Chapter 201: Massage

“How are those two brothers?”

“They’re fine? That’s good. Tell them not to worry, as I don’t don’t blame them. After all, they couldn’t have dealt with someone like that.”

“Thank you for taking care of it. Goodbye.”

After hanging up, Lei Yin clenched his fist tightly.

Damn it, what is that woman up to?

Half an hour later, Lei Yin’s phone rang.

The moment he answered, a charming, seductive voice came through: “Hi, darling, have you missed me?”

Lei Yin struggled to resist the impulse to curse her out and forced a smile as he said, “I’ve never missed you so much.”

“That’s a relief. I was afraid you’d forget me. You cold-hearted guy, my hand still hurts from what you did.”

Lei Yin had no patience left to banter with her. “Why did you take Kazumi?”

“Masashi, that’s not like you to ask.”

“What do you want?”

“I only want you.”

Lei Yin felt a headache coming on. This woman truly had a knack for driving people insane.

“Tell me the location, I’m coming now.”

“You really care about your sister, don’t you? It’s making me a little jealous. Well, come on over, but remember, it has to be just you. You know, someone as shy as me could do things I can’t control if there are too many people.”

After giving the address, Sasako hung up.

Lei Yin muttered a curse under his breath and immediately left his apartment.

Riding his motorcycle to the location Sasako had mentioned, Lei Yin began to take in his surroundings.

It was a rural park about an hour’s drive from his apartment. In a place like Tokyo, where land was more valuable than gold, parks like this were rare and usually located in the suburbs. On holidays, many families would come here for picnics to enjoy the natural atmosphere. But now, the place was eerily quiet, almost like a graveyard, as if monsters could appear at any moment.

Suddenly, a ringtone rang out without warning. Most people would have jumped, but Lei Yin didn’t even blink. He casually picked up the phone and answered.

“Darling, are you here yet?”

“Just arrived. Please don’t call me ‘darling.’” Lei Yin knew she was probably watching him, or she wouldn’t have known he had just arrived.

A light laugh came from the other end. “You’re too much. I didn’t expect you to be so shy. You’ve practically touched every part of my body, and now you’re saying these cold words. It’s really unfair.”

Lei Yin didn’t have time to flirt. He asked, “Where are you now?”

“Geez, ignoring me again. Fine, I’ll wait until we meet to take it up with you. Now, head left and follow that path until you reach the end. You’ll find a pond there, and across it is an old house. That’s where I am. Come on, don’t make me wait too long.”

After hanging up, Lei Yin immediately followed her directions.

While walking, he discreetly used the phone in his hand to dial a number. When the call connected, he didn’t press it to his ear; instead, he tapped on the phone’s casing with his finger at a slow and deliberate pace.

Not long after, he spotted the old house across the pond that she had mentioned.

This was an old two-story house provided by the park for tourists to take shelter from the rain. When Lei Yin arrived at the door, he immediately sensed someone upstairs.

Although the first floor was dark, Lei Yin moved up to the second floor without any obstruction, guided by the moonlight outside.

Once on the second floor, he didn’t see anyone, so he continued up to the rooftop.

When he reached the rooftop, he saw Sasako sitting gracefully on a chair with her legs crossed, smiling at him. Next to her, in another chair, was Kazumi, her hands tied behind the chair and her mouth gagged with a cloth.

Upon seeing Lei Yin, Kazumi’s eyes were filled with worry and urgency.

The moonlight tonight was bright, allowing everyone to see clearly even without lights.

“Masashi, you’re here,” Sasako said, her tone like a wife speaking to her husband returning home from work.

After casting a glance at Kazumi, Lei Yin turned to Sasako and said, “It seems the education system in Japan has serious problems. A university professor like you has ended up as a kidnapper.”

Sasako covered her mouth and let out a light laugh. “If I hadn’t done this, how would you have remembered me?”

Lei Yin wasn’t in the mood for idle chatter. Coldly, he asked, “What do you want?”

“I already told you. I only want you.”

“That joke isn’t funny.”

“I’m telling the truth, but you don’t believe me. Here’s an idea: since you won the last round, I’ll let you ask a few questions as a prize. Of course, I reserve the right to choose not to answer some of them.”

Lei Yin didn’t understand what this woman was up to. After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m obviously your Sasako-sensei,” she said, with an innocent smile.

Knowing she wouldn’t tell the truth, Lei Yin asked another question. “Why did you deliberately approach me? I hope you’re not going to use the same old excuses to brush me off.”

This time, Sasako didn’t play games or try to provoke him. Instead, she smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll tell you. I approached you to investigate your background.”

Lei Yin wasn’t too surprised. This was one of the scenarios he had considered, though he wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not.

He said coldly, “Does my background require you to go to such lengths to investigate?”

