Chapter 167: Blade

Facing the five monsters, each drooling incessantly and eyeing him like prey, Lei Yin’s heart was as calm as still water. Yet, beneath this tranquility, an unexplainable excitement churned, like an undercurrent in a deep abyss, quietly flowing beneath an undisturbed surface.

Throughout thousands of years of reincarnation, he had constantly watched his loved ones and friends age and pass away. This pain was far too profound to be summed up with a simple sigh. To alleviate this relentless loneliness, he had devoted himself to the practice of martial arts, which became his sole spiritual solace.

However, after attaining the pinnacle of swordsmanship, even before he was struck by lightning and transformed into a spiritual being, it had already become exceedingly difficult for him to find a worthy opponent. With the progression of time, the widespread use of firearms further contributed to the decline of martial arts, making the pursuit of a powerful adversary an increasingly elusive goal.

Although he had grown accustomed to surpassing himself, deep down, he still yearned for an opponent who could truly match him. Thus, when he first encountered the psychic user Chiyama Genjiro, he had hoped for a duel.

He often remarked that Lei Li was a battle maniac, but he knew in his heart that he was the true warmonger. The prerequisite, however, was that the opponent had to possess the strength to challenge him.

In the dimly lit hall, the five experimental subjects appeared disoriented, their beastly instincts unsettled by the lights. Yet, their overwhelming hunger overshadowed everything else. To them, the man before them was nothing more than fresh meat.

The first to charge at him was a towering experimental subject with reddish-brown fur. As it dashed forward, it left a conspicuous trail of saliva behind.

Following closely behind were two more of its kind. Behind them trailed another two experimental subjects resembling werewolves, each covered in yellowish-brown fur.

Like a pack of beasts competing for food, the five experimental subjects rushed forward. Unlike typical beasts, however, they maintained a certain distance from one another, showing no signs of internal conflict.

Ayano Eiko, who had been hiding at the tunnel entrance, began to regret not forcefully pulling that reckless man into the tunnel earlier. Though she disliked his arrogant attitude, she could not deny that he had helped her significantly and even saved her life once.

Let this be repaying a debt of gratitude.

As the five monsters charged at Lei Yin, Eiko gritted her teeth, gripped her submachine gun, and dashed out of the tunnel.

In terms of distance, Eiko was closer to Lei Yin, but the experimental subjects were far quicker. When she was still over 50 meters away, the monsters had already reached the man. At this point, all she could do was attempt to intervene before he was torn apart.

Then, she saw the man, who had been standing still, suddenly move.

Because his back was turned to her, she couldn’t see what he did. All she noticed was a faint movement of his hand.

The next moment, the reddish-brown creature that had been less than two meters from him abruptly collapsed to the ground.

It didn’t fall entirely at once—only its upper half toppled over. Its lower body, after taking two more steps, finally followed. This bizarre scene occurred because the creature had been severed at the waist mid-charge.

The sequence, from the creature’s upper half hitting the ground to its lower half collapsing, happened within a single second. Eiko had no idea what had just transpired.

But there was no time to think, as the remaining four monsters were already upon the man.

The man moved with an ease that seemed utterly casual, yet his speed was astonishingly fast, sidestepping the four monsters and avoiding direct confrontation.

Finally, Ayano Eiko saw his actions clearly. But as before, all she could perceive was his hand moving slightly.

Just one subtle motion, yet she knew what he had done.

He had struck one of the monsters closest to him with his blade.

She didn’t see the blade itself—only the glint of light that flashed for an instant.

Eiko had no words to describe the strike, and she doubted anyone else could either.

The only feeling she had was that around this man, both space and time seemed to be split apart by that single stroke.

It was an utterly absurd sensation, akin to the dreamlike state of witnessing something incomprehensible just before waking up. Yet at this moment, such absurdity was the only way she could explain what she saw.

Once again, she witnessed a scene eerily similar to the first. The upper body of the monster closest to him was severed cleanly from its lower half. Momentum carried its legs forward for another step before it collapsed into a pool of blood.

Ayano Eiko was utterly shaken by the terrifying power of this strike.

