lure Qi Ke into the trap.
For that, sustaining some injuries was acceptable.
Qi Ke struggled desperately, but to no avail. He Ao’s arms exerted all their strength, pinning her down tightly, leaving her unable to move an inch.
"Hahaha, all madmen."
Upon realizing that struggling was hopeless, she suddenly stopped and burst into laughter.
He Ao paid no attention to Qi Ke’s actions. Qi Ke’s claws were already reaching for his innards, and the intense pain and blood loss were assaulting his consciousness. The only thought in his mind now was to kill the woman in his arms.
Meanwhile, unnoticed by him, streaks of purple brilliance flowed with Qi Ke’s blood into his throat.
At the same time, the consumption of the soul by the Super Memory had already quietly ceased.
Time passed—it was uncertain whether it was a few dozen seconds or minutes, or even over ten minutes—when Qi Ke’s body finally lost all its strength and softened slowly in He Ao’s embrace.
He Ao let go of his grip and watched as she slid to the ground limply.
Outside, the roaring music continued to play, but at this moment, there was only silence in He Ao’s mind.
Qi Ke’s body lay collapsed on the ground, her delicate lips slightly parted, staring blankly ahead as blood stained the majority of her dress, adding a touch of bloody beauty to her attractive body.
He Ao fell to his knees, realizing that the Super Memory seemed to have undergone some kind of special change.
This change felt vaguely familiar.
Christos had regained some strength by now. He struggled to stand up, coming to He Ao’s side and seeing the horrific wound on He Ao’s abdomen.
He reached for his shirt, trying to tear off his white shirt to use as a bandage.
But he was too weak, so weak that he couldn’t even rip a shirt.
He Ao sighed gently. His left hand was in some pain and momentarily weak; he had just grabbed Qi Ke’s knife-hand, and his hand had been sliced with several deep cuts that reached the bone.
With his right hand, he took out a roll of medical gauze from his coat, followed by a small medical stapler.
This type of stapler could rapidly close a gaping wound on a battlefield like a stapler closes the pages of a book. Typically, one would need an anesthetic injection before using such a device, but the anesthetic could affect He Ao’s ability to move, so he just pressed it against the wound directly.
Intense pain came in waves.
The abdominal wound was torn, and the edges were jagged. He Ao stapled the easier parts of the wound first and then sprayed it with the stapler’s integrated hemostatic spray.
Afterward, he slowly unfolded the gauze, trying to wrap up the wound.
Christos knelt behind him, helping him lift his coat so he could wrap the gauze unobstructedly.
At that moment, He Ao looked up to where Qi Ke’s gaze had been fixed, and there, he saw an exquisite birdcage.
In the cage, a beautiful Canary stood quietly. And at this moment, the Canary was staring beyond him.
Qi Ke was dead, but the mission was far from over.
A cold gun barrel was pressed against the back of He Ao’s head, followed by a familiar voice,
"Roy, you really surprise me."