novelraw Chapter 1266: Dark
Chapter 1266: Dark
Boom—boom—boom—
Suddenly, thunder rumbled outside—muffled thunder. Inside the office, Liu Minghao, who was buried in writing a report, was startled. He walked to the window and looked up at the strange sky. His expression changed instantly.
The door was pushed open with a loud bang. Wei Zidào hurried in, face stern—he was holding a small device in his hand. The indicator light on it was flashing red nonstop.
“Brother Hao, look! The demon-energy detector… it’s showing a reading hundreds of times higher than normal! What on earth happened?”
Liu Minghao shook his head and subconsciously glanced at the water cup on his desk.
The half-full cup of water seemed to be resonating, the clear water violently trembling, countless tiny droplets splashing upward.
The phone rang… it was a call from Bu Bugao. Wei Zidào quickly picked it up, and his face changed, “Brother Hao, a demon creature is approaching Zhong Luochen Corporation’s building—it’s at least a high-level demon!”
Liu Minghao’s pupils widened… his next reaction was, “Go! Check it out!”
…
“Wh…what… I don’t know…”The security guard lifted by the throat struggled in agony, his squeezed voice broken and intermittent.
Heishui snorted coldly and flung him away. His body was thrown into the security booth, smashing it into a mess. His head bled profusely—and he passed out immediately.
The thick demon clouds in the sky pressed downward like a collapsing wall.
Heishui’s gaze grew colder as she strode toward the building entrance—the glass doors at the lobby shattered before she even touched them!
The entire thirty-plus-story building… almost all windows shattered in an instant. Shards rained down like stardust. The good news was that it was late at night—regular employees had already left. The bad news—several patrolling security guards trembled in fear, one even misstepped on the stairs and rolled down.
Boom—boom—boom—!
The building shook slightly as if struck by an earthquake. This tremor spread all the way into the underground research facility!
“What’s going on? An earthquake?” Cheng Yun stared at the dust falling from the ceiling and felt the floor shaking beneath them. “This place gets earthquakes?”
No one could answer. All of them subconsciously turned toward the room 24 is in—the room used for experiments. 24 had been inside for some time now, far longer than any previous test.
“Could it be that master is causing this commotion?” Cheng Yun frowned, then relaxed, his face lighting up. “Did it succeed this time?!”
Everyone else was thrilled… except Chen Er. His brows were deeply furrowed, unease spreading in his heart. His mind grew restless. He quickly formed hand signs, attempting to calculate.
But his skills were crude at best—he had only learned the surface techniques. No matter how he calculated, he couldn’t determine what was happening. Yet his dread only grew… his heart pounding so violently that he began trembling.
With a decisive bite, he chomped his tongue, spitting out a drop of blood. He dipped a finger in it and smeared it across his eyelids.
When Chen Er opened his eyes again and looked at the others—each one of them was shrouded by a cloud of death!
His expression changed drastically. Without another word, he roared, “Go! This place is dangerous! You are all in danger!”
“Master Chen?” Cheng Yun froze… He feared and respected 24, but revered Chen Er. After all, Chen Er had set many Peach Blossom Formations for him—allowing him a very indulgent lifestyle.
“I can’t explain! Disaster is upon you! If you don’t want to die, listen to me—leave now!” Chen Er bolted for the exit.
“What… what’s wrong with him?” one martial artist frowned. “Crazy old man.”
Unlike 24, they didn’t fear Chen Er. To them, he was just a mystical fraud with some decent kicks at best—not someone worthy of respect.
“I’ll go check.” Cheng Yun said suddenly. “Please watch over things here.”
Remembering Chen Er’s help with the formations, he decided to check on him and quickly left.
The remaining martial artists shrugged. They weren’t concerned with Chen Er. He was probably just startled by the tremors.
They weren’t afraid—if anything, the bigger the disturbance, the more likely the experiment succeeded. Inside that room… was the power they dreamed of.
But then—the ceiling above them cracked everywhere. In a single breath, it collapsed. A figure dropped down through the opening!
At that same instant, the black cocoon in the room silently sank into the floor… disappearing underground completely.
…
Concrete mixed with steel smashed the entire level into chaos. Several research staffers were buried under debris.
The martial artists, having trained their bodies for years, resisted the impact well. They pushed the rubble aside and stood up, patting off dust.
The lights were dim—only the emergency lights glowed. In the red light stood a long-haired woman in a black dress, her gaze sharp and cold.
Just one glance.
Only a single sweep of her eyes—and their hearts shook violently. They sensed danger. This woman… was terrifying.
“Not here… but he went inside.”
The demon woman—Heishui—murmured. The martial artists stayed cautious, unwilling to fight her unless absolutely necessary.
One man stepped forward, testing the situation. “Miss… what do you want?”
Heishui barely glanced at him. She had already sensed Piglet’s aura—but alongside it came a thick scent of blood.
Not the blood of the wounded crushed in debris… something much stronger. Frowning, she followed the scent.
It came from several Oki crates stacked in a corner. With a wave of her hand, the crates exploded open. More than a dozen mangled corpses spilled out… the brutality of their deaths sickened even a true demon like Heishui.
“What are these for?” she growled.
Under the oppressive demon aura, the martial artists’ minds blurred. Startled by her sudden roar, one of them blurted, “Experiments…”
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it deeply.
“Experiments… Piglet… no!” Heishui’s expression tightened. Her eyes filled with killing intent. Her fingers extended, nails growing as her figure blurred—
In a flash, she disappeared.
Another flash—and a drop of blood slid down her nail. She snorted, “Trash.”