She had been a member of her university’s kendo club and even held a third-dan rank, but what she had just witnessed was beyond anything her understanding of swordsmanship could grasp. It defied common sense entirely.

Even bloodthirsty beasts possess a degree of intelligence, and the experimental subjects were not purely animals. Until recently, they had been ordinary humans—though now stripped of their humanity.

Upon seeing two of their kind inexplicably fall before this man, the remaining three monsters showed visible fear in their eyes. They immediately retreated a step, keeping him fixed in their gaze.

Lei Yin regarded them calmly and said in a measured tone in Chinese, “If any shred of your humanity remains, you wouldn’t want to continue living like this, would you? Let me free you from this existence.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Yin surged forward with speed no less impressive than that of the experimental subjects, targeting the werewolf-like monster on the far right.

Caught off guard, the monster instinctively extended its claws to slash at the man who had suddenly appeared before it. Simultaneously, the other two experimental subjects sprang into action, seizing the opportunity to attack Lei Yin’s exposed back.

This coordinated and opportunistic attack was not the behavior of mindless beasts, indicating that the experimental subjects retained fragments of human intelligence.

Seeing Lei Yin surrounded by three monsters, Eiko’s heart tightened once more.

Then, she witnessed another impossible scene.

Just as the werewolf’s claws were about to strike him, the man suddenly crouched, lowering himself by half a body’s height. In the same fluid motion, he swung his blade horizontally.

It felt like watching a magic show. A flash of white light, almost illusory, swept effortlessly through the body of the werewolf-like monster, then through the second experimental subject behind it. Finally, the long blade came to a silent halt half a meter away from the third monster.

The faint white light didn’t dissipate with the blade’s pause. Instead, it lingered, forming a glowing line that connected all three creatures’ bodies.

Once again, the sensation that time and space were being sliced apart by the blade shook Eiko’s very soul.

With two soft “plop” sounds, the two monsters that had leapt from the side collapsed mid-air, their bodies splitting cleanly in two like broken puppets.

The werewolf that had extended its claws showed no immediate reaction. It continued roaring, poised to lunge at the man again. But as it moved, its body finally succumbed to the violent twist, splitting apart just as the others had.

Although all five monsters had been severed at the waist, their formidable physical structures kept them from dying immediately. Instead, they writhed and howled in agony on the ground, their screams echoing through the hall and sending shivers down the spine. To end their suffering, Lei Yin had no choice but to deliver a final strike to each of their hearts.

He hadn’t intended to use such a cruel method, one that caused prolonged suffering. However, these experimental subjects, possibly due to genetic mutations, were each over two meters tall, far larger than the first werewolf-like creature he had encountered. Targeting their waists was simply the most practical option.

After sheathing his broad-backed blade, Lei Yin exhaled softly. Although he had emerged victorious, there was no joy in his heart.

In close combat, any one of these experimental subjects could have matched him evenly. But with a blade in his hand, the fight became nothing more than a one-sided slaughter—against opponents who had already lost their self-awareness. The thought of this left him deeply unsettled.

“Let’s move. Time is running out,” Lei Yin said as he turned to Ayano Eiko.

As they moved through the tunnel, Eiko followed behind him, her gaze fixed on his back with a mix of awe and complexity.

Even now, she hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of what she had witnessed. It was hard to imagine that such terrifying martial prowess could exist in the world.

After running for about ten minutes, they finally reached the end of the tunnel.

Before them was a heavy iron door. Instead of opening it immediately, Lei Yin rapped on the door five times with the butt of his gun. Then, he stepped over to a small keypad beside the door and punched in a series of numbers. Once he finished, a metallic clank sounded from above the door.

With a slight push, Lei Yin opened the door, revealing a narrow space beyond.

“The exit is up the ladder. There’s no light here, so be careful,” he said. After speaking, he casually closed the iron door behind them and began climbing the ladder at a steady pace.

When the policewoman climbed up after him, she found herself surrounded by a lush, grassy area with trees growing densely nearby. Turning to look at the exit they had just emerged from, she realized it was the entrance to a sewer.

