Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The Little Monster nodded obediently, and seeing that Mama understood what it meant, it immediately wiggled its tentacles excitedly.

Shi Yu was momentarily stunned. He had no idea that anyone would be looking for the Little Monster.

It doesn’t know anyone around here, right?

Although confused, Shi Yu quickly grew serious because of what the Little Monster had just conveyed.

"Can you sense who is calling you?"

The Little Monster focused for a moment, then slowly shook its tentacle.

Not sure… Mama.

"Wala~" It's so useless! The Little Monster lowered its head in disappointment, but under Mama’s thoughtful gaze, it perked up almost immediately.

But I can feel... that place... over there?

Faint signals trickled through Shi Yu’s abdomen.

Shi Yu listened carefully and instructed the Little Monster to pinpoint the exact location.

The Little Monster nodded.

After a while, Shi Yu finally obtained the location of whoever was calling the Little Monster—but when he saw it, he froze.

—Skyreach Mall?

Why there?

He squinted, puzzled.

By now, however, the voice calling out to the Little Monster seemed to have faded away.

The Little Monster raised its tentacle in confusion, only to hear Mama say after a moment, “Keep listening.”

“Let me know if you hear anything else.”

Little Monster: "Wala~"

Okay, Mama!

Of course, Shi Yu wasn’t foolish enough to rush straight to Skyreach Mall based on just a voice. Who knows what might be going on? It could even be a trap set by someone else, waiting for him to walk right into it.

After telling the Little Monster to keep monitoring, he calmly washed his hands and returned to the room as if nothing had happened.

The live stream camera turned back on.

Shi Yu’s face reappeared on screen, looking exactly the same as before. No one could tell what he had been doing during those few minutes away.

Instead, the comments were filled with concern.

"Yu Bao, if you're not feeling well, make sure to rest."

"You work so hard every day. Skip streaming tomorrow—take some medicine and get some real sleep."

Since Shi Yu had mentioned not feeling well that morning and had just said he wasn’t feeling great and needed to step away, the chat was full of care and affection. Looking at that innocent, boyish face, everyone couldn’t help but dote on him. After all, who could resist?

There’s only one Mukbang streamer this good-looking—every day, fans wait just to watch Yu Bao’s streams while he eats.

Shi Yu blinked, not expecting his fans to be so lenient—they were telling him to take time off before he even said anything.

“It’s really not that bad.”

“I’ll take some meds tonight and see how I feel. If I’m okay, I’ll go live as usual tomorrow.”

He pressed his lips together slightly, looking confused for a second after the chat flooded with excited “aww”s.

LovesLambSkewers: “Uh, Yu Bao, don’t read too much into it.”

“Get some rest, okay?”

“Okay.”

Shi Yu smiled, chatting with the fans for a bit longer before signing off.

Meanwhile, Sang Huaiyu caught wind of Shi Yu’s cold.

Sick?

He paused briefly. By human standards, he should probably check in.

Just as Shi Yu was about to log off, a notification popped up—someone had messaged him.

Who is it?

He glanced over in surprise—it was actually the big boss?

"Sick?"

The blunt message appeared on-screen. Shi Yu opened it, a little surprised the boss had been watching his stream.

He instinctively replied vaguely.

A little chill counts as a cold, right? And with Little Monster in his stomach, he really wasn’t at his best.

He thought the boss had just seen his stream and was making small talk. But after receiving his reply, the other end paused for a second.

Sang Huaiyu: Then in that case...

"I bought some medicine. A courier will drop it off soon—make sure to get it."

Shi Yu: …???

Wait, what? He bought medicine?

Hold on—he frowned, eyeing the screen suspiciously. “Boss, how do you have my home address?”

He’d already placed the order, but how would the boss know where he lived?

Sang Huaiyu lifted his gaze, a little impressed by Shi Yu’s quick thinking.

“It’s in the contract.”

Shi Yu: …Oh right. He’d totally forgotten about that. Now he just seemed weirdly paranoid.

His ears warmed slightly, and he instinctively touched them, feeling kinda dumb for overreacting.

But the boss didn’t seem upset.

Sang Huaiyu smirked slightly, thinking for a moment before saying casually, “Being cautious when you live alone is smart.”

At least, that’s how humans are.

Shi Yu flushed at the unexpected praise, especially after he’d just doubted the man moments ago.

“Thank you, boss.”

“Boss, you didn’t need to go to all this trouble. I’ll wait for it.”