“You’re definitely worth it, and the more I get to know you, the more curious I become. Alright, your prize is over. Now it’s my turn to ask you something.”

With that, she suddenly took out a small knife and lightly traced it across Kazumi’s face. Her usual flirtatious smile faded, and she turned to him and slowly said, “Now tell me, what’s your relationship with Black Dragon’s Lei Li?”

Lei Yin felt a shock run through him. He hadn’t expected her to ask that question. Ever since their first encounter, he had assumed she was a member of Japan’s supernatural organization, but from the question she was asking now, it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.

Feigning a hint of surprise, Lei Yin asked, “I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Stop pretending. I know you and Lei Li know each other, but I’m not sure what your relationship is, so I’m asking.”

After thinking for a moment, she continued, “Forget it. You’re probably going to try to argue your way out of this, so to save time, I’ll tell you one more thing. I have an internal investigation report from before Donald King’s death about Black Dragon. The report mentions that Lei Li had personally traveled to Japan to meet with a Japanese high school student, and that student was you three years ago, Gennai Masashi.”

Again, Donald King. That guy was so determined to drag others down even after death that Lei Yin couldn’t help but curse his ancestors in his mind.

Realizing there was no way to keep hiding the truth, Lei Yin took a deep breath and said, “You’re right, I do know Lei Li.”

“Good. Now, tell me about your relationship with him.”

“He’s my senior disciple.”

“What?” Sasako was surprised by this answer.

Lei Yin continued, “Twelve years ago, when Yan Yuxiao, Lei Li’s master, came to Japan on business, he happened to take me on as his second disciple. However, besides a few people, no one knew about it. Two years later, my master passed away, and I lost contact with Lei Li. Until three years ago, when Lei Li asked me to join Black Dragon and help him out. But I refused because I didn’t want that path.”

Yan Yuxiao was the name of Lei Yin’s past life, known only to a handful of people, most of whom were now deceased. That’s why he had asked Naoko and Amy to call him by his real name. Furthermore, in the Japanese branch of Black Dragon, his identity was indeed that of Yan Yuxiao’s other direct disciple, making him Lei Li’s junior. Only Lei Li, Chang’an, and a few trusted members of the shadow group knew that Lei Yin was Yan Yuxiao’s reincarnation.

Sasako looked at him with doubt in her eyes. From what she knew, Lei Li did indeed have a master named Yan Yuxiao, and it was common knowledge that Black Dragon had been built by Yan Yuxiao and left to Lei Li.

Yan Yuxiao was undoubtedly a legendary figure. Black Dragon, the international underworld organization with influence that spanned nearly the entire globe, had been founded by him within a few decades. It was said that he had never suffered a defeat, whether in matters of business or people. Even after founding Black Dragon, he kept a low profile, rarely seen by outsiders, but his influence in the world of organized crime was unmatched. Even more than a decade after his death, no one could compare to him.

“Do you have any way to prove you’re another disciple of Yan Yuxiao?” After thinking for a moment, Sasako asked.

“You’ll find out if you spar with me,” Lei Yin said with a challenging look in his eyes.

“You really are an insensitive man. You want to lay hands on a fragile woman like me?” Sasako looked at him with seductive eyes.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a fragile woman like you almost destroy my house. The questions are answered, so you’re going to let her go now, right?”

“I went through all the trouble to bring your sister here, so how could I let her go so easily? I’m not done asking yet.”

“You’re such a troublesome woman. Just ask all your questions at once.”

Sasako looked at him and said, “Two years ago, Lei Li was captured by a mysterious organization, but not long after, a group of masked people went to rescue him. At that time, those who tried to save him were trapped by the organization’s powerful firepower. During that moment, a person—though strictly speaking, we don’t even know if it was really a person—killed over two hundred well-trained members of that organization within just a few minutes. And he didn’t use any firearms; only a dagger. Now, tell me, were you that person?” She deliberately slowed down her voice on the last sentence, her eyes locked onto him.

The more Lei Yin listened, the colder he felt. He finally realized who this woman was. If she had no connection to the people from that base, he wouldn’t believe it even if he were killed. This meant that she was likely an esper sent by the U.S. to investigate him.

Answering with a simple “yes” or “no” would be foolish at this point, but he couldn’t delay for too long either. In this brief moment, his mind raced at high speed.

After returning later, he had heard from Chang’an that, apart from some critical documents used for blackmail, the base had been completely destroyed, including the surveillance tapes showing Lei Yin eliminating those men in black. This meant that the information had likely come from the base’s leader who had escaped at the time. From the look on Sasako’s face, she still wasn’t sure if he had been involved in the rescue operation. This implied that the rogue shadow group member had only informed the base leader about the attack but hadn’t had time to reveal more about their activities. The most crucial point was that this member wasn’t one of the inner circle who knew his true identity. Given these factors, the situation wasn’t as dire as it could have been.