The martial artists slowly turned around… and as they turned, the arteries in their necks split open, blood spraying out. They died before they could even raise their hands.
Heishui, worried for Piglet, didn’t linger. She followed his aura swiftly.
Moments after she left, two more figures arrived.
Seeing the corpses everywhere—injured researchers—Bu Bugao’s expression changed drastically. Wang Hu’s eyes gleamed as he pointed, “She went that way!”
Bu Bugao’s mind raced. “Wang Hu, go and chase her—stop her, and don’t let her kill more humans! I’ll rescue the wounded and wait for the seniors to arrive!”
Wang Hu gave a short nod and shot forward… Bu Bugao looked around at the devastation with trembling nerves. When he noticed the horrifying corpses piled in the corner, a chill ran down his spine. “Damn… did I stumble into some kind of devil’s lab? What the hell did this Zhong Family’s Second Young Master do…”
A thought flashed through his mind. He suddenly picked up several scattered documents from the floor and looked down at them.
……
Alarms blared wildly.
The tremors rocking the building reached another section of the research facility… The sudden alarms made the group handling Piglet stop what they were doing.
As for the other children, they had already been asleep… but this abrupt disturbance woke them. One after another, they opened their doors and stepped out in confusion.
“What’s going on…”
Zhong Luochen’s expression darkened as he looked around. In the observation room, Piglet — who had quieted down earlier after being given food — suddenly began shaking its bell again.
The sound of that bell gave Zhong Luochen an inexplicable irritation. The proud young master snapped, “Don’t let him shake it! Take the bell away!”
The researchers panicked, acting purely on instinct. They all reached out at once to grab Piglet, trying to seize its bell.
Piglet might be small, but its strength rivaled that of a strong adult. Its tiny body moved with agility, leaving the researchers unable to pin it down.
This section of the research area was divided into multiple small rooms for quieter experiments — but now, chaos filled the outside halls. Six or seven children with minor abilities, dozens of researchers, and over ten on-duty guards were all in disarray.
Zhong Luochen picked up his phone, frowning as he called Cheng Yun. Just as the call connected, footsteps sounded behind him.
Tap… tap… tap tap.
A chill ran through Zhong Luochen. He spun around abruptly… and the phone slipped from his hand the moment he saw who had arrived.
“Miss Ink?!”
……
The woman before him looked nothing like the Miss Ink he remembered… The woman from the pottery studio had been serene, elegant — like a flower blooming in solitude atop a distant peak.
She had been the most uniquely graceful woman Zhong Luochen had ever seen, someone who had quietly haunted his thoughts — the only woman the Zhong Family’s Second Young Master, who rarely cared about such things, ever found himself drawn to.
He had never forgotten her… but he never imagined they would meet again under such circumstances.
“Miss Ink… why are you—” But he quickly sensed that something was wrong. Her gaze, her presence… those unnaturally black lips — she wasn’t the same Miss Ink he knew.
Heishui didn’t bother looking at him or answering his questions. Her eyes were fixed on the observation room… where her killing intent surged.
Inside, Piglet was being pinned to the ground by several researchers — one holding its neck, others gripping its limbs. Piglet bit down hard on a researcher’s arm, the entire scene a violent struggle.
In Heishui’s eyes, it looked like several humans bullying her child.
“Sis, help me!! Uwaaah~~~”
Heishui let out a cold snort. The observation room’s glass wall instantly shattered. The researchers recoiled, their grip loosening. Piglet twisted free, sprang up, and leapt straight into Heishui’s arms, sobbing.
“Sis!!! They bullied me!! They wouldn’t feed me! They hit me!! Sis, I’m scared, Piglet is scared! I wanna go home! Uwaaah…”
“You’re… his sister?” Zhong Luochen blurted out.
Heishui shot him a single cold glance, then softened her gaze as she looked at Piglet. Her voice gentled. “It’s alright. We’re going home soon. Don’t cry.”
“They bullied me!! They gave me shots! Piglet hates shots!”
“Sis will punish them. Don’t cry. Be good.” She stroked Piglet’s head tenderly until he calmed down.
She slowly exhaled and lifted her gaze toward Zhong Luochen again… The Second Young Master’s heart clenched.
“This place… is yours?” Heishui suddenly asked.
Zhong Luochen’s mind raced, but he quickly steadied himself. He took a deep breath and said solemnly, “Miss Ink, this place is indeed mine. But… there must be some misunderstand— I didn’t know this child was yours—”
His words stopped abruptly.
Zhong Luochen’s pupils dilated. His face twisted with shock, panic, disbelief… and pain.
He felt a stabbing agony explode from his chest and spread through every nerve in his body.
Miss Ink’s arm had pierced straight through his chest without hesitation.
Clean. Swift. Merciless.
“W–why…”
“No reason,” Heishui said coldly. “It’s enough that this place belongs to you. Anyone who harms my child — I will kill.”
She withdrew her arm and flicked it outward. The blood scattered from her skin instantly, as if she found it distasteful.
Zhong Luochen’s vision dimmed. His sight blurred. He collapsed onto the floor… into a pool of blood.
……
His consciousness drifted away… everything returning to its beginning.
Before the final darkness, he saw that masked clown Boss.
He saw their conversation across the dark table.
—“So what do you want to keep… There are many things that bring happiness, but they fall into a few types: love, family, interests, achievement, and peace of mind.”
—“Keep achievement for me.”
—“Are you sure? You might wish for something else in the end.”
—“I trust my judgment. No need to say more.”
Then everything went dark.
(End of Chapter)