Only Chen Zhang could hear the smart chip's voice. In an instant, cold sweat beaded on his back.
Put together with Zheng Yueling's words — could the smart chip's notification really be connected to her? But how was that possible?
Chen Zhang's expression stiffened, but he swiftly feigned composure.
"I did indeed imprison A Xiao — because I needed what was in his body to complete myself. His death was because he couldn't endure it. So, to be precise, you can't entirely pin his death on me."
"Of course, ordinary people basically can't endure it," Zheng Yueling had resumed her smile, as if everything was within her grasp.
"Complete yourself?"
"What did you take from them?"
Zheng Yueling's gaze swirled with allure, her manner flirtatious. She laughed lightly: "Don't be impatient. I'll tell you right now."
She actually began walking slowly toward Chen Zhang. Chen Zhang, involuntarily, started backing away.
Her crimson lips parted slightly, spitting out two words: "Sanity."
Hearing this, confusion surfaced on Chen Zhang's face.
"Junior Chen — do you still remember our school's first campus legend?" Zheng Yueling said with deliberate implication.
"It tells of a senior sister who, due to all kinds of real-world reasons, committed suicide in a classroom. But her restless spirit still lives on campus. Just like us — she lives, studies, makes friends."
"Normally she acts completely normal, even takes good care of her schoolmates. However, if anyone discovers her true identity, she'll kill that person — so she can keep playing the good student."
"Though she kills people and hides their bodies, in her heart she knows she's a good girl."
"Junior Chen, tell me — she just wanted to be a caring, considerate senior sister. What could she possibly have done wrong?"
Zheng Yueling blinked her large eyes, her face spreading into an eerie smile as she drew closer and closer.
Chen Zhang had already been backed against the wall. Beads of sweat, the size of soybeans, rolled down his face. A flash of panic he couldn't conceal shot through his eyes. Yet he responded viciously: "Maybe she didn't do anything wrong. She's just a little brain-dead."
Zheng Yueling's smile froze abruptly: "...It seems, Junior Chen, you truly have a death wish."
At that moment, in a hidden corner outside the living room window, a massive spider had not missed a single word of the conversation inside.
Chen Zhang was in danger!
Although Bai Jie didn't know why Chen Zhang had dared to come alone into the witch's house, he absolutely could not stand by and watch Chen Zhang fall victim to Zheng Yueling's deadly hands.
...
Rewind the clock by ten-odd seconds. Inside the black commercial vehicle parked at the complex entrance, a cry of alarm rang out.
Xia Qimeng: "What's going on? Why did the image feed suddenly stop transmitting?"
"Don't tell me Zheng Yueling can actually block the signal?! The smart chip's signal transmission is based on Gaia's top-tier communications technology."
Her gaze flickered with uncertainty, but she heard no response from Liu Wei.
When she looked at the passenger seat beside her — it was empty.
"He already went in? That guy — pretty fast reaction time..."
...
In the living room, Zheng Yueling had been walking slowly. But halfway there, her form suddenly flickered — as if she'd shrunk the distance — arriving right before Chen Zhang in the blink of an eye!
One of her lily-white arms even drifted gently toward Chen Zhang's shoulder.
Chen Zhang, however, knew — danger had arrived!
But for some unknown reason, his body couldn't move a single inch. It was as if the air had turned intensely viscous. No matter how his heart pounded like a drum, no matter how his hairs stood on end, he simply could not make his muscles respond.
Move! Dodge, now!
Chen Zhang burned with urgency. Adrenaline flooded his system.
In this critical moment, the smart chip in Chen Zhang's brain issued a command: [Authorization obtained. Activating Combat Mode.]
Chen Zhang finally moved. Under Zheng Yueling's slightly surprised gaze, his right arm suddenly slapped away her reaching touch. His left hand formed a blade and chopped viciously toward Zheng Yueling's neck.
"Inside your body... something is controlling you."
Zheng Yueling was utterly composed. Like a fish, she swayed outward, letting the palm strike brush past her chest.
Chen Zhang's eyes held coldness. Spotting an opening, his right hand formed a claw, pouncing like an eagle seizing a hare, grabbing once more for Zheng Yueling's snow-white throat.
"Interesting."
This time Zheng Yueling didn't dodge. She lashed out with a palm strike — casually, almost effortlessly — and intercepted the claw.
The instant she touched Chen Zhang's wrist, she spread her five fingers. Like a coiling serpent, she rapidly climbed up his arm, then yanked hard. Chen Zhang immediately toppled toward her.
How was this woman so strong?!
Chen Zhang was horrified. He felt like he was facing a tiger with monstrous strength. The smart chip steered Chen Zhang's fist to follow the momentum and smash toward Zheng Yueling.
