Scarlet Descent

Yuan Guaizi's body was strong enough that after two or three seconds of dizziness, he suddenly came to his senses. He couldn’t even believe this had happened—his whole face was pressed against the wall, his body firmly locked, unable to move or exert any strength. Shame and anger made the veins on his neck bulge as he gritted his teeth and shouted,

"You bastard, are you looking to die?"

"..."

"Why is that always the first thing you people say?"

Wei Wei laughed, his gun still pointed at Yuan Guaizi's head. He yanked Yuan's right arm, spinning him away from the wall and throwing him heavily onto the sofa. Then he put the gun to Yuan's forehead, smiling.

"I don't like wasting words. Just answer what I ask, okay? I called you 'uncle' out of respect, but aren't you just a small-time information peddler?"

"..."

"How could Ouyang send such a reckless rookie?" Yuan Guaizi clenched his teeth. Whether from the impact or anger, his dark red eyes seemed about to bleed. He stared hard at Wei Wei and said,

"You're vicious enough, and bold too, but do you really think you can threaten and manipulate me like this?"

"Heh, you've got a gun to my head, but do you know that if I just shout once, you and that little girl will both..."

"..."

Wei Wei frowned, suddenly lowering the gun to point at Yuan's good leg. He pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

Blood exploded; bone fragments and fresh blood splattered in all directions, and Yuan Guaizi let out a muffled groan—Wei Wei had covered his mouth in time.

"Stop the nonsense," Wei Wei ordered, staring directly at Yuan Guaizi's contorted facial muscles and bloodshot eyes from intense pain. He kept staring until Yuan had somewhat adjusted to the sudden agony and stopped crying out uncontrollably, then slowly squatted down to pick up the still-smoking shell casing beside him.

The casing almost instantly burned his fingers red, but he seemed to feel nothing. He lightly waved it in front of Yuan Guaizi's face and said,

"Recognize this type of bullet?"

"Demon Hunter series special high-energy bullet Type 1. The bullet head contains a coagulant that can effectively suppress the abilities of demon-infected bodies."

"Codename Green Demon—we call it the Green Bean Fly. But as the cheapest bullet, its effect is actually mediocre. What I value more is its other function: License to kill! When this type of bullet appears at a crime scene, even the Guard Office won't investigate—they'll just transfer it to our Foundation. So, I played along with this act not because I'm afraid of those people outside, but because I'm kind-hearted and don't want to kill them all over such a small matter. Of course, if you don't cooperate, killing them all isn't out of the question..."

"..."

"But before I start the massacre," he moved the gun down to point at Yuan Guaizi's crotch and said,

"I want to ask you about some clues. In the apartment building on Stink Water Street in the west of the city, a Death Demon infectee has appeared—a beginner, probably not infected for long. Have you heard about it?"

"You..." Yuan Guaizi's almost chaotic mind once again produced an inexplicable terror, suddenly becoming clear. He felt the still-hot gun barrel pointing at his vital area. And now, his leg—previously fine—was radiating pain that almost made him dizzy, driving him nearly mad. He even feared that this leg might end up like his other one. This intense fear and anger were forced into clarity by an even stronger terror when he realized where the second shot was aimed.

He couldn't imagine how such a madman had suddenly appeared under Ouyang's command. But looking at the smile on Wei Wei's face, he found that when he spoke, he seemed very... sincere! It was an intuition—a sense from walking in the demon world. It made him sense a certain quality in Wei Wei. In this world, there are all kinds of people and unexpected confrontations. But often, whoever is crazier wins. Now Yuan Guaizi was suddenly gripped by the cold, crazy aura emanating from the other person. He still couldn’t be sure if this guy was serious about killing everyone or if he really had such strong backing—or was just bluffing. Yet from Wei Wei's bright smile and absolutely calm eyes, one thing was certain: he absolutely wouldn’t care about killing or even shooting him in the crotch.

"That matter, I..." Yuan Guaizi took a few deep breaths, suddenly about to speak. "Wait." But Wei Wei suddenly interrupted him with a smile, then pressed his thumb on a vein at the back of Yuan's neck. His smile became even gentler as he said,

"Go ahead!"

The words Yuan Guaizi was about to say suddenly got stuck in his throat.

