Tentacles could change a person's hair and facial features, but they couldn't change their height and build.
As luck would have it, the physical build of the Bureau agent retreating from the thick smoke was indeed very similar to Xia Jie's.
Even if his height was hard to estimate because of his limp, at a time like this, instead of continuing to block and seal off the area to prevent the enemy's escape, or withdrawing toward the hospital to seek medical assistance, he was instead quietly retreating toward the outer perimeter alone...
This choice was highly suspicious to anyone who saw it.
Yu Jin did not dare to be careless, immediately directing red-haired Yu Jin to follow him.
If the other party was an ally, the disguised red-haired Yu Jin could provide assistance; if the other party was Xia Jie, it would help Yu Jin get what he so desperately wanted.
Helping him settle a blood debt.
Red-haired Yu Jin set off immediately. Bypassing the crowded main entrance of the hospital, he slipped out through the side window of a clinic. Guided by the vision of the main body of Yu Jin upstairs, he locked onto the suspicious agent who had already dashed across the street and vanished into the complex of buildings opposite the hospital.
As the two figures vanished from his sight one after the other, Yu Jin's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
He wondered if, if the target really was Xia Jie, red-haired Yu Jin alone could take him down. If not, the optimal solution right now was definitely not pursuing him alone, but immediately notifying the Bureau.
However, none of the Special Response Squad members in the thick smoke had withdrawn; they seemed absolutely certain that Xia Jie was still hiding in the haze.
This made Yu Jin increasingly curious about the identity of the agent who had slipped out of the perimeter.
While keeping an eye on the battle in the front courtyard, he received the visual and auditory information shared with him by red-haired Yu Jin.
There were many onlookers watching from afar in the streets and alleys opposite. The retreating agent had chosen his route well, avoiding the vast majority of people and turning into an empty alleyway.
Red-haired Yu Jin was highly experienced. Keeping a moderate distance, he waited for the other party to turn the corner, counted to several seconds in his mind, and then followed.
However, when he also turned into that lane, he found a dead end looming right in front of him!
What was more, deep within this dead end, the injured agent who had just withdrawn stood tall. Free from any of his previous staggering posture, he was unhurriedly cleaning the bloodstains off his body.
With his back turned to red-haired Yu Jin, he took off his bloodstained coat, revealing an inner shirt as pristine as new, without a single wound.
As if to let Yu Jin see clearly, he even threw the entire coat onto the ground and stretched, showing off the contours of his back.
The primary Yu Jin back in the hospital felt his pupils shrink as he watched, instinctively saying:
“Be careful!”
Red-haired Yu Jin was also taken aback, before letting out a disdainful scoff.
“So you were waiting for me?”
A trace of irritation welled up between his brows, feeling as though he was being underestimated.
The agent at the end of the alley turned his head halfway, casting a sideways glance at the person behind him. In an amused and playful tone, he mocked:
“So, are you satisfied with the graveyard you've chosen for yourself, you ignorant pig?”
With that, he stopped hiding. Right before Yu Jin's eyes, he spun his head a full 180 degrees. The skin of his entire face suddenly split open, and countless tentacles erupted from his flesh, swaying and waving in the air as if greeting an old acquaintance.
The bone blades on his wrists also gradually slid out, dropping to the ground like venomous snakes coiled around a tree, raising their heads and flicking their poisonous tongues.
“!!!”
Seeing this, red-haired Yu Jin's pupils shrank, and the irritation in his eyes instantly ignited.
Yu Jin, who was in the hospital, was even less able to suppress his burning rage. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed out the name he had “yearned for day and night” from the depths of his throat:
“Xia... Jie!”
Excessive rage made Yu Jin's entire body tremble. He wished he could grab a gun right now and rush over to support his other self.
As for red-haired Yu Jin, he wasted no breath. In the face of Xia Jie's provocation, he responded in kind.
He shed his disguise and reverted to Yu Jin's appearance. Sparks of anger ignited the tips of his hair, and in the blink of an eye, a streak of crimson blazed atop his head.
His entire face slowly split open, and two tentacles extended from beneath his eyes to hook the corners of his mouth into a bizarre smile. Then, with a casual flick, he threw out the bone blades from his wrists, letting the bone snakes wrap around his shoulders with glaring eyes, looking at his opponent together as he spoke:
“If a child is disobedient, they need more education.
What your parents don't teach you, society will.
What society doesn't teach you, the law will.
And what even the law doesn't teach, your Brother Yu will teach you personally.”
With that, red-haired Yu Jin kicked off the ground and burst forward, charging toward Xia Jie like an arrow shot from a bow.
