Era of Magic and Martial Arts

"[Mask]? Zheng Hang?"

In the silent well shaft, the name Luo Ji uttered echoed eerily.

Cuicui widened her eyes in disbelief, straining to turn her gaze towards Zhang Liyou:

"This man is [Mask], but Feng Yuhuai is not??"

Zhang Liyou’s heart sank to the bottom, her eyes similarly shrouded in gloom and confusion.

If her memory wasn’t distorted, then after Lu Yazhi’s mysterious death, several horrifying murders happened consecutively within the school.

The Patrol Office had once investigated for a while, but ultimately couldn’t make headway. Later, rumors spread within the school that the identity of the murderer was confirmed—the Patrol Office code-named it [Mask].

And just a few days ago, even the area surrounding the school seemed to be affected, as frequent murders occurred, and those cases even appeared on TV news, causing a great commotion.

The Patrol Office was harshly criticized for being unable to solve the cases, and eventually, the murderer was still indicated as [Mask].

But now, if the man known as Zheng Hang before them is the insane [Mask], then who could Feng Yuhuai be?

Yazhi and Xiaojuan were clearly eaten by Feng Yuhuai.

That night, she had clearly seen through the crack of the door that Yazhi and Xiaojuan’s heads were growing out of Feng Yuhuai’s shoulders.

The scene was so terrifying that it caused her several nights of nightmares, she definitely wouldn’t have seen it wrong.

So, is Feng Yuhuai the [Mask] within the school?

Is Zheng Hang the [Mask] outside the school?

Are they both [Mask], one inside and one outside, and according to scientist Zuo Bai’s implication, they are even in a romantic relationship?

Feng Yuhuai and Zheng Hang are a horrifying pair of [Mask] lovers?!!

What a terrifying and absurdly extreme "romantic bubble"! Zhang Liyou thought deeply and felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, shivering uncontrollably.

Zhang Liyou’s speculation was already infinitely close to the truth, just short of the last layer of thin veil.

But even if she racked her brains and thought hard, she still missed the most crucial tiny bit.

[Mask] not only has two, but there can be a third, and it is currently in a hurry, rushing towards this place.

And the relationship among the three [Masks] is even more intricate and full of deep emotions, as if tightly entangled together by the large net of destiny.

On the surface, they should be daughter, son-in-law, father-in-law;

Upon peeling back, they are actually son, daughter, father;

In short,

they are a harmonious, happy family.

Just missing the street awarding them a [Mask Family] banner to hang on their door.

Beside them, Luo Ji also had incredibly complex emotions.

He carefully rotated his wrist, his gaze fixed on the image in the mirror, a glow of longing in his eyes.

Although he had already bound Feng Yuhuai’s Life Chart, before Feng Yuhuai’s demise, the Life-Stealing Calamity Mirror couldn’t bind the next Life Chart.

But this didn’t prevent Luo Ji from having a visual feast first.

In the mirror, Zheng Hang’s figure was reflected, every detail of his black suit, playing card on his chest, and gold-rimmed glasses was vividly clear.

However, Luo Ji always felt that there was something subtly wrong with the person reflected in the mirror.

With Feng Yuhuai’s previous incidents, Luo Ji was quite attentive to any anomaly shown in the mirror.

"This monster, does he not have a shadow?!!"

Luo Ji discovered the anomaly in the mirror.

It wasn’t that there was no shadow at all, but the shadow was extremely thin and faint, like a barely visible black line, cautiously hidden under the monster’s shoes.

Luo Ji looked up towards Zheng Hang, but the distance was too far for him to see clearly.

He squinted hard, trying to focus his vision, barely making out what seemed like a slender shadow under that "person’s" feet.

The shadow was only as thick as a baby’s arm, silently blending into the murky sewage, meandering along the flow, extending towards the deep, dark well shaft.

I don’t know how long it is, nor whether the extension has an end.

"Could it be because the monster is formed by the gathering of shadows, so its own shadow is nearly nonexistent?"

Luo Ji furrowed his brow, after thinking for a moment, naturally arrived at this conclusion.

A shadow without a shadow, it made a lot of sense.

Luo Ji didn’t dwell on it further, quickly glancing back at the mirror, staring intently at the three words slowly emerging above the monster’s head.

The characters twisted and pitch-black, like ink splattered on rice paper, seeped with mottled traces carrying a strange evilness, —[Shadow of the Curtain]!

"Shadow of the Curtain?"

Luo Ji’s pupils contracted sharply; the brief explanation of three words couldn’t fully interpret the meaning of the [Life Chart].

But he had indeed glimpsed the subtlety of "Shadow."

Then, Luo Ji couldn’t help but think of Feng Yu’s [Life Chart]—[Shield of the Curtain]!

"They both have the word ’Curtain,’ is it a coincidence, or is it because they are a couple, so their [Life Charts] are similar, just like some couples wear matching outfits?"

Luo Ji’s brows knitted tightly, feeling something was off, but he couldn’t conjecture a more logical guess:

"What does this ’Curtain’ word ultimately mean?"

Feng Yuhuai stared intently at the back of Zheng Hang, her so-called "rumored boyfriend."

The latter hadn’t turned around to look at her once since appearing, indifferent to her suffered predicament because of him, emitting a ruthless coldness that made her teeth itch with hatred.

Deeply resentful, Feng Yuhuai reluctantly forced herself to put on a tearful yet aggrieved face, calling out with a hoarse voice:

"Zheng Hang, save... save me... don’t let him turn me back..."

Zheng Hang seemed not to hear the plea behind him, gazing with interest at Zuo Bai with his pair of pitch-black eyes.

His lips stayed tightly closed, as if speaking from his chest, or like an echo drifting from afar:

"A name is just a nickname; you can call me whatever you like, but the way you invited me to appear, I don’t quite like it. I hope you are prepared to pay the fee."

Zuo Bai squinted slightly, his gaze brushing over Zheng Hang’s faint and slender shadow, deducing a similar conclusion to Luo Ji with a hint of doubt.

A shadow without a shadow, that’s quite scientific!

Instead, Zuo Bai wasn’t too surprised by Zheng Hang speaking with ventriloquism. He was well-versed in the knowledge that some man-eating creatures would lose the habit of using their mouths to speak.

After all, the mouth was meant for eating, and the saliva secreted between the lips and teeth was the digestive system’s most precious gift, not to be wasted on unnecessary words.

He had seen monsters regard eating as a sacred ritual, whose devotion to "eating" far surpassed human faith in any religion.

"You have it wrong, it’s not I who needs to pay, you need to return the stolen Black Core to me, otherwise..."

Zuo Bai’s words were cut off coldly by Zheng Hang:

"Otherwise, what?"

Zuo Bai’s face turned cold, and he snapped his fingers: "I will eat Feng Yuhuai’s head right in front of you!"

The Beautiful Spider received the order again, licking Feng Yuhuai’s cheeks with five tongues simultaneously.

Feng Yuhuai’s eyes widened, her lips trembling: "..."