Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 220 - You Have Two More Inside Your Body

Cassius did not even hesitate. "Sure." The old butler Franz had already informed him about Director Ole's daughter's situation.

She had been parasitized by a mysterious dark creature, making her life a living hell. Sometimes she went mad, and other times she was clear-headed. If she had to endure such pain, death might be the better alternative.

Cassius glanced at Director Ole, who looked visibly older. He had heard from Franz that Ole's wife and daughter had been involved in a tragic accident several years ago with the former passing away. It had been a life full of sorrow. And now, he had to personally ask Cassius to kill his own daughter. No one except Ole would be able to truly understand what he was feeling in that moment.

Five minutes later, Cassius and the others left the white fortress-like cell sans Doctor Tommy. The four of them headed toward the central part of the Black Ops Agency. In special circumstances, dark creatures that parasitized living humans could be imprisoned elsewhere but this was left to the discretion of the agency directors. They could be held in cells or some other location, but any accidents or consequences would ultimately fall under the director's responsibility.

After walking for a few hundred meters, they arrived at a three-story building with white walls and a pointed yellow-tiled roof. It didn't look much different from an ordinary residence except aside from an empty expanse of low-cut grass, it was devoid of any other plants and streetlights. The nearest building was fifty meters away, making for quite an open view. In fact, its function was identical to that of a cell.

Cassius looked up, squinting at the slanted white moonlight that cast the building's trapezoidal shadow on the ground. He could barely make out half of the moon, obscured by the roof.

***

The moonlight was like a soft white veil that draped over the entire town. The pale yellow and white square houses were stacked like building blocks. Sometimes, faint lights flickered from the windows, but most of the houses were silent as if it were the middle of the night. Shadows occasionally lurked the dim alleyways of the town, watching the street outside with cold, unblinking eyes.

Nearly ten kilometers away, several black carriages stood frozen by the roadside. The only sound was the cold wind rustling through the leaves. The horses that pulled the carriages stood unusually still like lifelike statues. It was late at night, and the carriages were parked where no vehicles or people would pass by.

This was the outskirts of town, where wild dogs and cats sometimes darted across the road. But without exception, any dog that approached the carriages would halt, as if startled, and then skirt around them before continuing on its way. As time ticked by, the croak of a frog would echo every now and then from the nearby woods.

On one side of the road, two figures came into view, staggering toward the carriages.

Wobbling as they walked, the two figures, one tall and the other stout, leaned on each other for support. One of them clutched a bottle, clearly drunk. As they lurched down the road, they mumbled nonsense under their breath.

A cold breeze swept past, and they shivered collectively. They widened their bleary eyes, first looking at each other, then at the several carriages parked not too far away. They sidled a little closer together. Only then did they notice that the carriages were parked on the roadside with no coachmen in sight and the horses not even tethered.

As they neared, they saw that the horses were in excellent condition, looking well-fed and strong. Although the carriages were not exquisitely luxurious, they were adorned with plenty of metal decorations, making them of decent quality.

“Where's the coachman?”

"Is there no one here?"

A thought, which they really should not have thought, crossed their minds. Being drunk and thinking incoherently, their boldness grew, and they immediately started to plot what they could do with these carriages.

"Hey, Eddie... How much do you think we could sell these carriages for if we took them?" the stout man asked.

"Idiot! If we're gonna sell something, we should be selling the horses. If we sell the carriages too, we'd definitely get caught." Eddie, the tall man, belched, his face flushed from the alcohol. "Let's not think too much. Let's check if anyone is inside first."

So, the two drunks walked right up to one of the black carriages. The tall man glanced at his companion and nodded. "You check this one and I'll take a look at the other one."

The stout man nodded and quickly scanned around. He then cautiously approached the carriage and peeked inside. Something was blocking the moon, making the inside of the carriage quite dark. However, he could still make out seven or eight figures lying on their sides, utterly still.

