The Perfect Path To Insanity

The fateless man ran to save his cat. He tightened his arms around Justice. The cat’s body had gone completely limp, legs dangling.

Completely motionless without any twitching or movement. Blood from the deep horizontal gash across his belly kept soaking through the fur and dripping onto Fei Ming’s sleeve.

Justice’s breathing stayed shallow and wet, each inhale barely lifting the ribs.

Lu Yuan remained several feet away. Grey veins continued spreading from the center of his chest, threading up both sides of his neck and along his jaw. His shoulders rose and fell in heavy, uneven jerks.

He coughed once. Blood sprayed from his lips and spattered the ground between them. He coughed again. More blood ran down his chin in thick lines as he doubled over.

He dragged the back of his hand across his mouth and left a red smear along his knuckles.

His bloodshot eyes shot at Fei Ming.

"What did you do?"

Fei Ming dropped to one knee and shifted Justice higher so the cat’s head rested securely in the crook of his elbow. Justice’s eyes remained half-open with pupils wide and lids fluttering. Gently, Fateless pressed his palm flat over the gash and spread his fingers wide to cover as much of the tear as possible. Warm blood filled up between his knuckles and ran down his wrist.

Any more delay with this rabid card killing machine, Justice may die. It was a miracle he was alive.

"I told you to hide," Fei Ming said. "Why did you come out?"

Justice’s mouth opened. A thin wheeze came out. "I... can’t just watch him hurt you like that."

His head lolled sideways. Eyes closing. The rise and fall of his chest slowed until it almost stopped.

Pressing harder against the wound, Fei Ming looked up at the man before him.

Lu Yuan coughed again. The sound tore from his throat. Blood flecked his teeth. Staggering one step backward as he lost his composture, he rasped out loud,

"What did you do to me?" he asked again.

Fei Ming stood while keeping Justice cradled against his torso. Cuts along his forearms and sides pulled tight as the skin sealed and healed.

However, the larger, deeper wounds took longer to heal as the blood seeped out. But his shoulders stayed heavy and his breath came short.

Meeting Lu Yuan’s gaze, he replied, "I infected you."

His eyes drifted to look for an escape exit, but they quickly drew back to him. It was luck. Luck that even the highest rank of any Paths are not automatically immune to the disease unless they had a specific skill. And luck that Lu Yuan had none of these specific skills needed.

This was the first time luck had been on his side. Gaze flickering back to Lu Yuan, he continued, "When rich slugs like you stay caught in your own shitty webs, a lot slips past."

The man’s lips parted. "Ha!" A laugh rolled out from low in his chest and grew louder and wilder. It broke into another coughing fit.

Fei Ming visibly recoiled when the blood particles splattered on his face.

Lu Yuan kept laughing through the wet sounds while his shoulders shook, turning into a full unhinged laughter.

’What the hell?’ Fei Ming’s face scrunched and furrowed his brows. Seeing a man lose his shit like a maniac registered only one thing in his mind. ’Run.’

Taking one step back and clutching Justice in his arms, he thought, ’The fuck. He reminds me of Lin. Lunatics. Why stay in a fight I can’t win?’

Then the laughter stopped.

"Ah," Lu Yuan heaved. His voice had gone calm. "I see it now. My prayers have yet again been answered."

Fei Ming paused with his body half-turned.

Squelch!

Lu Yuan stabbed his own chest with his right hand. His fingers punched through the skin just left of the sternum.

Snap! He cracked his ribs. Blood poured out in a sudden rush, soaking the front of his shirt and running down his arm in sheets.

His hand closed around something inside and he yanked. Splurt!

The heart came free in a spray of arterial red. It hung from his fingers with purple-black veins pulsing across its surface. Lu Yuan stared at it for one second. Then he squeezed. The organ burst between his knuckles. Purple ichor and blood splattered his forearm and the concrete.

Another heart materialized in his left palm, it wasn’t discolored, rather bright red and already beating.

Shoving it into the gaping hole, the flesh parted with a thick squelch as his muscles began to close over the new organ.

Fei Ming stepped back again. His stomach clenched. What in the world had he just witnessed?

Even if he went against this man with all his strength, he could never win. When he saw that Lu Yuan had completely gone still, his dark hair fully covering his face, Fei Ming took the notion to escape. Fully at a disadvantage with Justice dying in his arms.

Bending his knees, his legs sprang upward as his feet left the ground. He landed on the flat roof of a three-story building twenty feet above.

The impact jarred through his legs and up his spine. He started running across the tar paper while wind whipped past his ears.

Justice’s body felt colder against his chest with every stride. The cat’s head rested limp against Fei Ming’s collarbone and the fur stayed damp with blood. Fei Ming pressed harder on the gash.

He needed a healer or anyone who could close the wound. Even as a S-tier beast, he was still a young kitten. The wound inflicted was more than this kitten’s ability to heal himself.

The body temperature kept dropping and Justice would not last much longer.

Ears drumming, Fei Ming vaulted over a ventilation unit. He must find a way to save him. If Justice died...

If Justice died...

Who the hell would he hold onto? It sickened him. Vision blurry, the cold air bit his skin as he ran faster.

’Stupid cat. Fucking stupid cat. Who will heal you now?’

Citadel zones had healers. One way or the other, he must reach the Citadel zone. He must.

BANG!

Something hard cracked across the side of his head. Pain flashed white behind his eyes. He stumbled forward while his vision doubled. A wooden baseball bat spun away from his skull and clattered across the rooftop.

Fei Ming snarled and snapped his hand out. The bat jerked upward and hung suspended in the air.

It trembled while the wood creaked under pressure. Then it snapped in half with a dry crack. Splinters rained down.

"Hey!" A female voice cut sharp from near the roof.

A girl stepped into view. Long purple hair hung past her coloured shoulders and tied loosely at the nape. She wore a dark jacket with sleeves rolled to the elbows. Narrowing her eyes at the broken bat pieces still floating in the air, she growled at the young man she just hit.

"The hell?! You broke my weapon. How did you even do that?"

Fei Ming’s chest heaved. Blood trickled from the fresh cut above his ear and ran warm along his temple.

"Move out of the way," he said.

She stared at him with a flat, indifferent expression.

"No."

Heat surged behind Fei Ming’s eyes. "Move!"

An invisible force caught her square in the chest and whipped her sideways. "Ahh!" She flew three feet with boots skidding and arms windmilling. Hitting the low parapet shoulder-first, grunted, she quickly caught herself on the edge before going over.

Straightening fast, another baseball bat materialized in the air above her palm. She snatched it and pointed the thick end at him.

"Heaven’s rejected. Calm your shit down. Stop tossing me like I’m a fucking ragdoll. We’re here to help."

Fei Ming blinked. His grip tightened on Justice.

"Help?"

She glanced down at the cat cradled in his arms. Justice’s breathing stayed faint and irregular as the blood dripped steadily onto his sleeves.

"Is your cat hurt?"

He studied her stance. Her weight stayed balanced with grip loose but ready on the bat. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Mr Light sent me," she said. "Does the name ring any bells to you?"