He scrolled through his stickers and sent an OK hand emoji. When there was no reply from the boss for a while, he finally put down his phone.

A little over ten minutes later, Shi Yu turned around and realized there really was a delivery. And it came surprisingly fast.

He glanced at the delivery notification that had appeared on his phone right after the boss’s message and typed a quick note asking the rider to leave it by the door.

Only after hearing the elevator ding did he step out to get it.

The bag was way heavier than expected the moment he lifted it.

If the boss hadn’t said it was medicine, Shi Yu would’ve thought it was full of bricks. Why so much? Did they mess up the order?

Frowning, he carried it into the living room, flipped on the lights, and began opening the package—only to find it packed tight with rows and rows of meds inside.

Shi Yu: ???

Did the boss clear out the whole damn pharmacy?

The bag was completely stuffed. Shi Yu’s eye twitched as he took stock—he could swear there was enough here to last him five years.

This was too much to wrap his head around. He stared at the pile of pills for a long moment before finally picking up his phone again.

“Boss, you sure you meant to send *all* this?”

Sang Huaiyu glanced at his screen. Huh. It arrived?

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t think twice. Since he wasn’t exactly sure what kind of illness humans suffered from, Sang Huaiyu simply bought one of everything—to be safe.

Ah… Shi Yu had originally wanted to type a question mark, but then he remembered the guy was just trying to be kind. Maybe rich people just throw money at problems like this.

Ugh, seriously!

When would *he* catch a break? Couldn’t he strike it rich overnight, too?

The universe hated him. Not only did he not even own a car, but someone had to go and disturb his baby’s sleep in the middle of the night, leaving him stuck waiting now.

Shi Yu bit back a groan, deleted the question mark he’d typed, and was just figuring out what to say next when suddenly—a fat red envelope notification flashed on his screen.

Sang Huaiyu, copying from a “How to Be a Good Boss” guide online, followed the script step-by-step:

“This is an employee benefit.”

“Consider it a… sick-day bonus.”

Shi Yu’s jaw dropped.

He retracted his previous snide comments. Upon seeing the words "employee benefits," he hesitated for a moment before excited but embarrassedly clicking "accept."

This is okay to take, right?

Sick pay, huh? It should be fine to take it, shouldn’t it?

Shi Yu blinked and took the red envelope. His previously bad mood lightened a bit, and the weird noises that had disturbed him in the middle of the night no longer felt quite so unbearable.

Although he wasn’t sure what his boss’s intentions were later on, the perks right now were real.

Shi Yu took a deep breath and looked at the amount in the red envelope. As he typed, his tone couldn’t have been more sincere:

"Boss, you’re a real one."

Sang Huaiyu: "...?"

Hmm, a good person?

He paused, recalling how humans used the phrase, then arched a brow slightly.

Members walking by noticed Mr. Sang staring at his phone in thought and couldn't help glancing over curiously.

Sang Huaiyu lifted his gaze and saw Wang Shan, who hadn’t left with Shen Yan and the others, looking his way curiously. Behind his white silk blindfold, his eyes narrowed faintly as he gave a soft smile.

Wang Shan immediately felt like something was locking onto him—suddenly a chill ran down his spine for no reason. Rubbing his arms, unsettled, he didn’t dare look any further.

Weird—did Mr. Sang look kinda off just now?

...

After turning off his phone, Shi Yu grabbed two packets of medicine from the pile his boss had sent—choosing ones matching his symptoms.

He ran them through the medical robot first, and after confirming they were safe, opened and drank one.

Ugh, this is nasty.

The second he finished, he chased it with a glass of water.

The Little Monster, seeing its mom suffering, cheered with a "wala wala!"

It had been ages since Shi Yu had taken medicine—he almost threw up from how bitter it was. Only after swallowing it did he feel slightly better.

"It's fine."

After calming the Little Monster, Shi Yu remembered the main issue.

"Get anything from eavesdropping?"

"Are they still calling you?"

The Little Monster tilted its head, processing what its mom said, then nodded and shook its head before gently touching a tentacle to Shi Yu’s skin.

Just as Shi Yu was puzzled, he clearly heard the conversation happening several streets away—carried perfectly through the Little Monster’s tentacle.

"BWHAHAHA!"

Suddenly, weird laughter burst out—a guy with a grating voice laughing his head off?

The hoarse laughter made Shi Yu's ears numb. It was hard to imagine how the Little Monster had endured listening for so long. He rubbed his ears slightly, thinking that the person on the other end must be insane.

