Light Fortress
Chapter 81 - 79: Honeyed Romance

Chapter 81: Chapter 79: Honeyed Romance

The kiln cave was dim.

The girl’s voice was as sweet as honey.

But at this moment, to Gu Shen, this voice... was nothing short of a demon’s whisper!

Who could have imagined that a serial killer who roamed the river bank late at night, successively murdering nearly ten men... would be a sixteen-year-old girl?

This was an out-of-control Transcendent, a high-risk being with extraordinary ability!

In an instant, beads of cold sweat emerged densely on Gu Shen’s forehead.

While he remained silent for those few seconds, the voice from behind spoke up once again, and it became filled with grievance.

"Dr. Xiao Gu... do you... not like me?"

Gu Shen took a slow, deep breath with all his might.

If he refused.

It was very possible that the next second, she would pull out a pair of scissors and neatly slice across his throat-

After exiting the profile state, Gu Shen’s thoughts still maintained extreme calmness; he lowered his head slightly, striving to observe the surrounding environment.

The world inside the kiln cave was nearly pitch-dark, but through the small changes in light and shadow that swept across his vision, he could roughly deduce Qu Shui’s current posture.

She was just about twenty centimeters away from his back, a distance that was a bit too close... she could attack him at any moment as she had in the profile memory.

What was important was, if she was the Transcendent from Hu Danian’s file, what then was her extraordinary ability?

Everything was unknown.

Suppressing the urge to turn around, Gu Shen slowly said, "Qu Shui... you are a very nice girl..."

The conclusion from the earlier thought process was—

To not refuse.

If he refused, she would lose control.

The girl’s voice clearly carried a note of joy, "Then you mean..."

"Mhm."

Gu Shen nodded slightly, "Just as you think... I like you."

Feeling the girl’s emotions stabilizing behind him, Gu Shen did not relax. On the contrary, his spirit had been highly taut ever since he arrived at the kiln cave, the moment he profiled to uncover the truth about the river bank case.

His fingers had already grasped the silver Truth Ruler inside his sleeve, with Chi Huo flickering as he channeled spiritual power into the body of the Ruler.

His brain throbbed with pain.

He had already used the Truth Ruler intensely during the day, and after resting for an entire afternoon, he had barely recovered to his current state, feeling a little light-headed as he walked. Gu Shen didn’t know if he could use the Ruler twice in succession.

Even if he could use it again... its effectiveness would likely be diminished.

Gu Shen prepared for the worst in his heart: this time, he probably wouldn’t be able to manifest too much power with the Truth Ruler, and the duration would be significantly reduced. If he wanted to counter-kill, he would have to seize the moment perfectly.

He had only one chance, and if he made a mistake, the next one hanging from the kiln cave’s stone wall, might be himself.

He needed... to understand her extraordinary ability.

"Dr. Xiao Gu just said... you like me?"

Qu Shui’s voice was tinged with joy, and in the reflected shadow of the girl, her hands covered her face, brimming with laughter and shy delight: "Is it true?"

Is she stabilized now... Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, preparing to slowly turn around.

He took a light breath, managing a forced smile, "Of course it’s true... Did you bring me here just to say these things?"

"...Brother Xiao Gu, don’t move."

The girl changed her address for him and moved even closer to the ground.

Did she notice my movement... That sentence made Gu Shen’s body rigid, and the posture he was preparing to turn into suddenly froze.

He silently clenched the Ruler.

"I knew... it was right to bring you here." Qu Shui’s voice was light and cheerful; she nodded towards the inside of the kiln cave’s stone wall, "Look... my dad is right here, watching us."

Dad?

Gu Shen was stunned.

In the profiled world... the person this girl killed was her own biological father?

["I live alone now... My parents are no longer around."]

His thoughts whirred as he tried to piece together the timeline... This girl had killed her father and then hunted for victims on the river bank, all of whom were adult males, probably modeled after her father.

But why would she find him?

He was clearly not that kind of person...

Looking at the skeleton on the stone wall.

Qu Shui murmured softly, "After Mom left, he still drank every day, cursed me as a freak, a curse, beat me with his belt after drinking, and tried to drown me in the bathtub... All these... I don’t blame him..."

"Because... he was all I had left."

The girl’s arms encircled Gu Shen.

A chill washed over him, and Gu Shen’s expression changed drastically; he was rooted to the spot.

The strength of these arms was astonishing and they were slowly increasing their grip; his waist felt like it was going to snap.

Breathing became extremely difficult.

The girl looked at the remains, her voice no longer resentful but regaining a cheerful laugh.

"Later I realized... People in love are destined to part, and if I selfishly wanted him to stay with me forever... there was only one way."

Qu Shui stood on tiptoes and whispered in Gu Shen’s ear, "We will be together forever, never to be apart... What do you say?"

"... Heh..."

The silence in the cave lasted for three seconds before being broken.

Gu Shen smiled and exhaled a few words with difficulty.

"Wake up."

The girl’s face was perplexed.

The next moment.

A strand of fierce silver light exploded in the dark and gloomy cave!

The Ruler erupted with a furious resonance.

Two silver luminous strands surged forth, striking the stone wall and solidifying in the moment of echoing, forming two slender arrowheads that bore a chilling blast of air, and pierced straight through the skull of the girl beside Gu Shen’s ear.

The arrowheads entered through the eyes and exited through the skull.

The tremendous force that had been constricting his waist was instantly scattered by the immense impact of the Truth Ruler’s arrowheads, and due to inertia, Gu Shen staggered forward, barely catching the stone wall, and finally took in a large breath as he had wished.

"Aaah—"

The ear-piercing screams echoed between the stone walls.

All along, Gu Shen had not looked back at Qu Shui’s true face, in order to keep her steady and not to startle her.

Once the Truth Ruler was unleashed, it had to be lethal.

With the silver arrow piercing through the face, even a Strong Attack Type Transcendent who had tempered their body would not be able to withstand such damage.

Leaning against the cave wall, Gu Shen gasped for air... but seeing the scene before him, his pupils constricted, his expression instantly darkened.

The girl covered her face with her hands, two silver arrows transfixed her entire countenance, but on that face, there were no features—only a twisted expanse of pitch-black shadow.

"Qu Shui" knelt on the ground, writhing in agony, like a small snake, gradually, and the sound of her painful howling grew fainter and fainter... Her body lay prostrate, blending into the ground, truly turning into a small snake, and the two condensed silver arrows clattered to the ground, shattering into silver fragments with a "buzz".

What he had shot was not Qu Shui herself.

It was a shadow.

With a "whoosh".

The little snake burrowed towards the exit of the cave and disappeared in an instant.

But immediately after, a voice wrapped in sadness, pain, and anger rose from outside the cave.

"Gu... Shen..."

The girl, holding scissors, blocked the only exit, her face streaming with blood and tears, and she said, tremulously, word by word, "Have you... been lying to me all along?"