Chapter 246: Shadow’s Bargain

*Swish, swish, swish…*

Just as Mom extended her scissors and severed some kind of connection, the red-cloaked mental monster underwent a drastic change.

Countless taut filaments snapped back violently, whistling as they tore through the air. The red-cloaked mental monster, previously standing motionless beside the building, began to sway noticeably, as if it had lost its restraints.

The next moment, like a backlash, an even more intense fluctuation erupted from the mental monster’s body.

This was different from the previous fluctuations, which occurred roughly every minute.

This time, the fluctuation was significantly stronger, interwoven with strands of red light.

It was as if the filaments composing its body had simultaneously sprung to life, surging madly in all directions.

But as this impact, imbued with terrifying power, spread outwards, the first thing it encountered was Mom.

Countless manifestations of Mom stood at the base of surrounding buildings, underground, behind apartment windows, on top of abandoned cars, and inside the coffee shop next to the mall—like countless individual points. Under the Red Moon’s glow, her smile was gentle and captivating. All the force crashing against her met something like an impenetrable wall, blocked completely.

These filaments couldn’t bypass her position; instead, they recoiled upon impact.

There wasn’t even a trace of a power struggle, it simply happened naturally. Because she was there, they could not pass.

The filaments on the monster could no longer connect with anyone else in the city.

…

Except for Lu Xin.

Lu Xin stood on the building rooftop, closest to the monster.

Therefore, not only was he hit by the impact, but he received even more than intended. Initially, only one filament had connected to him, but now, countless threads rushed towards him all at once.

An indescribable sense of emptiness instantly bloomed in his heart.

It was an emptiness so extreme it became painful.

This pain wasn’t real—not a physical wound, nor the result of some external blow.

It was simply an inexplicable void.

It made one feel as if they were floating in mid-air, unable to find solid ground.

Each second steeped in this emotion melted away all desire for this world.

And having lost all desire, only one outcome came to mind.

Death!

When emptiness reached its peak, death paradoxically felt like the only real thing.

Even Lu Xin entertained the thought, wanting to reach into his bag and pull out a gun.

Then, put a bullet in his own head.

*Huuu…*

Feeling this intense emotional impact, Lu Xin let out a soft sigh filled with despair.

He didn’t ask Mom for help this time, because he had already made another decision.

Inside his heart, there was a door.

Normally, Lu Xin would only open it when he had absolutely no other choice.

But this time, Lu Xin opened it without hesitation.

So, just as the infinite filaments enveloped Lu Xin and the sense of emptiness threatened to drown him, the shadow cast behind him by the Red Moon became unnaturally dark. It seemed to absorb all surrounding shadows, becoming twice, three times, five times, even ten times darker than any other shade. A chilling, gloomy feeling suddenly permeated the air.

Within that shadow, a pair of eyes snapped open, exceptionally blood-red.

*Clink, clink, clink…*

The instant the shadow’s eyes opened, a series of faint, crisp sounds echoed around Lu Xin.

It was the sound of all the filaments connected to Lu Xin snapping simultaneously.

Those already covering him were broken; those rushing towards him were repelled. Amidst this seemingly terrifying and turbulent assault, the moment Lu Xin’s shadow opened its eyes, all external power was isolated, forced to flow around him to either side.

It seemed to possess an extremely private attitude, refusing to allow any other power into its domain.

“Heheheheheh…”

Dry laughter echoed as the shadow abruptly rose, appearing ready to envelop Lu Xin.

But this time, Lu Xin suddenly turned around, looking down at his own shadow.

His gaze, behind his glasses, was far too calm. Consequently, the shadow he stared at seemed to hesitate for a moment. It didn’t envelop him directly but temporarily suppressed its surging power, remaining on the ground.

Its blood-red eyes stared directly into Lu Xin’s.

“This time, I need your help.”

Lu Xin looked at his shadow and spoke calmly.

He seemed to hear hollow laughter in his ears, filled with disdain.

