Chapter 537: Shadows of the Abyss

When he turned around, Lu Xin’s expression was still a bit surprised.

Staring at the man before him—clearly a middle-aged man with a ponytail dressed in a woman’s suit and flaunting a curvy figure—Lu Xin wondered how he had managed to jump from the lower floor to the upper floor in an instant.

As Lu Xin scrutinized his opponent, the man was equally sizing him up.

The ponytailed man’s gaze was distant, yet his face was fixed in an ingratiating, humble smile. The rugged lines of his masculine features starkly contrasted with the delicate hold on his gun. He spoke slowly, his voice echoing unsettlingly from within himself.

“Who are you? Where do you come from?”

“……”

Lu Xin raised both his hands and carefully studied the man before slowly shaking his head. “Are you an Ability User from Heichao City?”

The ponytailed man shook his head and suddenly pointed his gun at Han Bing, “Wrong answer.”

Bang!

Those words were followed by a sharp pull of the trigger.

Time seemed to slow as flames burst at the muzzle and a pointed bullet raced toward Han Bing.

At that moment, terror gradually spread across Han Bing’s face.

But her fear was no match for the bullet’s speed, and her reflexes couldn’t keep up.

No amount of training or preparation could counter this unforeseen threat.

It was completely helpless in the face of such sudden force.

“Huh?”

Lu Xin immediately furrowed his brow.

He hadn’t expected his opponent to pull the trigger without further discussion.

The recoil from the bullet’s firing filled him with deep concern as his thoughts raced; in an instant, the surrounding air thickened as if layers of magnetic force had materialized out of nowhere.

That bullet—moving too fast for the human eye—plunged into the dense, viscous air.

Then its speed gradually slumped.

Just as it neared Han Bing’s nose, its kinetic energy was nearly exhausted by the sticky air.

It was as if time had stopped, and the bullet hung motionless in midair.

Lu Xin slowly reached out and, just before it could reach Han Bing’s nose, caught the bullet.

Sizzle.

A sound of burning flesh filled the air as a pungent smell arose—the bullet’s heat seared his palm.

Clutching the bullet tightly, Lu Xin withdrew his hand.

Only then did Han Bing gasp deeply and whip her head around to look at him.

Realizing she was moments from death—and having seen the bullet freeze just inches from her nose—

and witnessing Lu Xin’s hand snatch it away,

her emotional turmoil surged more violently than anyone could imagine.

Despite her youth and rigorous training that had forged a strong will, her legs suddenly gave way.

……

……

Crackle, crackle, crackle…

In Han Bing’s wide-eyed shock, Lu Xin, still holding the bullet, slowly turned around.

His movement seemed chiseled into delicate segments, each producing a crisp sound.

Bit by bit, his gaze fixed on the face of the ponytailed man across from him.

In a hollow tone, Lu Xin asked, “Do you intend to kill her?”

The ponytailed man replied in an equally flat, cold voice, his eyes locked on Lu Xin, “You’re quite powerful.”

Lu Xin nodded and replied, “Your answer is wrong too.”

As his last word faded, the air around them suddenly grew thick and viscous once more.

This sticky sensation spread rapidly, engulfing the entire room; at the spot where the ponytailed man stood, a wave-like force surged over him, making even the carpet’s fibers stand on end like a field of steel spikes.

A Distorted Force Field.

Mental Power instantly filled the room.

The ponytailed man’s pupils constricted as his body twisted unnaturally; the air around him warped, and an invisible ripple burst forth, hurtling toward Lu Xin while his figure blurred.

It was as if he intended to counter Lu Xin’s move with a Mental Impact, unleashing his ability.

But when his mental force collided with the viscous air from Lu Xin, he was violently thrown back with a resounding boom as his back smashed into the wall. The freshly whitewashed surface splintered into spiderweb cracks, revealing red bricks and white mortar, while his body resounded with the sound of shattering bones.

The impact was so fierce that his bones shattered, with fragments piercing his flesh in several places.

In an instant, he was reduced to a ragged, broken figure.

Yet, in a situation where anyone would seem dead, the ponytailed man merely grunted in pain.

Then, as more Mental Impact surged toward him, his entire body suddenly vanished. No one saw a move—his lingering image suggested he had merged with the ground, as if it turned to water.

The next moment, his form reappeared in a corner of the hotel’s ceiling.

Bracing himself against the wall with his hands and feet, he steadied his body and reloaded his gun.

This sudden disappearance and reappearance was an inexplicable feat in itself.

From a cognitive or physical standpoint, no one should be able to transfer instantaneously from one place to another.

Yet he had done it—and was even preparing to fire again.

Only, just as he made to shoot, he abruptly reconsidered.

Lu Xin hadn’t even noticed his vanishing act; after releasing his distorted force field, he immediately turned back.

The ponytailed man had barely materialized in a corner of the ceiling when…

Lu Xin extended his arm toward that direction, his fingers curled in a clear grasping gesture.

Though his arm couldn’t reach, as he lifted his hand, the shadow by his side instantly stretched out.

Swish!

Like a giant black hand, the shadow seized the ponytailed man by the neck and hauled him right before Lu Xin.

It was so sudden that the man didn’t even have a chance to teleport again.

But just as Lu Xin prepared to snap his neck, the man’s expression suddenly shifted.

