novelraw Chapter 11 : Shadow Hunt
Chapter 11 : Shadow Hunt
Chapter 11: Shadow Hunt
Top floor of the Global Center, CEO’s office.
Lin Lan stood before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the city beneath her feet.
“Dong, dong, dong...”
Suddenly, a crisp tapping sound came from the glass of the window.
Lin Lan turned around sharply, her gaze as sharp as a blade.
A pitch-black crow had somehow landed on the railing outside the window. With its hard beak, it was rhythmically pecking at the glass.
Its eyes were not the dull black typical of birds, but instead transparent, bead-like orbs. At this moment, those glassy eyes stared fixedly at Lin Lan without moving.
Lin Lan frowned slightly. A bird?
At that instant, the crow actually spoke in human language.
A calm male voice came through the glass, sounding clearly in her ears.
“Miss Lin Lan, a pleasure to meet you.”
Lin Lan’s heart contracted sharply, though her face remained as cold and composed as an iceberg.
From this eerie crow, she could faintly sense the familiar aura belonging to the 【Shadow】 faction.
The fourth teammate!
She hadn’t expected him to appear in such a way!
“Who are you?” Lin Lan asked coldly, quietly summoning the power of shadows.
“I’m Wu Ce, the 【Puppeteer】.”
“By the way, what’s standing before you right now is just a puppet.”
A puppet?
Lin Lan’s eyes fell upon the crow’s eyes, and in that instant, she understood.
“I’ve been observing you all along.”
The crow tilted its head, its glass-like eyes reflecting Lin Lan’s cold face.
“When you were thinking about how to deal with the 【Radiance】 faction; when you went to Deshengli Third Alley; when you were holding meetings with those two useless fools.”
The crow’s words made Lin Lan’s pupils contract violently.
Her every move—had it all been under another player’s surveillance?
“What do you want with me?” Lin Lan quickly regained her composure.
Since the other party had revealed his identity, it meant he bore no hostility. But the fact that he had discovered his “teammates” long ago and chose not to reveal himself suggested that he had his own plans.
Thus, Lin Lan stepped closer to the window, facing the eerie crow through the glass.
“I came to you because I think those two don’t deserve to be with us.”
The crow’s voice carried unmasked disdain. “One is a fool whose head is full of money and women, the other is a trickster with nothing but cheap cunning.”
“Working with them only lowers my efficiency and increases my risk.”
“But you, Miss Lin Lan—you’re different.”
“You’re calm, rational, decisive. Most importantly, like me, you enjoy the feeling of controlling everything.”
“That’s why I choose to work only with you.”
For the first time, Lin Lan felt a flicker of interest toward this mysterious teammate.
Arrogant, reclusive, and contemptuous of the foolish—
He was, in many ways, just like her.
“Cooperation requires leverage. What’s yours?” Lin Lan asked.
“Information.”
The crow replied, “I’ve found a target.”
“A player from the 【Radiance】 faction. He lives alone, cowardly by nature, with the ability of 【Invisibility】.”
“His name is Li Ming, a programmer. Recently, he’s been using his ability to satisfy his pathetic little desires.”
The crow tapped the glass lightly with its beak, attaching a small USB drive to the outer surface in some strange way.
Lin Lan opened the window, retrieved the USB, and plugged it into her private computer.
Immediately, the screen displayed detailed information on Li Ming—even video of him muttering lecherously to himself after dropping his invisibility in his rented room.
“This is indeed a perfect prey.” After reviewing the data, Lin Lan’s eyes flashed with a cold light.
“Our cooperation is simple.”
The crow’s voice continued, “I provide intelligence—locating each 【Radiance】 faction player, their abilities, and their weaknesses.”
“You organize the operations and eliminate them.”
“I will not take part in any direct combat, nor will I contact anyone else.”
“To put it simply, I don’t want anyone except you to know of my existence.”
“That’s our cooperation.”
Lin Lan looked at the eerie crow outside the window and sneered. “Hmph. No risks, all rewards. You’re quite the schemer.”
“No, no, Miss Lin Lan. The deeper the trump card is hidden, the better, isn’t it?”
Lin Lan looked at Wu Ce, silent for a moment, then smiled meaningfully.
“Deal.”
“Then, the first step.”
Lin Lan’s gaze turned sharp. “I need his body tissues—hair, nails, anything with his biological information.”
“That fool Wang Defa and his 【Curse Master】 ability require a medium.”
“Can you get it?”
“A trivial matter.”
The crow seemed very pleased with Lin Lan’s decisiveness. It spread its wings, soared into the sky, and soon vanished into the concrete jungle of the city.
……
Meanwhile, in Li Ming’s rented apartment.
Li Ming had just brought to his nose a piece of intimate clothing stolen from the home of a female colleague he secretly liked, sniffing it greedily.
He failed to notice that in the dark corner under his bed, a large rat—bigger than an ordinary one—was watching him coldly with eyes that were anything but animal-like.
When Li Ming turned to pour himself some water, the rat darted out like a streak of black lightning.
It precisely picked up a few strands of Li Ming’s fallen hair from the floor, then silently retreated into a hole in the wall and disappeared.
……
“Golden Splendor” KTV, Emperor Suite.
Wang Defa was having the time of his life, holding two newly arrived hostesses in his arms, when the door to the suite was suddenly pushed open.
Lin Lan stepped in on high heels, surrounded by a group of men in black suits. She walked in like a queen descending her throne.