Moreover, the shadow on the ground surged like a black tide, trembling as if about to spread and engulf Lu Xin.

“Don’t laugh like that.”

Lu Xin frowned slightly. “Your laughter makes me feel like trusting you was a mistake.”

In the area corresponding to the shadow’s head, the blood-red color in its eyes seemed to deepen.

Lu Xin could hear a voice, suppressing rage, sneering, “You’d really trust me?”

“Of course. We are family, after all.”

Lu Xin spoke patiently. “Families should always support each other. What’s the point of being wary of one another? Actually, I know you’d leave this family if you had the chance. I’ve also thought countless times about escaping this family. But ultimately, you never got the chance, and I decided to accept my family. So, why should we continue being suspicious of each other?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we found a better way to coexist, to help each other?”

He sounded utterly sincere as he spoke these last words.

Even the shadow fell silent for a long moment. The light from the Red Moon behind cast its silhouette in sharp relief. Looking closely, one could see wave-like black ripples within the shadow.

“Are you saying this to me now because you’ve obtained the key item for the Second Stage? Because you feel confident?”

After a long silence, the shadow’s voice suddenly grew louder, filled with even stronger rage.

“No.”

Lu Xin shook his head. “I pursued the Second Stage precisely to communicate better with you, to get along better with my family.”

“I’m telling you this because I trust you.”

“And I trust you because… every time I get close to you, I can feel what you feel…”

Lu Xin spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on those blood-red eyes. “What I feel from you isn’t anger.”

He paused. “It’s pain.”

“The pain of hating your own powerlessness, hating yourself for being useless.”

…

The shadow suddenly surged up like furious waves, swelling two or three meters high, instantly enveloping Lu Xin. This tremendous momentum pushed back the power radiating from the red-cloaked mental monster behind them, forcing it to spread in other directions. The shadow stood up, wrapped around Lu Xin’s neck, its blood-red eyes meeting his, seemingly wanting to tear him apart.

“You’re talking nonsense…”

“You’re the useless one! You’re a piece of trash who understands nothing…”

“You don’t know anything at all…”

…

Lu Xin endured the frenzy and anger transmitted from the shadow, along with the tide-like will of pain, maintaining his composure. “I probably know very little. After all, I’ve lost so many memories, and I don’t even know if my family is real or fake…”

“But I’ve thought about it carefully, and I’ve finally determined that there’s one thing about me that is real.”

He pointed to his own chest.

Since the shadow largely overlapped with him at this moment, pointing to his own chest also meant pointing to the shadow’s chest.

He said, “My feelings are real.”

The sincerity in his words calmed the shadow’s frenzy slightly, though it still trembled incessantly.

“That’s why I wanted to say this to you.”

Lu Xin lowered his hand, looking at the shadow calmly and earnestly. “I will truly treat you as family, help you, feel your feelings, and relieve your pain. If one day I have enough power, I will help you escape this suffering. Even if I don’t have that power, I will keep trying, doing what family should do…”

“What about you?”

His face was so calm it gradually shifted into an expression bordering on indifference, a peculiar light in his eyes:

“Right now, I am sincerely asking you… I hope you can be like real family…”

He clenched his teeth slightly, staring at his shadow, his expression somewhat grim, yet his words were gentle:

“Are you willing to agree with me, or…”

“…do you insist on making the whole family miserable?”

…

…

*Buzz…*

The red-cloaked mental monster swayed and slightly opened its eyes.

A pale hand rose, heavy and slow, reaching down towards Lu Xin.

Clearly, Lu Xin’s earlier repulsion of the emotions emanating from it had attracted its attention.

Its body was a hundred twenty to thirty meters tall, its hand proportionally enormous.

As it lifted heavily and slowly, reaching for Lu Xin on the rooftop, it completely blocked the Red Moon in the sky.

