Steadily Upgrading Everything!
Chapter 57: Women scream louder.

Chapter 57: Women scream louder.

Just as Riara was about to climb the old beam to cut down one of the barely breathing victims, John’s eyes widened.

A strange ripple.

It was faint, nearly imperceptible, but at the very edge of his Spatial Awareness, something stirred.

A flicker.

A distortion in the air behind one of the shattered windows on the second floor.

He turned instantly, eyes sharp.

There, a silhouette stood, half-hidden by the broken frame.

Cloaked in darkness, motionless, but watching them with an unnatural stillness.

A glint of malice radiated from its aura. Cold.

Predatory.

John didn’t hesitate.

"Soul Piercing Gaze." His voice was a whisper.

A brilliant beam of silvery-blue light burst from the center of his forehead, lancing toward the figure with terrifying speed.

It burned through the air like a focused spear of spiritual will.

But just before the beam could strike, the figure moved.

Not jumped, not flinched, phased, like smoke escaping fire.

It vanished to the left in a blur, and the Soul Piercing Gaze struck the window frame behind it with a loud crack, splintering wood and searing the surface with residual energy.

"Someone’s here!" John shouted, already dashing forward.

Riara and Caros spun around, startled.

"What?!" Riara exclaimed, trying to follow John’s line of sight.

Caros cursed under his breath and sprinted toward the crumbling stairwell. "I’ll go left!"

Riara dashed after him. "He must’ve been watching us this whole time!"

But by the time they reached the second floor, it was empty.

Only shattered windows, drifting dust, and the faintest residual aura, like someone had brushed through the fabric of the world and disappeared.

John leapt up beside them, his eyes scanning the rooftops beyond.

"Gone," he muttered. His voice tight with frustration.

Caros slammed his fist into the wall. "Damn it! He was here?!"

"I saw him watching us," John said grimly. "He looked... calm. Like we were just part of a game."

Riara stood silently, fists clenched. Then she turned toward John.

"That... that was your Soul Piercing Gaze, wasn’t it?"

John gave a short nod.

Caros narrowed his eyes. "It missed?"

John’s jaw tightened. "He dodged. Fast. He wasn’t just Spirit Fruit Realm. He was... different."

They stood in silence, the wind rustling through the broken shutters above them.

Riara looked at the empty window.

"He knows we’re coming now."

John’s gaze hardened. "Good. Let him run. Let him hide."

He looked down at the unconscious women hanging below.

"But we’re not leaving this city until we drag him out of whatever hole he’s festering in."

After helping Riara and Caros down the unconscious victims, John knelt beside them, gently examining their conditions.

Bloodied, bruised, and stripped of their dignity, but alive.

"Here," he murmured, pulling out a few Basic Healing Pills from his Spatial Bag.

He handed them to the women with a calm voice. "Chew these slowly. They’ll numb the pain and close your wounds."

Riara helped them wrap spare cloths around their bodies while Caros used his robe to cover one woman trembling in the corner.

"They’re stable," Riara said, her eyes cold. "But if we hadn’t come, they wouldn’t have survived another night."

John nodded gravely. "We’ll deal with the bastard who did this tomorrow. Let’s rest for now."

Back at the Inn...

They returned in silence, each burdened with the scene burned into their mind.

John paused at the stairwell, looking back at Caros and Riara.

"Rest tonight," he said. "We move at dawn."

Riara looked like she wanted to protest, but she nodded.

Caros gave a grunt of agreement.

John entered his room, shut the door... and after a moment of silence...

He leapt out the window.

His feet touched down quietly in the alley below, and he pulled his cloak tight.

"I need to try something..." he muttered.

He made his way to a small clothing store nestled between two lantern-lit tea shops.

A sleepy clerk helped him pick out modest robes for young women, something simple but graceful.

John handed over some spirit stones, then stepped into a dark alleyway nearby.

He took a deep breath and activated: Double Face Lizard Technique, Level 7

His body shimmered, bones cracking and flesh shifting.

His frame shrank, his features softened.

His hair grew longer and darker, lips fuller.

In seconds, the transformation was complete.

A breathtakingly beautiful young woman stood in the alley, dressed in plain white robes.

Her eyes glimmered with a false innocence, while her aura was perfectly masked, mimicking that of a harmless mortal.