Sure enough, the next second, the hysterically laughing voice began to speak.

"Did you see it?"

"Strain your eyes—you must be able to see it!"

Shi Yu: ...?

See what?

Peng Ba had been watching for a long time. At first, his brain throbbed violently, as if stimulated by something, and his vision went blurry for a moment. But as time passed, the sensation became weaker and weaker.

The energy from the Surveillance Stone in Ma Wuyang's hand was nearly depleted.

Holding his head, Peng Ba dared not look at the frenzied man beside him—his whole body was itching unbearably. He didn’t even dare to glance down to see whether he had already become like the "Ma" opposite him. Using his last bit of willpower, he resisted desperately, praying someone would come soon.

He'd never wanted the Ability User Association to arrive more than this moment.

Get this lunatic out of here!

He’d give anything for that.

Peng Ba’s thoughts were muddled, unaware that fine sprouts were starting to sprout on his face.

Meanwhile, Ma Wuyang kept pressuring him to look, his frenzied voice growing louder and louder, making Shi Yu back away instinctively.

Then he heard... wait?

Was that the sound of a car stopping?

Ma Wuyang and Peng Ba couldn't hear clearly from the basement, but through the Little Monster’s tentacle, Shi Yu heard everything clearly—a car had parked in the nearby lot, and someone was making their way to Cloud Sky Mall.

Zhao Wen turned off the engine.

"This is the place?"

"Wait."

"There really seems to be a sign of Horrors in the building." His face changed slightly as he checked.

At first, everyone had been skeptical during the drive over, but now that they were here, they realized—there actually was something?

Shen Yan closed his eyes to sense for a moment before opening them again. "The basement has been altered—it was probably hidden before using a Horror with concealment properties."

"Now the energy is leaking out."

Something must have happened inside.

"Let’s go in." After exchanging glances, Han Chuyi’s arm morphed unnaturally, and he was the first to enter the mall.

Shi Yu had originally come to investigate the identity of the person mysteriously summoning the Little Monster, but he hadn’t expected the Ability User Association to get pulled into this too.

Were those earlier noises from Dr. Shen and Han Chuyi?

He paused, startled.

Why were they here?

The team was still searching for the hidden entrance to the basement. Inside, Peng Ba, pushed to his breaking point by Ma Wuyang, finally couldn't take it anymore. He slammed the Surveillance Stone down and turned to flee.

The noise startled those who were searching for the entrance. Han Chuyi glanced toward the west.

"This way!"

Ma Wuyang hadn't expected him to dare run. His face twisted in anger as he picked up the Surveillance Stone.

The Horrors attached to him instantly scattered and gave chase.

Peng Ba had just reached the doorway when an detached head came flying after him.

The expression on that head was identical to Ma Wuyang's own—its sinister gaze locked onto him, its face stretched in a grotesque grin.

If it caught him, his fate was sealed.

Peng Ba poured all his energy into escaping. He shed the Horrors one by one from his body, but within just a minute, his right arm was seized.

With a scream, in desperation he ripped off his own hand and crawled forward another step.

Han Chuyi forced open the concealed Horror door and rushed inside.

The next moment, he was met with the sight of a severed head suddenly exploding, blood streaking the walls before vanishing.

On the ground lay a bloodied, unconscious man—barely clinging to life.

The moment Ma Wuyang caught Peng Ba, his restraint snapped. But he hadn’t expected others to show up midway.

When the Horror door he had deliberately placed here was broken open, Ma Wuyang sensed it immediately.

Someone else had entered?

Had Peng Ba leaked the location?

In an instant, he realized something was wrong. With no time to deal with Peng Ba, Ma Wuyang, grasping at his remaining control, retracted the severed head. He shot a final glare at the unconscious Peng Ba before swiftly disappearing.

Peng Ba, after losing a hand, finally collapsed from agony and fear.

What the Ability User Association members saw upon entering was a scene worthy of a horror show.

"Someone stay with him."

"I'll keep chasing."

Han Chuyi glanced back but had no time to explain. He took off after the dissipating energy trail without hesitation.

Shen Yan frowned at the man on the ground, immediately ID'ing him—this was the pickpocket from "Gu Ember."

But why was he here? And being hunted down?

Had a "Gu Ember" member called in the tip themselves?

Shen Yan's expression grew more serious as he restrained the man as a precaution.

Meanwhile, Han Chuyi followed the fading trail.