When Sasako asked the question, she watched his expression intently, but to her disappointment, there was no change at all, not even in his eyes.

After analyzing all the implications, Lei Yin spoke calmly, “I did participate in the operation to rescue Lei Li, but I was only involved in supporting them from the perimeter. I never entered. Chang’an had instructed me that if anything happened to him or Lei Li, I was to take over Black Dragon, so he didn’t let me go inside.” He had been missing for nearly two years, and the timing of his initial disappearance was close to that incident. Thus, denying any involvement would have been suspicious.

Sasako accepted his explanation. After all, with an organization as massive as Black Dragon, it was necessary for someone to inherit it, and who could be a more suitable successor than a disciple of its founder, Yan Yuxiao?

She never imagined that the young man standing in front of her, barely over twenty, was actually a thousand-year-old monster who had been reincarnated countless times.

Thinking for a moment, Sasako asked, “Since you’re a disciple of Yan Yuxiao and participated in that operation, you must know the true identity of that person.”

Lei Yin shrugged nonchalantly, “Sorry, I don’t know.”

Sasako frowned, “You don’t know?”

“That’s right. After Lei Li’s incident, Chang’an called me to help. I had just gotten off the plane, and they were already preparing to move. All I know is that there was a strange person by Chang’an’s side.”

“Strange person? What do you mean?”

“That person never took off the cloth covering his face, even when it was just the few of us there. And his gaze was very unsettling; I can’t quite describe it, but it was like staring at a wolf that hadn’t eaten for days—very discomforting. I asked Chang’an who that person was, but he only told me that the person wasn’t from Black Dragon. He was just brought in to help, and Chang’an told me not to ask any more questions. That’s all I know about him.” To make her believe him, Lei Yin made an effort to share some details about “that person.” He knew that sometimes unconventional explanations were easier to believe, so he said he didn’t know and used Chang’an as a shield.

Indeed, after hearing him, Sasako’s eyes showed a slight decrease in doubt. This subtle shift in emotion was something only someone as experienced as Lei Yin, a thousand-year-old monster in disguise, could notice.

At the same time, Lei Yin couldn’t help but feel frustrated. If he were still Yan Yuxiao, he wouldn’t need to be so cautious. He could confront these people head-on anytime, and if things went south, so be it. But now he was Gennai Masashi, and there were people behind him that he had to protect. No matter what, he couldn’t afford to expose his identity.

To prevent this vixen from having time to think and analyze, Lei Yin immediately said, “You’ve asked everything, haven’t you? Now, let my sister go.”

Sasako’s face regained her charming smile, seemingly satisfied with the answers she had gotten. She gently stroked Kazumi’s face and said, “Kazumi-chan, didn’t I tell you? Your brother really cares about you. Now, what should I do? I’m not sure if I should let you go so easily. After all, to your cold-hearted brother, you’re a very useful bargaining chip.”

Lei Yin said coldly, “If you let Kazumi go, I won’t hold tonight’s events against you.”

Sasako turned back to him with a smile and said, “Although you’re not an esper, I sensed during our previous encounter that you’ve retained considerable strength. That’s why I believe you truly are Yan Yuxiao’s disciple. What a terrifying man. But that’s also what makes you so fascinating. However, I didn’t use my full strength either. I’m very curious to see just how strong the disciple of that legendary man is.”

She continued, “Don’t you want to face me again? I’ve decided to give you that chance. If you win, I’ll give myself to you as a prize. Of course, I’ll also let your sister go.” After speaking, she elegantly rose from her chair and slowly walked toward him, her long, slender, and seductive legs moving gracefully.

Lei Yin watched her with a calm gaze, but an inexplicable excitement surged within him, like a dark current from the depths of an abyss.

Although their previous encounter wasn’t a full-fledged battle, he could tell that this woman was far more formidable than Chiyama Genjiro. Her ability to effortlessly rip an entire door from its frame and hurl it at him was proof enough. He had no confidence in a guaranteed victory, but it was precisely this uncertainty that made him even more excited, even though his expression remained unchanged.

When Sasako reached a distance of three meters from Lei Yin, she suddenly smiled at him. This smile was more alluring and seductive than any other smile he had seen on her face. Almost simultaneously, however, he felt an enormous force—completely beyond conventional logic—hurling him backward.

With a dull “thud,” Lei Yin was flung horizontally into the rooftop railing.

The force was far greater than he had anticipated. Even with his extraordinary reflexes, all he could do was channel his inner energy to his back to reduce the impact. Yet, the violent collision still caused his blood to churn uncontrollably throughout his body.

Watching him slowly get up from the ground, Sasako smiled and said, “Masashi, did I hit you too hard?”

“Not at all. That was the most relaxing massage I’ve ever had in my life,” Lei Yin replied coolly.