Every inch of its skin seemed composed of a desperate and profound mental power, carrying an aura that instilled despair deep within one’s heart as it descended from mid-air towards Lu Xin, or rather, towards the building rooftop.

At this moment, Lu Xin had his back to the Red Moon, and also to the red-cloaked mental monster.

His attention seemed entirely focused on the distorted, elongated shadow cast at his feet by the Red Moon.

He hadn’t noticed the mental monster’s grab at all.

*Whoosh…*

The dust and debris on the rooftop were stirred by the chaotic mental power accompanying the red-cloaked mental monster’s descending hand, peeling away layer after layer. The flat rooftop instantly became pitted and ravaged, the destruction reaching right up to Lu Xin.

Below, Sister, who was shamelessly clinging to the monster, looked up with some worry.

Across from the building, behind the window of a small three-story building, Mom’s gaze also seemed tinged with concern.

However, she wasn’t worried about Lu Xin, but about something else.

…

*Tch!*

Just as the mental monster’s hand was about to grab Lu Xin’s head, Lu Xin turned around.

As if startled by the force driven by this chaotic mental energy, he subconsciously raised his hand to block.

His hand, compared to the monster’s red-cloaked hand, was vastly different in size; naturally, he couldn’t block it.

But as he raised his hand, the black shadow behind him also moved.

The shadow behind him, the one with the pair of blood-red eyes, continuously grew larger. Like a living entity, it stood upright. Following his hand-raising motion, the shadow also raised its hand, directly propping itself up under the mental monster’s massive hand.

Then, the entire building emitted a teeth-grinding sound of twisting steel bars and concrete.

All the glass shattered simultaneously in that instant, sending shards flying everywhere.

The mental monster’s massive hand was blocked by Lu Xin’s shadow.

Under the cover of the black shadow, Lu Xin suddenly looked up at the red-cloaked mental monster, his eyes bloodshot.

The red-cloaked mental monster didn’t seem to possess the agility of typical mental monsters, only an indifference born from extreme emptiness.

However, meeting Lu Xin’s gaze, a characteristic belonging to living beings still made it subconsciously start to retract its hand. Perhaps this was based on some obsession; after all, only by retracting its hand could it raise it again to strike Lu Xin.

But as it started to lift its hand, it found it couldn’t.

Lu Xin, standing on the rooftop, used his shadow to block this illusory hand. On closer inspection, it wasn’t exactly blocking; rather, where the black shadow contacted the red hand, wisps of blackness seeped into the opponent’s hand.

“To hell with your emptiness…”

Lu Xin suddenly spoke, his voice hollow yet carrying a feeling of excitement and cruelty.

Immediately after, he abruptly pulled back, yanking the shadow’s arm.

Due to the immense force, even the one-hundred-twenty to thirty-meter tall mental monster was slightly tugged, seemingly stumbling.

Following that, the shadow beside Lu Xin seemed to shift as if illuminated by countless changing light sources.

The shadow accordingly became distorted and continuously expanded.

The shadow, originally behind Lu Xin, suddenly shifted forward, spreading directly onto the red-cloaked mental monster.

Because the red-cloaked mental monster was so enormous, even this shadow couldn’t completely cover it.

But it was enough.

The shadow spread over, enveloping one of the red-cloaked mental monster’s arms.

The entire arm, from hand to shoulder blade.

And at the top of the shadow, one could still vaguely discern a humanoid shape. Only now, that humanoid figure had raised its hand, an elongated object extending from it. Judging by the shape, it resembled a kitchen knife…

Lu Xin raised his hand and swung forward.

The shadow followed his movement, swinging the knife in its hand.

*Schlick!*

The red-cloaked monster’s arm—tens of meters long and three or four meters thick—suddenly detached entirely from its massive body, gently falling downwards. A sense of vitality rapidly faded from the severed limb…

“Giggle giggle giggle…”

Excited laughter came from below.

It was Sister, who had been repeatedly trying to pollute the mental monster only to be repelled.

Seeing the mental monster’s arm falling, she excitedly dashed into the air.