The shadow-formed hand instantly released him and stepped back.

Its eyes narrowed as it focused on him, revealing that the man had transformed into Han Bing.

It wasn’t an illusion.

At the very moment Lu Xin nearly broke her neck, the softness of her skin confirmed her identity.

Han Bing’s terror-stricken, flushed face—with eyes still reflecting rising panic—made it unmistakable.

In reaching out, Lu Xin hadn’t grasped the ponytailed man at all, but Han Bing.

So, where had the ponytailed man gone?

While he pondered, a cool sensation suddenly touched Lu Xin’s right temple.

When Han Bing reappeared before him, the spot previously occupied by the ponytailed man was now held by her.

To protect Han Bing, Lu Xin moved in close. In that moment, as she had shifted form into the ponytailed man, she was naturally beside him. With remarkable calm, she raised her gun and slowly aimed it at Lu Xin’s temple. Her body bore numerous wounds where bone fragments had pierced through, slowly healing, while a faint smile curved her lips.

‘My ability is truly formidable…’

“……”

Accompanied by an eerie echo, the ponytailed man pulled the trigger.

Earlier, he had seen Lu Xin save Han Bing at close range using his mental distortion force field.

Now, he was curious: with a gun pressed to his temple, could Lu Xin save him as well?

But there was no answer.

Because the gun did not fire.

The smile on the ponytailed man’s face swiftly transformed into one of stunned fear.

He couldn’t understand why, even after pulling the trigger, it remained unmoved.

It was as if another hand had blocked the trigger.

Lu Xin slowly turned his head to look at the ponytailed man.

In his view, his little sister was mischievously peeking from his shoulder, her small hands grabbing the man’s gun, her fingers slipping beneath the trigger. Under such circumstances, no matter how hard the man tried, his pull would never engage the trigger.

In astonishment, while the ponytailed man struggled, his little sister grinned wickedly and reached out to scratch the man’s face.

Smack…

Startled by her tiny hand nearly reaching his face, the ponytailed man reacted immediately.

In a flash, he tossed the gun aside and nimbly backed off.

‘Little baby, don’t run…’

His little sister darted after him, her small hands still clawing at his face.

Meanwhile, the shadow at Lu Xin’s feet surged upward in a violent swell, engulfing the ponytailed man.

The intense rush of mental power made him feel a bone-chilling, eerie sensation.

He couldn’t tell if the overwhelming, deep mental force from the ground was his opponent’s or the same twisted, bizarre power barreling toward his face.

In an instant, sheer terror gripped him, every hair on his body standing on end.

After retreating only a few steps, he realized escape was impossible, and panic surged within him.

Yet he found himself unable to flee.

In Lu Xin’s view, Mom had appeared at the doorway, leaning against the frame and silently watching everything unfold.

The ponytailed man could easily access the upper room directly from downstairs.

So, if he wanted to leave, he didn’t need to use the door.

But the moment Mom appeared at the doorway, he realized he was trapped in the room.

It was as if her presence blocking the door meant there was no escape.

Thus, he was stuck.

Panic flashed across the ponytailed man’s face.

After several encounters in the room, his initial confidence—and even his ingratiating smile—had given way to sheer panic and confusion about the battle.

Every action he took was thwarted; each position felt saturated with danger, and even leaving seemed impossible.

Yet the man across from him continued to watch, his gaze oddly serene.

Beneath that ordinary calm, however, the ponytailed man sensed a profound, unsettling terror…

A terror that tormented him to the brink of madness.

Without a moment to think, he quickly opened his mouth and let out a piercing, inhuman scream.

The scream wasn’t that of a man—it was a shrill, jagged cry that seemed to tear the air apart.

It was heart-wrenching and sharp, as if his vocal cords were being ripped apart.

Rumble, rumble…

Just as his scream rang out, the entire room transformed dramatically. A bizarre gust blasted in, whipping the curtains, clothes, and towels into midair, while scorch marks marred the walls and sparks began to glow and spread. The plastic flowers on the table withered rapidly.

A dry, burning heat enveloped everyone.

The surroundings turned surreal, as if colors were burning away in patches.

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in another world. Looking around, the ceiling had vanished, leaving only half a wall; everything seemed aflame amid crumbling buildings and a grim, decaying city foundation.

No living soul could be sensed here.

Only furtive, eerie eyes peered from the depths of shattered windows.

“No matter how powerful an ability, once you enter the Abyss, your true nature is exposed…”

A strange, echoing voice filled the air, laced with exasperated disdain.

Lu Xin turned to see, not far off in midair, the ponytailed figure drifting. Now, he looked completely transformed—dressed in extravagant, bizarre attire, clutching a scepter with an indescribable design that exuded unreality. He resembled a character from a deck of cards rather than a real person.

His voice boomed with tremendous echo, dominating the shattered room as if he were an absolute sovereign looking down on both mortals and Ability Users.

“So, you all…”

“……”

He trailed off suddenly, realizing something was amiss.

No one forced into the Abyss could remain calm and rational, yet in this room Lu Xin just stood there, slowly inhaling with an almost entranced expression.

He turned his head slightly, his neck twisting unnaturally as he looked at Black Jack with a sincere smile:

“Do you want to see my true nature?”