Chapter 605: Shadows in the Alley

To avoid frightening them further, Lu Xin crouched slightly and quickened his pace.

He leapt along the wall, swiftly rounding the corner.

As he sprinted along the vertical wall as if on flat ground toward his destination, both his view and path began to distort—like stepping into a world of uneven terrain, deep pits, and clumps of dirt.

With every leap, the world around him suddenly felt refreshingly new and exciting.

Glancing past a high-rise building, Lu Xin noticed a mass of armored vehicles gathering from every direction, subtly sealing off three nearby streets. The atmosphere was tense, yet carried an oddly precise efficiency.

Even Lu Xin couldn’t help but wonder if the promotion of the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan was leading to fewer instances of special pollution in Qinggang.

Perhaps the professionals, feeling cooped up, had seized the chance to indulge in a rare, unusual event.

……

Lost in thought, he reached Qingpo Road and landed in a dark, secluded alley.

After a brief adjustment of his clothes, he stepped out of the alley.

Night had fallen, and as the streetlights flickered on, the street burst into life.

Unaware that the three streets beyond had been sealed off, people busied themselves with shopping, dining, and even bickering with their husbands—each adding a splash of vibrant energy to the bustling scene.

Lu Xin quietly maneuvered through the crowd, heading toward the shop that Cao Ye had mentioned.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but as he passed by, a few people turned to look at him.

Not with an overt stare, but merely a fleeting glance here and there.

It was merely the customary way locals sized each other up, yet when their collective glances converged, it felt as though someone was scrutinizing him meticulously, perhaps even speculating about him.

Lu Xin ignored it all and continued on—after all, who would stop you with a ‘what are you looking at?’ after just a glance?

Before long, he stood in front of a shabby little convenience store—one of those common spots you’d recognize in any city.

Inside, the shelves offered cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, hardware tools, family planning supplies, and more.

It was the kind of shop you knew existed but had probably never ventured into, unsure if its goods had spoiled and oblivious to just how many small transactions the old man behind the counter handled daily…

After a brief survey of the place, Lu Xin strode in and quietly said, “Cigarettes.”

In the cramped interior, amidst a tangle of goods, an old man with most of his face shrouded in shadows sat behind the counter.

Without so much as a shift in his posture, he asked in a low tone, “What do you want?”

Lu Xin replied, “The expensive ones.”

Fumbling in the dim light, the old man eventually tossed over a pack of cigarettes, “White General, ten bucks.”

“As expected, quite pricey…”

Lu Xin took the pack, lit one, and also grabbed a lighter directly from the counter.

Soon, the cigarette smoke began to subtly drift through the store, drawing his gaze to behind the counter.

Now adjusted to the dim light, he could clearly see the old man: a face etched with wrinkles, cloudy eyes, and slow, almost plastic-like movements—an image of a century-old man.

After tucking the cigarettes into his pocket, Lu Xin said, “I heard you sell Love Sticky Notes here?”

……

The old man barely reacted, as though he hadn’t heard a thing.

“That stuff is illegal,” came the muted reply.

Without waiting for an answer, Lu Xin stated firmly, “Since it can tamper with people’s memories, I’ve already reported it to Qinggang’s Special Pollution Cleanup Department. Now I have orders from Headquarters to seal your shop and take you away.”

Still, the old man offered no response.

Lu Xin gave him a once-over and resolved that, regardless of any reply, he would take him with him.

Though no overt sign of a mental monster was visible, Lu Xin sensed that something was profoundly off about the old man.

The man was ancient—the signs of decaying mental power were unmistakable.

If an ordinary person’s psychic strength measures ten units, this old man seemed to have scarcely two or three left.

The term ‘a flickering candle in the wind’ hardly captured his frailty better.

Yet amidst this withering psychic power, Lu Xin detected a faint, peculiar mental force.

It was like a burst of dazzling gold sneaking out from a tattered sack.

Despite the old man’s efforts to conceal it, such formidable psychic energy could not be entirely hidden.

……

“So, since you’re taking me back, does that mean I don’t have to pay for the cigarettes?”

Just as Lu Xin contemplated whether to cuff him or first deploy an Ability Inhibitor, a sudden voice cut through the air.