She forcefully opened her arms and embraced the falling limb.

The next moment, the arm rapidly distorted, covered in countless traces of stitching and patching.

“This is fun…”

Sister shouted excitedly,抱着 this arm and forcefully whipping it against the red-cloaked monster’s body.

*Buzz…*

Where it was struck, the red-cloaked monster’s body visibly distorted.

“Hehehehe…”

Lu Xin stared at the red-cloaked mental monster, his eyes blood-red. The surrounding shadow writhed menacingly, chaotic and wild.

He pointed at the red-cloaked mental monster and cursed fiercely, “Useless!”

*Slap…*

The red-cloaked monster seemed to sense the terror of Lu Xin, or rather, the black shadow upon him.

It still stared forward indifferently, but from its severed shoulder blade, numerous red tentacles suddenly extended, like strands of shredded meat. Yet each strand seemed to possess its own vitality.

They coiled like serpents towards Lu Xin’s shadow, as if trying to burrow inside.

But it was useless.

All the shredded meat that touched the black shadow instantly withered, even spasming painfully.

*Whoosh…*

The red-cloaked monster extended its other arm, slamming it down heavily towards Lu Xin on the rooftop.

Perhaps because Lu Xin had inflicted real pain, its anger was heavier than before. It succeeded in striking Lu Xin squarely, covering both him and the shadow completely. The distorted air compressed to a certain point, then exploded. The friction ripples between the immense mental powers seemed capable of shredding any physical object.

Debris flew everywhere; fierce winds swept through.

Its hand slammed down, then retracted, waiting for the dust to settle.

Then it saw that the huge rooftop had been collapsed by two floors, leaving only a few solitary mud pillars standing jaggedly.

Lu Xin stood on one of these mud pillars.

He looked up at the mental monster, a smile still on his face.

He had been swept by that enormous mental force just now but showed no unusual reaction, seeming completely unaffected.

However, due to the changes in the surrounding shadows, his own shadow became even more chaotic, covering a wider area.

The more complex the terrain, the larger the shadow’s area.

“Heheheheheh…”

Lu Xin suddenly let out hollow laughter. The strange and enormous shadow around him surged forward simultaneously.

This time, the shadow dispersed even wider, covering a broader area.

Lu Xin brandished the non-existent knife in his hand, then chopped down, again and again.

A scalp-numbing sound of chopping bones echoed from the Donghai Grand Hotel. Lu Xin, or rather his shadow, chopped very seriously. Each chop seemed to accurately strike the most solid part of the red-cloaked monster’s mental entity.

If one chop wasn’t enough, then two, until the most solid part developed cracks, and the cracks turned into separation.

*Tch!*

The black shadow spread to the red-cloaked monster’s other arm, and the sound of chopping bones intensified.

Its other arm also fell off.

The black shadow spread to its legs; both legs suddenly snapped in the middle.

When the black shadow spread to the red-cloaked monster’s neck, its head also fell off.

This Red Cloaked Apostle was being dismembered by his shadow.

*Rumble!*

A massive body inevitably possesses massive mass.

As the black shadow near Lu Xin spread out, dismembering its entire body, the monster began to collapse like a skyscraper dozens of stories tall, falling section by section.

The mental power erupting during the breakage and collapse shattered the tempered glass of the Donghai Grand Hotel, floor by floor, into fine powder.

Both mud, rock, and steel showed unnatural distortions.

Before the collapsing Red Cloaked Apostle, Lu Xin stood on the hotel rooftop, looking down at it.

High above, and with a somewhat disdainful expression on his face.

…

…

“What was that…”

Hearing the sudden explosive sounds from the Donghai Grand Hotel, Mr. Su and Minister Shen’s faces paled slightly.

Only Professor Bai, on his seemingly calm face, showed irrepressible excitement: “That is… my greatest expectation for the Single Soldier…”

“The power codenamed ‘Tyrant’!”