Having been in this circle for so long, Yuan wasn't the strongest or the most mysterious, but his knowledge had always been extensive. Wei Wei had only made this simple gesture without saying anything—but it reminded Yuan of a secret lie-detection technique, a questioning trick that only certain professionals learn. This silently dissolved the lie he had been about to tell.

Taking a heavy breath, Yuan said in a low voice,

"I've never heard of the person you mentioned..."

"As far as I know, the only recent thing related, or possibly related, to the Death God is one incident."

"..."

Wei Wei smiled and said,

"Tell me about it."

Yuan Guaizi frowned and said,

"If you're really one of Ouyang's men, how could you not know about this?"

Wei Wei's expression was gentle and patient, but his finger disobediently moved to the trigger. Yuan glanced at that finger on the trigger. Watching it seemingly contract—whether intentionally or not—his breathing became noticeably heavier. Yet he struggled to control his emotions and said calmly,

"I'll tell you."

"Someone stole a corpse. The stolen body was the recently deceased daughter of an official from the Finance Department of the Administrative Office. She was at the best age—just graduated from university—and was said to be engaged. But on her way back from trying on wedding dresses, she died in an accident. The family was heartbroken and, to fulfill her dying wish, made an exception to bury her in the wedding dress she had chosen."

"..."

Yuan took a few breaths and continued,

"However, no one expected that shortly after the burial, the body would be stolen. The grave goods and jewelry in the tomb were untouched; only the body was taken. This incident was reported by several media outlets and attracted a lot of attention—including yours—because there aren't many organizations or cults that need fresh corpses. And only this one was stolen. Some suspect it's related to certain activities of the Death Cult. In normal times, just one corpse might not have caught your attention, but because of the deceased's special identity, I think your people have already started investigating this matter, right?"

"..."

"A stolen corpse?" Wei Wei frowned, thinking of what Sister Lucky was currently busy with. During the previous meal, he had heard she was tied up with a case needing investigation—but it wasn't certain if it was actually related to demonic powers. Even in idle Scrap Iron City, there weren’t enough hands, which was why he and Ye Feifei were called in. Could it be this case? But one was an official's daughter, the other a mine worker. One corpse, one stolen infant... these two didn't seem to have much connection.

Seeing Wei Wei's thoughtful gaze, Yuan Guaizi immediately said,

"That's all I know. I don't know if there's any connection between the two. I can only tell you that I haven't preached for a long time—I don't have contact with former cult members, and I don't pray in secret. I haven't even heard God's whispers in my dreams for ages. I just want to live as an ordinary person..."

"..."

"Is that so?" After hearing Yuan Guaizi's words, Wei Wei's face showed an understanding smile. Then he shoved the still-warm gun barrel directly into Yuan's wound, saying gently,

"Think a bit harder, won't you?"

"Uncle Yuan..." Yuan's voice trembled. Wei Wei's tone was very gentle, almost affectionate, but to Yuan's ears it was more terrifying than a demon's whispers. He was already sweating profusely from the pain, gritting his teeth to keep his voice steady. Yet the feeling of the recently fired gun barrel stirring in his wound made his body shake involuntarily:

"I really don't know any more clues..."

"Think harder..."

"Alright..."

"Actually, you shouldn't be looking for me—I’ve already left the church—but in this world, many worship supernatural powers. I've heard that a new batch of death worshippers has emerged in Scrap Iron City. I heard their name is something like: The... Black Goat Family. But I've never seen them; they rarely deal with us old-timers, and no one has seen their true faces."

"So, I'm not sure if they're real believers or just a bunch of reckless youngsters who don't know their limits."

"..."

Wei Wei noted down this name, smiling as he looked at Yuan Guaizi, and said,

"Is that all?"

"That's really all."

"Think harder..." Wei Wei said while twisting the gun barrel a couple of times.

Yuan Guaizi let out a muffled groan, veins bulging on his neck as he gritted his teeth slightly:

"I really haven't had any dealings with them, but I know that not long ago, through several layers of intermediaries, they bought a jar of formalin from the black market and sent it to a farm in the east of the city. I... I can tell you the name of this farm..."

"Think harder..."

"...There really isn't anything else, even if you torture me more, there's nothing else."