Ma Wuyang was an SS-Class Ability User—and so was Han Chuyi. In fact, in terms of one-on-one combat, Han Chuyi was even stronger.

But Ma Wuyang had bolted too fast, and the basement had been rigged with escape routes long in advance. Before long, Han Chuyi got turned around in the maze.

After doubling back several times, the scent trail had completely vanished, making it impossible to determine the direction.

“Damn it!”

“Coward, running like that.”

He searched around with a grim expression but ultimately came up empty.

Shi Yu heard the distant curses and covered his ears, annoyed.

But the sound was fading. So he figured the guy who ran off must’ve taken whatever he was carrying and left.

From the earlier conversation, Shi Yu roughly gathered that someone had a “Surveillance Stone” — something that carried traces of Little Monster’s energy, allowing them to summon it.

Right now, the stone was likely in the hands of Ma Wuyang, the leader of Gu Ember, who’d taken off with it.

Putting it all together with what Feng Yunzhen had mentioned before, Shi Yu frowned slightly.

So what did Ma Wuyang want with the Little Monster?

...

Ma Wuyang didn’t have any real goal.

He’d just gone completely insane. Even the head he'd pulled back in during his escape was buzzing.

The weird-looking man slipped into a dark alley, cursing Peng Ba for being ungrateful as he clutched the severed head.

He’d even brought him to see “It.”

And still, Peng Ba dared to report him and team up with the Ability User Association?

His face twisted with rage as he carefully protected the Surveillance Stone in his arms, clutching it like it was priceless.

“It’s fine, there’s still a chance.”

“There’s still a chance.”

Hearing the rambling, Shi Yu twitched his lips. No way could he let this guy taint Little Monster’s ears. He lowered his head and gently touched his abdomen — originally about to ask if Little Monster could just destroy the stone.

But he paused, thinking it over. Maybe destruction wasn’t necessary. Keeping the stone would let him keep tabs on Ma Wuyang next time, making it easier to settle things with him for good.

The more Shi Yu thought about it, the better the idea seemed. His expression relaxed slightly as he withdrew his hand.

Meanwhile, Han Chuyi returned to the basement after failing to cut off Ma Wuyang, only to find the unconscious guy already tied up.

“He’s a problem too?”

Wang Shan gave a strange look. “Turns out he’s Gu Ember too.”

Han Chuyi: …

A Gu Ember ratting out his own?

Not just him — both Wang Shan and Shen Yan thought the whole thing was off.

Quick as always, Shen Yan sensed this might be the key to tracking down Ma Wuyang and figuring out these weird recent incidents.

They hauled the unconscious Peng Ba back to the Ability User Association.

First time strangers, second time familiar. Wang Chenghe, barely lucid, wasn’t shocked to see Peng Ba this time either.

What he couldn’t believe, though, was this: The leader cut off Peng Ba’s arm?

He paused briefly before seeing Peng Ba take a deep breath.

Compared to the life-or-death frenzy he’d shown during their earlier confrontation in the basement, Peng Ba was calmer now—at least he’d survived.

After glancing around and confirming that he was safe, Peng Ba spoke. "I’ll come clean."

"It was me who made the anonymous report."

Han Chuyi frowned impatiently. "We figured it was you."

"Spit it out—what exactly happened?"

His face hardened.

Peng Ba's thoughts fogged for a second—he thought he'd steadied himself, but the itch flared up again.

"Your face—"

Wang Chenghe shouted, horrified.

Peng Ba stiffened and looked down, spotting tendrils on his skin uncannily similar to Ma Wuyang’s. His pupils shrank to pinpricks.

After a moment, he gritted out, "All of this… was 'Ma.'"

"He got hold of something—and gone completely mad."

Thirty minutes later, Shen Yan glanced at his notes.

"So you're saying Ma Wuyang suddenly messaged you, threatening a meeting?"

"You caught the red flags in his previous orders, so you called us to cover your ass."

Even he snorted at the absurdity.

"Then during the meeting, Ma Wuyang claimed he had a way to surpass power limits and forced you to look at a stone?"

"Yeah, a stone."

Peng Ba nodded. "It was part of the Rotten Butterfly."

"There was something… strange about it."

As he spoke, his throat clicked, as if staring at something unbelievable. Unaware of it himself, his eyes glinted dangerously when mentioning the stone, and the green tendrils on his face began growing again.

Shen Yan watched silently.

Wang Shan and the others were just as creeped out. Only after leaving the examination room did they dare exchange glances.