Frowning, he noticed a round object emerging from the shadows beside the old man.

To his surprise, it was a head—a youthful, handsome one, supported by a slender neck.

That neck had grown right out from the old man’s shoulder.

This bizarre growth made the old man appear as though he had two heads.

Squinting at the odd sight, Lu Xin murmured, “You really are troubled.”

“And the lighter…”

The youthful head spoke softly, its eyes locked onto Lu Xin from the dimness.

After a brief pause, Lu Xin pulled a gun from his bag, switched off the safety, and quietly asked, “Did you surrender immediately, or were you planning some kind of resistance?”

“Let me remind you, I don’t go easy. If I force you, you might not make it.”

……

The youthful head remained silent, as if contemplating, then said, “Honestly, I find it odd that I’ve been so cautious with barely any disturbance. With such deep-seated pollution, unless someone specifically searches for it, nothing seems amiss…”

“So, how did you detect it?”

……

Frowning, Lu Xin replied, “I uncovered it by investigating and questioning those two young people. Wasn’t that enough?”

……

After a moment’s pause, the youthful head said, “I really didn’t expect a powerful Ability User like you to be tailing two ordinary people over such a trivial matter, especially compared to other formidable Ability Users…”

“Don’t you think you’re straying too far off course?”

……

Lu Xin fell silent for a moment, at a loss for words.

Should he admit he was after 200,000 bucks?

“Single Soldier, can you hear me?”

At that moment, a voice came from the glasses’ arm—Chen Jing’s voice: “The lockdown is complete. You can proceed with the capture.”

“Heard,” Lu Xin replied, then looked up and suddenly reached for the slender neck, “Come with me!”

A swift “swish” accompanied his quick, assured grab.

His hand met with a smooth, slimy texture as it closed around the object.

With a strong tug, he pulled the head right before him.

Looking down, he noticed the youthful features contorting into a slight smile as the head said, “You’re powerful, and truly intimidating…”

“But unfortunately, you can’t catch me that way…”

Even as it spoke, the features on the head began to fade—as if a pencil sketch washed away from paper.

“I’ve always hidden within his memory. How can you possibly catch me now?”

……

As the final words faded, Lu Xin frowned and examined his palm.

There, the slender neck had transformed into a barely perceptible and feeble psychic force, while at its other end, it remained tethered to the old man’s diminishing mental power.

This was the old man’s fragile psychic strength, on the verge of vanishing.

And the strange force that had unnerved Lu Xin was rapidly dissipating from the old man.

Then, with a sudden rustle, layers of chaotic, jumbled psychic energy surged around him.

In his vision, strange, twisted hands broke through packaging boxes or flimsy wooden boards on the cluttered shelves beneath the counter, reaching out like contorted branches from all sides.

They emerged from various items—sticky notes, peculiar boxes, sharp knives—forming an eerie, distorted assault…

……Are these the bizarre goods in the store?

……Not only did that entity escape, it activated the parasitic psychic force attached to these items to attack him.

It wasn’t just an attack—it also sent all the scattered shelves tumbling down.

In an instant, Lu Xin and the old man were nearly engulfed.

……

‘Buzz’

Lu Xin frowned as an invisible psychic force burst forth, warping the surrounding air into a thick, twisted mass.

All those hands were snapped and obliterated by the distorted air.

Even the collapsing goods were promptly restored to their places by Lu Xin’s own psychic power.

For a brief moment, the entire store trembled as if struck by an earthquake, only to quickly revert to normal.

‘Ouch…’

Only then did the old man behind the counter, as if suddenly regaining clarity, timidly look up and ask, “Shopping?”

‘Awake?’

Lu Xin frowned, pulling out a ten-yuan bill and laying it in front of the old man before turning to leave.

Standing by the busy street, he pressed his hand against his glasses and reported, “It escaped. It seems to hide within people’s memories—without taking lives, catching it is nearly impossible.”

There was a brief silence.

“It doesn’t matter. It can’t escape,” came the follow-up.

Over the channel, Chen Jing chimed in without hesitation, “I’ve ordered the Doll to move—force it out.”