The woman’s unique beauty was seductive and intense, it carried an alluring scent of blood with it. One would die and bleed for a glimpse of her face. With a curl of her lips, she managed to make the blood mist around her pale in comparison. The ugly and horrid half of the pig’s mask formed a great contrast to the fair and flawless skin. It left a deep impact on anyone who came across it. The single-eyed monster saw the smile on the woman’s face too. Its growling weakened. The red eye reflected the woman’s beautiful image. The crooked mouth leaked with blackish red blood as it exposed uneven teeth stuck with rotting meat. It took a step forward but realized the woman’s gaze still hadn’t wandered over to it. Then something dawned on the monster, it turned to look behind it.
Just as the monster turned its neck around, the woman in the mist suddenly picked up speed without any warning. With the blood mist coiling around her, and the darkest curse mixed into it, the table knife that was as thin as a butterfly wing flew forward in a red straight line. The line appeared sharp enough to cut through the whole dirty world.
Bang! The heavy cleaver barely managed to block the table knife, the giant rebound caused the woman to tumble backwards but then that did not deter her. Her body twisted with manoeuvres that were humanly impossible. The table knife in her hand split into many different knives. The pig-faced monster had no idea where they came from. It had only blocked the woman’s first cut but the knife flickered backwards to bloom in a steel flower. The blades cut at the black veins that run through the pig-faced monster’s arms. Blood squirted out like streams as the woman landed gracefully on the ground. Holding the table knife, the way she studied the pig-faced monster was like how a chef would look at his ingredients.
Different from the pig-faced monster’s brutal and mad attacks, the woman’s attack was calculated and accurate. She only aimed at the monster’s weak points. Based on the cuts she delivered, it appeared like she planned to flay the creature alive. This was probably how the best chef kept their ingredients as fresh as possible. She prepared her ingredient and only delivered death at the last possible moment.
With one eye blinded, a wound on his chest, the 3 metres tall monster was a bumbling fool before the woman, it was more like a piece of fatty meat on the chopping block. The blood moisturized the air around the alley. The blood mist thickened further. The monster’s movement slowed down eventually. It realized that it was not a match for the woman, not when it was already injured. If it continued this battle, death was only a matter of time. With a retreat plan in its mind, its action leaned more towards the defensive.
When the pig-faced monster forced the woman back one more time, it turned around and ran without hesitation. The woman though was very receptive and agile. Only by running at full speed that it would have a chance at survival. The monster who killed for purpose was now being hunted. The brain which was dominated by hunger now worried that it would be served on the dining table and became the food to ease other people’s hunger. With its full attention on the woman, the monster did not notice that there was a pair of emotionless eyes which was following the vein on its neck from the dark corner of the alley.
The trundling footsteps approached. Han Fei who laid in ambush had been waiting a long time for this. Han Fei never claimed himself to be a kind and forgiving person. In the cryptic world, forgiveness would only be repaid with cruelty. If you hoped for kindness, this was not the game for you. Therefore, if you had to go after someone, you had to make sure that the prey was dead by the end of it. There shouldn’t be any mercy, because if mercy was given, the person would only return seeking vengeance.
That was the mistake the pig-faced monster had made. The brain which was consumed by hunger caused it to make this rookie mistake. If it had waited at the spot for Han Fei to return, then it would have killed Han Fei easily, unfortunately it did not take advantage of that opportunity. Now that the table had turned, Han Fei was not going to make the same mistake it made. When the pig-faced monster was fighting the woman, Han Fei was already gauging the distance between himself and the monster. He had simulated the action that he was supposed to take next multiple times in his mind as well.
Han Fei had considered every kind of circumstance. He adjusted his breathing, and silenced his breath. He disappeared into the pile of dead carcasses that littered the alley. The heavy footsteps came closer and closer, accompanied by the stinging smell of blood and decomposition. The pig-faced monster raced into the fork in the alley. It didn’t have the timing to care about the opening wound on its chest. Its guts poured out and the monster trampled over them. Blood carved out a trail in its wake. Resisting the pain from its body, the only thought in its mind was, Run!
With its attention understandably taken by the woman behind it, the pig-faced monster forgot to assess its surroundings. How could the brain which operated on mere hunger comprehend human cunningness? When the pig-faced monster neared the fork which seemed perfectly safe, a figure suddenly lunged out from the thick darkness!
Han Fei calculated the time perfectly, everything was well within his plan, including the pig-faced monster’s reaction to his appearance. He even predicted how the monster would react when it first saw him. “Die!” The black anaconda already crawled into the ghost tattoo. Ignoring the possible damage to his body, Han Fei’s murderous intent gushed forward like a wave. It could no longer be contained!