This scene was a near-perfect replica of the moment Yu Jin crashed into Xia Jie in that previous Nightmare Disaster dream. Only back then, Yu Jin's reach had been too short, and he couldn't hit his opponent.
But now...
“Clang—Clang—Clang-clang-clang—”
Two identical bone blades clashed fiercely, producing sounds like metal striking metal.
Blade edges sawed and tore back and forth; blood sprayed, and sparks flew. If there had been any onlookers nearby, they would have realized that there were no longer two people in the alleyway—only afterimages remained in the air.
Their clash was like Mars colliding with Earth from the very start. There was no retreating, no hesitation, and no holding back. Every strike lunged straight for a vital point, and every move was a life-for-life trade.
Every time a bone blade flicked out, it dragged out a splash of blood; every time the tentacles strangled, they tore away a patch of skin and flesh. Though it was only their first exchange, a rain of mingled blood and flesh had already begun to fall in the alley.
“Interesting.
Your bone blades are mine, your tentacles are mine, and everything you have comes from me. If a person truly has parents, shouldn't I be your parent?”
Xia Jie's face was filled with ferocity, blood running unchecked across his eyes. Reflected in his venomous pupils was Yu Jin's red hair, looking increasingly eerie.
With one slash, he parried Yu Jin's close-range strike. The tentacles covering his face shot forward like furious arrows, and he pressed forward, forcing his opponent back step by step.
“No one knows a son better than his father. You're copying me, so how can you defeat me?
Huh?
Hahaha! Saying you're stupid is really spot on.
A stupid pig like you deserves to die!”
Xia Jie swung his bone blade violently with immense force, hacking down onto Yu Jin's blade and forcing it down several inches.
Yu Jin's counterattack was equally fierce, whipping straight upward without dodging or parrying.
But this time, the opponent's bone blade was not sent flying like before. Instead, using the point of contact as a pivot, the tip of the blade abruptly altered its trajectory. Like a scorpion thrusting its stinger, it whipped around in a sharp reverse curve, stabbing straight toward Yu Jin's chest.
Red-haired Yu Jin's gaze narrowed. Seeing the blade tip coming as fast as a shooting arrow with no way to dodge, he made a split-second decision to trade life for life.
If one Yu Jin died, there was still another.
But how many lives did Xia Jie have?
Letting out a disdainful sneer, he left his front wide open, allowing the opponent to aim straight for his chest, while his own bone blade whipped upward in the exact same manner, stabbing directly toward Xia Jie's neck.
Xia Jie did not mind trading injury for injury, but he clearly didn't want to trade life for life.
Seeing that his opponent was determined to drag him down to hell even in death, his pupils contracted. The tentacles on his face rapidly coiled downward, deflecting the blade in front of his neck slightly at the painful cost of countless broken tentacles. At the same time, his bone blade whipped against Yu Jin's shoulder, using the recoil to leap backward and put some distance between them.
Seeing the other party back down, the mockery on red-haired Yu Jin's face deepened. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he said with extreme sarcasm:
“You seem to have forgotten how your father died.
In this day and age, if the son cannot surpass the father, and the disciple cannot surpass the master, wouldn't that mean we're regressing?
Indeed, my bone blades and tentacles all come from you. You have ‘taught’ me much, but today, it's my turn to teach you.
Xia Jie, your life will be my thank-you gift to my ‘teacher’.”
Xia Jie's eyelid twitched.
The look of pure malice he directed at Yu Jin showed that he wished he could devour him whole.
He seemed to regret why he hadn't just gambled with Yu Jin just now to see who would die first, but then he began to laugh again—laughing wildly and without restraint.
“What a sharp tongue.
But what's the use of talking?
Since I could kill you twice, I can kill you a third time.
Are you ready to die, you stupid pig?”
Before his voice had even faded, Xia Jie charged once more. Red-haired Yu Jin had no time to think and raised his blade to meet the enemy. Soon, the two of them were locked in battle again.
Affected by the battle, the primary Yu Jin still back in the hospital felt his adrenaline surge, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. If he weren't leaning against the wall, he might have collapsed to the floor.
Yet at this moment, his trembling did not stem entirely from the intensity of the fight, but also from a silently exploding wave of shock and suspicion!
What did Xia Jie just say?
I could kill you twice?!
When had he ever killed him twice?
Yes, in that previous Nightmare Disaster dream, he indeed had killed him twice. But that was a dream!
That Xia Jie was merely an enemy created by his own imagination in a dream!
If the Xia Jie in the alleyway was the real Xia Jie, how could he possibly know what had happened in that dream?!
But if he wasn't the real Xia Jie...
Then who was he?!
...
Rate on N.U.