But before his fist could even touch her, Chen Zhang felt a savage force strike his abdomen — like a sledgehammer blow, sending a sharp, piercing pain through him.
It turned out Zheng Yueling had driven a knee into his stomach. Amid a wave of weightlessness, Chen Zhang was sent flying two meters backward.
"Cough... cough..."
Chen Zhang collapsed on the ground, coughing violently, accompanied by groans of pain.
"Just... just what kind of monster are you..."
But he quickly scrambled to his feet — the smart chip judged that his body couldn't remain in such a defenseless position. This, of course, also triggered even more intense spasms of agony.
"You'll be just like your friends — never walking out of this house again, ultimately becoming the sixth missing person."
"Your senior sister here... I really do love adorable little junior brothers like you."
"Come at me again."
Zheng Yueling laughed softly. Her voice had turned eerie. Her form shot forward with incredible speed. One jade-like hand, like a demon's claw, reached once more for Chen Zhang...
Bai Jie had taken in every detail of their fight.
Originally, he had intended to intervene right from the start — but then he'd suddenly seen Chen Zhang transform as if he'd become a completely different person, actually managing to hold off the witch's assault. So he'd held back, wanting to see whether the witch had any other tricks.
Now, seeing Chen Zhang injured, he'd finally resolved to act.
But just then — bang! A deafening crash. The living room's security door had been forcibly broken open by something.
"Stop!" A furious roar!
A tall, stern young man in a pure black suit strode in through the crooked, wrecked door, occasionally twisting and stretching his ankle.
"Junior Chen, you naughty boy — you actually called for backup."
Zheng Yueling giggled coquettishly, as if an oriole were flirting in spring. Yet her actions were the polar opposite — utterly vicious.
She suddenly leaped into the air. Her elegantly curved leg tucked in, transforming into a knee strike from the side, viciously aimed at Chen Zhang's head.
The smart chip made Chen Zhang raise his arms to block. If this blow landed solidly, it would be more than just a severe concussion.
"I said — STOP!" Liu Wei bellowed.
The black-clad figure flickered, arriving behind Zheng Yueling in an instant. His leg snapped taut like a whip, lashing out — leaving a pitch-black afterimage in the air while setting off a piercingly sharp sonic boom.
Boom!
Zheng Yueling forcibly retracted her knee strike. Both arms blocked the whip kick. Instantly, a wave of numbness radiated from her arms.
Thud thud thud! The witch stumbled backward several steps.
She stared blankly at Liu Wei. "That speed and strength — no ordinary human could achieve that. Could it be you've undergone genetic modification?"
"We're leaving!"
Liu Wei had Chen Zhang drape one arm over his shoulder, supporting him. "There's no point staying here any longer. She can't stop us."
So saying, he headed for the door.
Panting, Chen Zhang realized the smart chip had not chosen to attack Liu Wei when he'd suddenly drawn near. Only then did he relax.
"I said — did I say you could leave?" Zheng Yueling's gaze sharpened. She spoke abruptly.
"Sit down!" In those beautiful eyes, pink-purple light flickered. Her crimson lips parted, issuing a commanding utterance.
Liu Wei's brow furrowed. He suddenly noticed Chen Zhang's eyes had gone unfocused. Chen Zhang actually released him and began walking straight toward the sofa.
"You... you're unaffected?" Zheng Yueling stared at Liu Wei in disbelief.
"I told you — you can't keep us here," Liu Wei said indifferently. He immediately yanked Chen Zhang back and delivered several hard slaps across his face. Then, grabbing the completely bewildered Chen Zhang again, he left.
In the blink of an eye, they had vanished from the house.
"You..." Zheng Yueling's expression shifted erratically, unable to accept that her prey had flown away just like that.
Yet she still didn't do anything. She murmured to herself: "This shouldn't be happening. Even a genetically modified human shouldn't be able to resist control..."
"Hmph. But they probably didn't get hold of any critical evidence. Well — even if they did, it doesn't matter. I can still go find Teacher..."
"Sigh. Have to clean up the house again. Nothing's been going my way lately."
Mid-monologue, Zheng Yueling's ears twitched imperceptibly. She'd heard a rustling, skittering sound.
Weren't the venomous insects all supposed to have been taken by Nyx? What was this sound?
She followed the sound with her gaze and was startled to see a massive, gold-patterned black spider basking in the window's setting sun.
Orange-red light spilled across the magnificent golden patterns, lending them an air of ancient gravitas.
"Nyx — you've come back."
"I knew you couldn't bear to leave me. What's the matter? No more venomous insects to devour outside? Or... did you want to try that gu-control contract with me again?"
Zheng Yueling's translucent, jade-like oval face suddenly blossomed into a smile.
But Bai Jie could see — deep within those eyes curved like crescent moons — a trace of something unnatural lurking.
An emotion that seemed to be... wariness.