The body empowered by the ghost tattoo radiated thick negative energy. Han Fei leaped into the air and made the monster’s thick neck his target. With his eyes fixed on the fatal spot, Han Fei flew at his fastest speed and plunged the bone-paring knife into the monster’s neck!
“Ah!” With veins bulging on his arms, Han Fei pumped the knife deeper into the monster’s flesh. He wanted to sever the head off fully but he was still too weak to manage that. The bone-paring knife was stuck half-way through the monster’s neck. The large pig-faced monster raised the even larger cleaver. This reaction was within Han Fei’s calculation as well. Since he knew he wouldn’t be able to pull out the bone-paring knife easily, he let go of the hilt and left the blade inside the monster’s neck.
The bone-paring knife was the home of a dead family of six. The souls who were murdered by pig-faced monsters naturally had an intense hatred towards them. The shattered bone-paring knife wasn't sharp, the sharpness came from the hatred. As long as the blade was left inside the monster’s body, the hatred from the blade would continue to weaken it. The monster who only had fleeing in its mind did not expect an ambush from a former enemy in the shadows. The butchers in Cattle Alley normally worked in solitude but the duo that it encountered today appeared to be working in perfect tandem.
The wound on its chest was tearing open, its one eye was blinded and now there was a blade stuck in its neck, no matter how sturdy the pig-faced monster was, it would be reaching its end soon. Its running speed gradually slowed. When the blood mist surrounded it, the eye underneath the mask showed fear for the first time. “You too know the meaning of fear?” Han Fei already finished the work he set out to do. He rapidly retreated. Crimson fog swallowed the alley. Stepping on the monster’s blood, the woman in half mask arrived like a beautiful death.
She moved very fast. The pig-faced monster could barely put up any resistance as the woman continued to lay more wounds on its body. The joints connecting its arms and legs were being sliced through. The monster’s cleaver fell to the ground with a thud. The woman appeared to be cutting along the vein of the muscles. Even during the heat of battle, she managed to find the gap between the tendons and joints easily. She was truly a master butcher. Who knew how many living creatures she had butchered to perfect a skill as masterful as this?
There was an arresting beauty to her slaughter. It was like a painting done in blood. Han Fei hugged the black anaconda which had slithered out from the ghost tattoo and was mesmerized by what he saw. The woman in half a mask paced in the bloody rain. She flitted like a butterfly around the monster, flaying through skin and slicing through flesh. The pig-faced monster was still squealing in pain but there was nothing else it could do.
‘This whole scene is so maddening and cruel but how come all I can see is an indescribable beauty?’ The woman attacked the pig-faced monster before it was about to spot Han Fei. She did not want the monster to get close to Han fei but she did not allow herself to get close to Han Fei either. This strange behaviour confused Han Fei. As the pig-faced took its last breath, he walked out from the darkness and voluntarily approached the woman. But to his surprise, hearing his approach, the woman stopped her butchering. She rapidly retreated and wreathed herself in the blood mist.
With the single-eyed monster’s disintegrating body between them, Han Fei and the woman stood on opposite ends of the alley. After a moment of hesitation, Han Fei called out that name. “Xu Qin?”
The woman did not shake or nod her head. She merely pointed at her mask and signalled for Han Fei to stay away. The woman appeared to be in a state of madness. Even at his distance, Han Fei could feel the heavy scent of blood and malice that came off her. Her dress was soaked in blood and her eyes under the mask were filled with curse. She was at the edge of losing control. This reminded Han Fei of what happened before. The curse could bring Xu Qin power but it would also take away her true self. Only by endless consumption that she could retain her rationality.
Han Fei knew the difficulty Xu Qin faced but he still took steps forward. It was very simple reasoning that he had. When faced with a problem, two heads were better than one.
Seeing Han Fei approach, the woman folded herself deeper into the mist. She pointed to the mask again. The mask appeared to have grown out of her face.
“You’re not letting me get close because of the mask?” Han Fei took out a broken mask from his pocket. He turned to the woman in the blood and raised the mask to his face. “If that’s the problem, then I will join you. We’ll be monsters together.” Pressing the switch in his mind, Han Fei silenced his own memory and emotions. He was ready to put on the mask. But just as the mask was about to touch his skin, the blood mist surged towards him and a sharp blade flicked the mask away from his grasp.
Seeing the shard of the mask in his fingers, Han Fei raised his head. The woman in red dress had materialized before him.
