Chapter 4: Murder in Prison
Footsteps echoed in the silent corridor, growing louder and clearer until they stopped right outside Su Ze’s cell.
“As you wish, I’m here. Do you have anything to say?” Zhao Lingxiao’s voice came from outside. He glanced into the cell through the small window, but couldn’t see Su Ze’s figure.
Su Ze was currently crouched in a corner by the cell door, perfectly within Zhao Lingxiao’s blind spot. He didn’t even look towards the window. Having acquired Zhao Lingxiao’s memories, he knew that Zhao Lingxiao possessed a Tier 2 Mysterious Item – the Head of the W. Direct eye contact with it would likely result in death.
Mysterious Items are formed when certain abilities of an evolved life form, upon death, attach themselves to a piece of remains, creating an item with special powers. A Tier 2 Mysterious Item corresponds to a life form that has evolved twice, reaching the Cocoon Breaking stage. The Head of the W has the ability of mental attack. A mental attack at the Cocoon Breaking stage is enough to pose a fatal threat to Su Ze.
Su Ze knew that Zhao Lingxiao had come to kill him, or rather, he had forced Zhao Lingxiao to come and kill him. If Zhao Lingxiao didn’t come to kill him, he wouldn’t have a chance to escape. Su Ze’s current body had perfectly replicated Zhao Lingxiao’s skills. Although Zhao Lingxiao hadn’t completed his first evolution, he had consumed two tubes of extract and possessed two skills. However, both were Tier 1 skills, limited in power even at their strongest, and neither could kill Su Ze through a thick cell door. Therefore, Su Ze knew Zhao Lingxiao would need external aid to kill him.
The Head of the W was an excellent choice. Besides that, Zhao Lingxiao likely had other methods prepared. Just as Su Ze had predicted, Zhao Lingxiao stood at the cell door, one hand clutching the skull of some unknown animal. The eye sockets of the skull were pointed towards the window. If Su Ze’s face were to appear in the window, he would inevitably make eye contact with the skull and suffer the mental attack from this Tier 2 Mysterious Item.
However, what Zhao Lingxiao didn’t notice was a pale face appearing in the small window of the cell behind him, and a pair of blood-red eyes staring at him from the cell next to that.
Seeing that Su Ze wasn’t showing himself, Zhao Lingxiao spoke again, “You forced me to come here, but you won’t speak or show yourself. What exactly do you want?” He slowly reached into his pocket, where a small glass vial containing compressed yellow poison gas was kept. Given Zhao Lingxiao’s ruthless nature, he wouldn’t put himself in a passive position. He had a backup plan this time: the deadly gas. If the Head of the W couldn’t kill Su Ze, he would use the poison. In such a confined cell, poisoning would undoubtedly be fatal!
However, the commotion caused by poisoning would be too great. It wouldn’t just leave traces, but if the gas spread to other cells, it might kill other inmates. Zhao Lingxiao naturally didn’t care about the lives of other inmates. However, when his father, Zhao Yuan Yi, communicated with the Warden of Rock Prison, he only asked for a meal to be delivered to his son and promised many benefits, which earned him this chance for a visit. Otherwise, Rock Prison strictly prohibited visits.
To avoid leaving any evidence of himself violating the rules by allowing visits, the Warden of Rock Prison had ordered his subordinates to alter the surveillance footage. Therefore, Zhao Lingxiao was reluctant to resort to poisoning, fearing the consequences if too many inmates died. Killing only Su Ze could be covered up by claiming he committed suicide out of guilt. If too many inmates died, even the Warden would have trouble explaining it to his superiors.
Zhao Lingxiao’s patience was dwindling. His father had only secured him fifteen minutes for this visit. If Su Ze didn’t show himself soon, he would have to resort to poisoning. He absolutely could not allow Su Ze to live until morning.
At this moment, Su Ze finally spoke. He knew that if he delayed any longer, Zhao Lingxiao would have more tricks up his sleeve. “I just believe that the innocent should be redeemed, and the guilty should be punished.” Zhao Lingxiao chuckled, unsurprised by Su Ze’s words. Just as he had guessed, Su Ze threatening him to come here was nothing more than a final struggle before death, a plea for help. However, what puzzled him was that Su Ze’s speech was somewhat slurred, but Zhao Lingxiao didn’t think much of it.
“If you want to live, I have a way,” Zhao Lingxiao said, his voice seductive. “Come closer, and I’ll tell youdetails.”
“Okay.” Su Ze lowered his gaze, puffing out his cheeks. He slowly moved his body towards the small window of the cell, something unidentifiable in his mouth.
At this moment, Zhao Lingxiao pushed aside the latch on the small window, moving the Head of the W he was holding back slightly to prevent Su Ze from discovering it. Su Ze’s eyes, however, remained fixed on the ground. When he was only one step away from the window, he even closed his eyes. He sniffed and detected a pungent perfume coming from the window. He found it strange, as he knew Zhao Lingxiao didn’t usually wear perfume.
Su Ze didn’t have time to ponder this. He suddenly lunged towards the window and spat a small mouthful of fresh blood out, splattering it beyond the small window.
Simultaneously, he seemed to hear a mournful wail in his mind, causing him to instinctively feel fear and a chill run down his spine. His mind became somewhat hazy. Even with his eyes closed, when Su Ze was face-to-face with the Head of the W, he still suffered the attack from this Tier 2 Mysterious Item, although closing his eyes greatly weakened its intensity.
On the other side, as the mouthful of blood Su Ze spat flew through the air, it instantly condensed into a blood arrow and shot towards Zhao Lingxiao’s throat. This was the Vampire’s ability to control blood, transforming it into a weapon for a fatal surprise attack on Zhao Lingxiao. As soon as Su Ze detected Zhao Lingxiao’s arrival, he had bitten his lip and held a mouthful of blood.
Zhao Lingxiao was completely unprepared and had no time to react. He hastily took a step back, but the blood arrow struck him directly in the face, piercing his mask and entering his brain directly through his nose. Blood gushed out of Zhao Lingxiao’s face like a fountain.
With a thud, Zhao Lingxiao collapsed, and the Head of the W rolled out of his hand. Su Ze gasped for air, breaking free from the attack of the Head of the W. Apart from a slightly pale complexion, he was unharmed. However, that mental attack seemed to have triggered another chain of memories in his mind, and many sealed memories surged forth, greatly shaking Su Ze!
Su Ze knew that his memory had been blocked for a month. He had only unlocked a small segment before, but now, with the mental attack from the Head of the W, all his other memories were also unlocked. It was a blessing in disguise. “No wonder the father and son of the Zhao family wanted to block my memory for this month…” Su Ze’s brow furrowed unconsciously. Even a cursory glance at these memories made him feel the situation was troublesome and complicated. “I’ll sort through these memories later. The urgent matter now is to escape.”
Su Ze peered out the small window and saw Zhao Lingxiao lying on the ground, undeniably dead. However, the blood flowing from him had all vanished without a trace, even the bloodstains on his clothes were gone. Fresh blood continued to fly from Zhao Lingxiao’s body towards the Vampire’s cell. Su Ze heard a groan of comfort from the adjoining cell. Needless to say, the blood was being consumed by the Vampire.
Su Ze suddenly felt a sweetness in his mouth. The wound on his lip, caused by biting himself, was now bleeding faster, and this blood flew out of his mouth and also towards the cell next door. The Vampire chuckled, “Thank you for your escape plan. However, your part in the plan is finished. Now you can obediently go and die!”