"Shit!" The stout man froze in fear, holding his breath. There were people inside—seven to eight of them—and if they caught him, he was sure they'd beat him to death. He began to inch away.

Suddenly, a sharp scream rang out from somewhere near the carriage. It was Eddie, the tall man, hollering in terror.

Hearing his companion's cry, the stout man turned around immediately...and ran. No way was he going back to help! He was a thief, and thieves didn't save other thieving compatriots from getting caught. That would be suicide.

The stout man was not interested in getting beaten up and thrown in jail. He sprinted as fast as he could, going back the way they had come. However, his energy was quickly depleted from the combination of alcohol and his already overweight body. After a few stumbling steps, his head slammed into something.

He staggered back a few steps, clutching his aching brow, and looked up. Standing before him was a towering man, about two meters tall, with white hair and a handsome, yet sinister face. A black tattoo emblazoned his neck and he wore a gold earring.

The man stared at him expressionlessly.

An overwhelming sense of pressure emanated from him, forcing the stout man to retreat several more steps. The stout man swallowed nervously and flicked his eyes behind him. A group of black-robed figures was swiftly approaching.

There was no escape now.

Faced with his situation, he took a deep breath and smiled. He was surprisingly calm. The figures closing the distance between them did not shake him at all. Expression determined, he turned to the white-haired man and said firmly, "Big brother, could you go easy on me, please?"

The stout man prided himself on having thick skin and a sturdy build. He figured he could survive a beating without dying.

The white-haired man broke into a sudden grin, and for a split second, his eyes seemed to turn into eerie snake-like slits. "Interesting," he murmured before sending the stout man flying with a kick.

A few minutes later, the unconscious stout man awoke. There was a heavy, painful pressure on his chest, as if something had stomped on it.

He coughed violently, struggling to his feet. Looking around, he realized the place was deserted. The group had already left. He lifted his shirt and looked down at his chest. A large black footprint was imprinted on his chest, beneath which was a massive bruise. He inhaled experimentally; nowhere else on his body hurt. Did my plea actually work?

As he made his way back to the road on quavering legs, he caught a glimpse of a figure curled up behind a tree out of the corner of his eye. The stout man came closer and gasped when he realized it was Eddie.

Eddie looked absolutely pitiful. His upper body was bare, and his entire body was covered in bite marks that looked like small black holes like he'd been bitten repeatedly by snakes. Even worse, his whole body had turned a bizarre purplish-red, with blotchy streaks running across his skin. It was as though swollen pockets lay just beneath the surface of his skin.

The stout man swallowed hard, glanced around once more, and then cautiously knelt beside Eddie. Slowly, he extended his hand, intending to check if he was still breathing. His fingers touched Eddie's nose. Nothing. Eddie was dead.

Gurgle, gurgle...

The stout man shot to his feet, staring at Eddie's corpse.

The purplish-red patches on Eddie's body began to swell as if bubbles were forming beneath the skin. His entire body started to take on a sickening, bloated appearance, like the back of a toad, and the wet, sloshing sound grew louder.

Terrified, the stout man backed away from Eddie's body, moving several meters down the road. He had no intention of staying near the corpse any longer.

Bam!

Suddenly, a noise came from behind him. He turned to see Eddie's body had exploded, spreading disgusting purplish-red flesh over several meters. The ground sizzled as it was eaten away by some kind of corrosive substance. @@novelbin@@

At the same time, in the small town where the Black Ops Agency was located, Cassius was getting ready to meet Ole's daughter, Xiqin. The room looked like a normal bedroom, complete with a bed, sofa, bookshelf, and wardrobe. There was even a thick carpet covering the floor. The lights were on, casting a warm yellow glow over every corner of the room.

"Where is she?" Cassius asked. Cassius turned to look at Ole, but he couldn't see Xiqin through the glass window on the iron door.

Swish!