Shen Yan closed his eyes briefly. "Stay the hell away from Peng Ba for now."

"Especially those things spreading across his face."

"Right."

They didn’t need Dr. Shen to tell them. Zhao Wen nodded in agreement.

Han Chuyi frowned. "So Ma Wuyang started changing after seeing that 'stone'?"

What kind of stone could have such power—driving a Gu Ember leader completely insane?

"No idea," Wang Shan shook his head, finding the whole thing utterly horrifying. No matter what, they had to find Ma Wuyang and get to the bottom of this.

What exactly was that stone?

...

After days of searching, there were still no leads on the stone. However, they did uncover some clues about Ma Wuyang.

Since escaping that day, the guy had been spotted around the flower-and-bird market and funeral district in City B.

According to the intel gathered, he was on the verge of a mental breakdown—they were *this close* to catching him.

Fu Nanyao took over the case after exiting the simulation field and glanced at the documents in his hand.

First priority: catch Ma Wuyang.

He’s the one with the most intel.

The documents indicated that Ma Wuyang was headed to Xilai Supermarket on West Street in two days to pick up a phone card. Their contacts had just dug this up.

It was also their best shot at nabbing Ma Wuyang.

Shi Yu also received intel about Ma Wuyang. With Little Monster playing messenger, his information was even more detailed than that of the Ability User Association.

"So, this guy plans to go to the supermarket the day after tomorrow and even intends to silence witnesses?"

A real troublemaker—leave him loose, and chaos follows.

This time, they *could not* let him win.

Fortunately, he had Little Monster leave a Surveillance Stone; otherwise, they’d still be in the dark.

Shi Yu yawned. "Can you locate where he is now?"

Little Monster gurgled a few noises, closed its eyes, and concentrated hard until it finally sensed a specific location.

Mama... glub... here.

In the park?

Shi Yu was surprised—this guy had some nerve. But a park wasn’t too difficult—just stick to the cameras’ blind spots.

At night, he changed clothes and prepared to head to West Road Park.

However, thanks to his suddenly bulging belly, Shi Yu opted for a looser hoodie this time, which the darkness only half hid.

At West Road Park: Ma Wuyang sat hunched on a bench, muttering to himself while staring at the Surveillance Stone, but that feeling from before was gone.

It’s missing.

It’s missing.

A few passersby spotted the weirdo on the bench and edged away, spooked.

Ma Wuyang’s head snapped up, snarling. At a shriek from an old lady walking her dog across the way, he started to rise—but suddenly noticed… The Surveillance Stone *lit up*.

It actually moved?!

The man's face twisted in excitement as he raised his hand, eyes bloodshot, on the verge of hysterical laughter.

At that moment, beneath the silent night... out of nowhere, a sharp slap cracked across his face.

What the hell’s so funny?!

The slap was so hard it seemed to freeze the air itself.

Ma Wuyang froze in place, his body motionless except for the flicker of his eyes. His crazed laughter was cut short in an instant, his face knocked sideways.

"Jeez, you're thick-skinned!" Shi Yu muttered under his breath.

He’d had enough of this guy’s crap.

If his eyes hadn’t deceived him earlier, this creep had been about to go after an old man and his pet, right? Absolutely unforgivable. Might as well get a few more hits in while he could.

Invisible spirit threads controlled the surroundings.

Ma Wuyang’s eyes blazed with fury. The moment he lost mobility, he realized he'd been trapped and immobilized.

But since when? He hadn’t even sensed it.

His face burned from the sting, yet he stood frozen like a puppet, helpless as that damn sneak kept hitting him.

Shi Yu, cloaked in black, melted into the night, his face unreadable. Yet each slap he delivered landed harder than the last, until Ma Wuyang was too dazed to resist, finally collapsing into stunned silence as Shi Yu paused to catch his breath.

Little Monster tilted its head: ???

"Wala..."

Fun...

Mommy play... game?

It wanted to slap too!

Little Monster looked eager to join in.

Shi Yu’s lip twitched as he glanced down. "Play? Play again? That’s all you ever think about."

Such a game-obsessed brat—still not satisfied?

Seeing that Ma Wuyang was no longer capable of resistance, Shi Yu slowly stepped forward, tightening the spirit threads in his mind.

Bloodied and bruised, Ma Wuyang instinctively lifted his head. His expression cycled through wariness, scorn, and finally, raw terror.

In his horrified state, he saw… emerging from the darkness… a shadowy, pregnant figure, her features blurred.