“Where are we?” she asked Lei Yin, who stood beside her.

“About two kilometers from Ikeyama Toshi’s mansion, on a golf course.”

Only now did Eiko fully grasp that the underground complex was far larger than she had imagined.

Noticing her thoughts, Lei Yin explained, “The main part of the basement isn’t actually that big. The escape tunnel was deliberately built this long to make it easier to flee in an emergency.”

Recalling his detailed knowledge of the basement, Eiko fixed her eyes on him again. “Who exactly are you?”

“I’m not going to tell you. All you need to know is that I’m not on their side.” With that, Lei Yin suddenly clapped his hands.

Eiko looked at him in confusion, but before she could ask anything, three fully armed men, their faces covered with black cloth, emerged from the surrounding bushes.

Startled by their sudden appearance, Eiko instinctively drew her gun.

“They’re here to pick us up,” Lei Yin said calmly. Then he turned to the three men and asked, “What about him?”

“He’s been subdued and is locked in the car,” one of the men replied.

“Good. Let’s go.”

The three men immediately began leading the way. After a moment’s hesitation, Eiko holstered her gun and followed them.

The group of five walked until they reached a nearby road, where two vehicles were parked and waiting.

As they passed the first car, Ayano Eiko was surprised to see the middle-aged man named Eguchi lying tied up in the back seat. Next to him sat another man with his face covered by a black cloth.

“Hurry and get in. We still have a few loose ends to tie up,” Lei Yin said as he opened the rear door of the second car and called out to the dazed Ayano Eiko.

She glanced at him briefly, then slowly walked over and got in.

The two cars eventually stopped in a discreet spot near Ikeyama Toshi’s mansion in Tokyo.

In truth, even if they had parked right in front of the mansion’s main entrance, no one would have noticed. The scene outside was far more chaotic than it had been during the earlier party.

Fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, news vans, and luxury cars of all kinds were gathered outside. People were running back and forth in every direction.

Though a full-blown fire hadn’t erupted, the massive five-story mansion bore two glaringly obvious blast marks on its upper levels, starkly visible even in the dim light.

Someone had dared to bomb the Tokyo Governor’s residence?

Aside from the firefighters working tirelessly to clean up the scene, reporters and curious onlookers swarmed the area like locusts. Despite the late hour, reporters eager to get firsthand information were conducting live broadcasts on-site.

As the chaos grew, even the newly appointed police commissioner and several politicians arrived. No sooner had they stepped onto the scene than they were surrounded by reporters wielding microphones.

“Commissioner, do you think this incident was the work of terrorists?”

“Mr. Hiroyama, could you share your thoughts on this matter?”

“Sorry, I’ve just arrived and don’t know the details. Please make way.”

“Have you found Governor Ikeyama yet? Was he killed in the explosion?”

“Excuse me, please let me through.”

Unbothered by the war-like scene outside, Ayano Eiko removed her earpiece and turned to Lei Yin. “Is this tape really a recording of Ikeyama Toshi’s own voice?”

“Can’t you recognize his voice by now?”

“Why would he confess everything so readily?”

“Don’t concern yourself with that. What I can guarantee is that this tape is genuine.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Eiko knew he had brought her here with a specific purpose in mind.

“It’s simple. Do what a police officer is supposed to do—expose the truth. Now is the perfect opportunity because all the evidence is still in the basement, and you also have Ikeyama Toshi’s recording. If you lead the reporters and your colleagues to search the site, everything will come to light. That’s also why I didn’t let you kill Ikeyama Toshi. Act now, or the evidence will be moved, and you’ll lose your chance for revenge.”

“You’re saying I should expose this in front of all these reporters right now?”

“Exactly. If you don’t make a big deal out of this, any one of the high-ranking officials here could shut you down. It’s also for your safety and your family’s. The tape you’re holding names some incredibly powerful people. If they find out you have it, they’ll kill you to silence you. This is your only chance.”

Eiko lowered her head and thought for a long time before finally opening the car door.

Lei Yin watched her retreating figure as she walked further and further away, a smile forming on his face.