Out of the blue, a pale face pressed against the window, its wide eyes staring intently at Cassius from the other side from where it hung upside down.

"Does she still like climbing walls?" Cassius asked. He shot a glance at the girl's face before turning back to Ole.

"When she goes into a frenzy, she destroys everything in the room. She even climbs the walls like a lizard like she's heeding some crawling instinct." Ole sighed, glancing at Xiqin, whose face remained glued to the window. "This is actually an improvement. At least she's not self-harming as much as she used to..."

Cassius nodded but didn't rush to suggest entering the room to deal with Xiqin. He could sense Ole's conflicted emotions, realizing he wanted a little more time to look at his daughter.

Xiqin finally moved. From Cassius's vantage point, he saw her descend from the wall, dressed in a loose white garment, and head toward a large wardrobe where she shut herself in. A minute later, the door opened again and Xiqin stepped out, wearing a black dress.

Cassius finally got a clear look at her face. It was a beautiful, pale, heart-shaped face framed by soft, wavy hair. Her skin was smooth like white jade, her eyes large and bright. With long and well-proportioned legs, and equally exaggerated waist and hips, she was the epitome of every man's fantasy.

There was something unique about her aura. It was seductive yet sinister. It was like aged wine, rich and intoxicating, with a faint hint of a woman's perfume, resembling that of a biographer who cared for nothing but herself, with an air of rebellion against the world.

She was like a proud, mysterious black cat—lazy yet aloof. There was a complexity to her that was hard to put into words. If one was forced to describe her, she was akin to a solitary forest witch who was both immortal and enigmatic.

"Is this your daughter?" Cassius frowned as he looked at Ole once more.

He clearly remembered that Xiqin was only eighteen. How could an eighteen-year-old girl possess such a mature, almost wicked charm?

Ole shook his head. "No, that's not my daughter. My daughter was the one climbing the walls and running around like a madwoman earlier."

After some conversation, Cassius understood the situation. Xiqin hadn't always looked like this. She had been a lively, youthful girl, but after being parasitized by the unknown dark creature, her body underwent a second stage of growth and transformation. Her height, figure, appearance, and even her demeanor changed drastically as if she had become a completely different person.

Moreover, this version of Xiqin exuded an astonishing allure. Anyone who was near her for even a short period would begin to feel an overwhelming desire to possess her entirely, to claim her perfect body for themselves.

At first, this desire manifested as infatuation, then as pleading, and finally as an uncontrollable urge to assault her. Yet anyone who came within one meter of her collapsed to the ground, dead from a cardiac arrest that came out of the blue.

This enchantment affected anyone, and only those with an incredibly strong will could resist. And by anyone, that meant literally anyone. It didn't matter whether they were a man or a woman, young or old.

In the room, Xiqin stood there, tall and graceful. Her gaze was fixed on Cassius, her deep, hypnotic eyes gleaming like two black gemstones.

"Mr. Li Wei, I'm counting on you." Ole sighed, his eyelids drooping in despair.

Cassius nodded in response.

Half a minute later, the iron door creaked open. Cassius entered the room calmly, feeling the soft, thick carpet underfoot and smelling a faint floral scent in the air. He glanced at the upper right corner where the 99.3% mark was displayed and smirked.

"Let's hope this dark creature is of high quality," he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a slender figure dashed toward Cassius and embraced him. Two pale, shapely legs wrapped tightly around his waist, and her head rested on his shoulder, utterly defenseless.

The exaggerated softness of her chest and the intoxicating scent of her body left Cassius momentarily taken aback. "What is this? Trying to drain my vitality like the Slender Black Shadow?" A cold smile appeared on his lips. "Want to get up close and personal? You should know, you won't be the one doing the draining..."

Just as Cassius was about to activate his Golem Covert Martial Arts, Xiqin nuzzled her nose against his neck like an inquisitive puppy and whispered, her moist lips forming the words, "You have two people living inside your body."