“L–Lin… Miss Lin!”
Wang Defa shuddered violently, hurriedly pushing away the women beside him and scrambling to his feet. “You… you’re here?”
Lin Lan ignored him.
She walked straight to the main seat on the sofa, sat down, and pulled a black envelope from her handbag, tossing it onto the table.
Wang Defa froze for a moment, then immediately drove out all unnecessary people from the suite.
After that, he carefully picked up the envelope. Upon opening it, he found only a few seemingly ordinary strands of hair inside.
“Miss Lin, this is…”
“The target’s hair.”
Lin Lan spoke lightly, “A man named Li Ming, a player of the 【Radiance】 faction. His ability is 【Invisibility】.”
“Now, it’s your turn to perform.”
The moment Wang Defa heard this, a greasy, businesslike smile spread across his face. “Miss Lin, this… this can be done, of course, but you see, activating my ability takes quite a toll…”
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Lan’s icy gaze fell upon him.
“Wang Defa.”
Lin Lan’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried a bone-piercing chill. “Have you forgotten what kind of game we’re playing right now?”
“Thirty days. Either we win, or we all get ‘erased’ together.”
“At a time like this, put away your petty business schemes.”
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Wang Defa’s forehead. The smile on his face froze.
“I… I didn’t mean that…”
“Then what did you mean?”
Lin Lan leaned forward slightly, a powerful pressure enveloping Wang Defa in an instant. “Do you think that meager profit of yours is worth more than our lives?”
“Or do you believe your ability should be used for something more ‘valuable’—rather than for the survival of our entire faction?”
As Lin Lan spoke, the lighting in the suite seemed to dim.
In horror, Wang Defa saw the shadow at Lin Lan’s feet begin to wriggle like a living creature. A pitch-black tendril silently extended out, like a serpent, coiling around his ankle.
The cold, slimy sensation—laden with the breath of death—made every hair on Wang Defa’s body stand on end.
He had no doubt that with just a thought from Lin Lan, that shadow could pierce his heart in an instant.
“I… I was wrong! Miss Lin! I was wrong!”
Terrified by the palpable killing intent, Wang Defa’s legs went weak, and he fell to his knees with a thud. “I’ll do it right away! I’ll do it now! I won’t dare have second thoughts again!”
Lin Lan watched his pathetic display with a flicker of disgust in her eyes. The shadow coiled around his ankle silently withdrew.
“Remember this, Wang Defa.”
“In this game, you have only two choices.”
“Either be a useful blade and live until the end.”
“Or, right now, be a worthless scrap of metal for me to dispose of.”
“I… I understand! I’ll be the blade! I’ll be the blade!” Wang Defa kowtowed frantically.
Then, scrambling, he pulled a set of “ritual tools” from his bag—
A straw doll and three black candles, each as thick as a thumb.
He wound Li Ming’s hair around the straw doll’s neck, then lit three white candles and arranged them in a triangle, placing the doll in the center.
Wang Defa took a deep breath, and his demeanor changed instantly.
The usual sly, greasy look vanished, replaced by an eerie, sinister aura.
A cold and commanding voice echoed in his mind.
【Player: Wang Defa】
【Identity: Curse Master】
【Faction: Shadow】
【Words are your blades, resentment your poison; whoever bears a name falls under your curse.】
Wang Defa began to chant, his voice sharp and grating, like some ancient sorcerer’s incantation.
“Heavenly spirit, earthly spirit, open the way, vengeful souls follow…”
“By your hair, I bind your soul; I seize your essence, I rot your flesh!”
“Three souls diminished, seven spirits scattered; your body weakens by the day, sickness devours your life!”
As he chanted, the flames of the three white candles began to flicker violently. The color of the fire gradually turned into a strange, ghostly green.
Wang Defa’s eyes flew open. He lifted a silver needle and stabbed it hard into the straw doll’s heart!
“Puff!”
A faint sound. The needle sank into the doll’s body.
At the same time, the flames of the three candles shot up half a meter high—then instantly went out.
“It’s… it’s done.”
Wang Defa collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath, as though his entire strength had been drained.
Lin Lan had been watching coldly from start to finish, her expression completely unmoved by the shamanic spectacle before her.
Hearing Wang Defa’s words, she stood up, looking down at him from above, and asked calmly, “How long until it takes effect?”
“S–soon… if fast, within a day he’ll start feeling unwell—dizzy and weak,” Wang Defa said feebly. “If slower, within three days, he’ll definitely fall seriously ill.”
“This curse will continue to drain his life force until… until he dies.”
“Very good.”
Lin Lan nodded in satisfaction, turned, and walked away—leaving behind only her cold, retreating silhouette.
……
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, inside Li Ming’s rented room.
Just moments ago, Li Ming had been lost in the thrill of his voyeuristic indulgence when suddenly his heart seized violently, as if clutched by an invisible hand.
Then, a strong wave of dizziness hit him, his vision went dark, and he almost collapsed.
“W–what’s… going on?”
Li Ming braced himself against the table, gasping heavily, feeling as though his body had suddenly been hollowed out. His limbs went weak, and cold sweat poured down his back.
“Could it be… I’ve been ‘taking off’ too much lately, and my body’s worn out?”
Li Ming shook his foggy head, dismissing the sudden discomfort as nothing more than a sign of poor health.
He had no idea that he was about to become the first prey hunted by the Shadow faction.