John touched the hilt of the dagger hidden inside her sleeve. "Let’s see if you’re hunting alone, predator."

John strolled through the market under moonlight, pretending to admire trinkets and jade combs.

He let his eyes wander lazily while his Spatial Awareness scanned the surroundings, any ripple, any surge of energy, any presence too well-hidden.

Nothing.

So he stepped into a darker street, a narrow alley reeking of stale wine and rot.

The lanterns here were dimmer.

Shadows pressed in tightly.

A few minutes passed, and then he heard them.

Laughter.

Three rough-looking men staggered from behind a stack of broken crates.

Hogilians a hybrid beast-tribe, known for their thick hide and porcine features.

Usually harmless in the open.

Not tonight.

"Well, well, what’s a delicate little flower doing here all alone?" the first one sneered, licking his tusked lips.

"Must be lost. Want us to... guide you somewhere fun?" said the second, rubbing his fat fingers together.

The third didn’t speak.

He just chuckled and blocked the alley’s exit.

John said nothing.

His expression remained timid.

She turned, pretending to retreat.

"Aw, don’t run—"

Crack!

The first Hogilian took a step forward, and John vanished.

A blur of movement followed.

A sharp thud echoed off the walls.

He looked down, his chest was split open, blood gushing.

"W-what...?" he croaked, before falling on his back.

The second Hogilian barely reacted before a silver blade flickered through the air and severed his throat in a single sweep.

His eyes rolled back as he dropped beside his friend.

The third turned to run, but a kick to his knee shattered the joint.

He screamed, collapsing as John’s true aura finally flared.

"Mortal?" John said in a low, deadly voice, the illusion still intact. "You should’ve known better."

He plunged the blade through the Hogilian’s heart.

All three bodies slumped in the alley, blood pooling beneath them.

John wiped his dagger clean on one of their sleeves.

Still no sign of the real target.

With the moon beginning to descend, John sighed and turned toward the inn.

"Looks like I’ll need to regroup with Riara and Caros," he muttered. "It’s already—"

A rustle.

A cold wind blew past.

He turned the corner, and froze.

A hooded figure stood at the edge of the alley, blocking his path.

Silent.

Motionless.

Their presence was... wrong.

Not powerful. But twisted.

The aura clung to the air like smoke, like pain.

John narrowed his eyes. "Finally..."

"Hello, little lady... You seem to be powerful for a mortal."

The voice slithered from beneath the man’s dark hood like an oily snake, slick with mockery and disdain.

His shadow elongated against the alley walls, unnaturally stretched by the dim moonlight.

John, still in his beggar-girl guise, smiled coyly, tilting his head with practiced innocence.

But his eyes gleamed with cold intelligence.

Then, without a word, his body rippled like disturbed water.

Bones shifted, muscles reformed, and flesh twisted. In the span of a breath, the beautiful girl was gone.

In her place stood John, stoic, sharp-eyed, dressed once more in the flowing robe of a Blue Cauldron Sect disciple.

The moonlight flickered across his now-hard gaze.

At the same time, tucked within his robe, his fingers crushed a communication slip, sending a silent distress signal to Riara and Caros.

The hooded man froze mid-step.

"...Hmph," he grunted, a sneer forming on his lips. "Just a Spirit Seed Realm nobody. You really thought you could catch me?"

He flicked his wrists. Two curved daggers shimmered into existence, black as obsidian and glinting faintly with poison.

Their jagged edges were not made for clean kills, they were crafted to wound, bleed, and break.

"The Blue Cauldron Sect really is on the decline. Sending cubs to catch wolves."

John didn’t flinch. He simply stepped forward, and with a burst of qi, summoned his weapon.

A gleaming saber appeared in his right hand, humming faintly with spiritual energy. The metal pulsed as if alive.

The hooded man’s eyes briefly narrowed. "...Nice saber.

And your disguise technique, it’s better than mine," he admitted with a growl. "But don’t get cocky. This will be your grave."

John snorted. "Big words for a rat who attacks women in the dark."

"Oh?" The man chuckled, low and menacing. "Women scream louder."

That was the final straw. Am angered expression appeared on his face and his eyes narrowed.

With a flash of blue, John lunged forward.

The alley exploded with sound as blade met dagger, sparks flying, walls trembling.