Mei Gui and I silently moved from the bushes, and immediately locked onto our first target, a monster resembling a human male. It was the one furthest away from the store and just happened to be alone, so we decided to assassinate it here without causing too much of a ruckus. From behind a tree, I tossed a stone directly behind the monster, making it turn around and look around, bloodthirst in its eyes.

"Grr..." it growled deeply, carefully checking its surroundings. However, it wouldn't be able to for much longer.

Mei Gui leapt out of cover, as swift as a cougar, and impaled the poor monster's neck with her flaming spear before it could even react. She had aimed it perfectly so that the spear pierced through the monster's vocal chords, meaning it couldn't call for help from its companions before falling to the ground, limp.

This was a strategy we had devised beforehand. Since Mei Gui's weapon was extremely powerful and could actually pierce through these monsters' tough hide, we took advantage of the fact that these monsters originally were humans, so their internal organ structure and such should more or less be the same. I would serve as the distraction, while Mei Gui took them down in one hit, destroying the vocal chords so that they couldn't make any noise apart from their bodies collapsing to the ground.

Alright...one down.

I looked around, and spotted another monster a little distance away. However, this was going to be troublesome, since it was with a companion - another humanoid monster, around the same height. I turned to Mei Gui.

[How are we going to deal with those two?] I asked telepathically.

[Hm...If Master lines them up perfectly, there is a chance of me taking them both out with one throw.] Mei Gui replied after some thought.

I turned back to the two monsters, lumbering slowly without any goal in mind except to destroy and kill. Line them up perfectly, huh...

I smirked, as a plan came to mind. I dashed out of cover and threw a stone at the head of one of the monsters. The creature instantly turned around to face me, completely furious. However, I was ready.

First, before anything else...

Level One Sound Magic - Audiobarrier.

An invisible cage rose up around the creature, preventing any sounds from escaping. It howled, but no one would be able to hear it. The monster itself didn't know that, however, and began charging towards me. Its companion, being the only one close enough to notice it running, also followed suit, directly behind the first.

I similarly set up Audiobarrier around the second monster, and now I had two massive humanoid creatures charging at me at full speed. I immediately turned tail and ran back towards the bushes were we came from...and also where Mei Gui was lying in cover, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself.

And then, right as I reached the 50 meter mark away from the bushes, Mei Gui sent a telepathic message to me - one that I had been waiting for all this time.

[Now, Master!]

A powerful flaming javelin came soaring towards me, and I slid dangerously under it, just narrowly missing it. I was close enough to feel the heat from the black flames on its tip, but I wasn't injured in any way. The monsters behind me, however...weren't so lucky.

One, two.

The spear pierced directly through the first monster's throat, and went on to do the same to the second. Both monsters immediately came to a stop, before crashing onto the ground on top of each other, the spear being pushed out of their bodies from the impact. It had cleanly impaled the two creatures' vocal chords, and so, without a sound, two more enemies had been erased.

[Good work, Master.] Mei Gui said telepathically once I had gotten up from the ground.

[Yeah, you too.]

I glanced into the distance, and saw two more isolated monsters, one of the left of the shop, one on the right. Since we were currently behind the shop, that meant the remaining monsters were probably in the front. I turned to Mei Gui.

[Alright, Mei Gui...let's take down those two, then head to the front.]

[Understood, Master.]

And so, using the same tactic we had used with the first monster we killed, Mei Gui and I took down the two isolated creatures with ease. That meant we had taken down five already, leaving only five more.

Mei Gui and I circled around to the front of the shop carefully, and I peeked over the edge of the wall to get a grasp on the situation. One, two, three, four, five...yeah, when we were flying down here, I only saw eight, but the two I didn't account for were probably in my blind spot. There are ten monsters here in total, and Mei Gui and I already took down five. By her estimations, we should only be able to take down five, but...now I see what she meant wasn't that we were too weak. We just couldn't take them all ten of them on together.

[Mei Gui, I'm assuming we can't use the same strategy as before here?]

Mei Gui nodded. [Unfortunately not, Master. The monsters here are too close to each other. One movement from us and all of them will instantly be attracted.]

I sighed. [And we can't take on all five of them at once?]

[I'm afraid that is not possible, Master. We would be utterly crushed after taking out one or two. Perhaps, if we had a few more helpers, but...]

Hm...? Helpers? Oho...

I smirked. [But we do.]

[...?]

[Let me borrow your phone for a sec, Mei Gui.]

Her eyes widened as she realized what I was going to do, and she quickly took out her phone and handed it to me. I opened the text message app, and sent Feng Mian a quick but accurate text:

[I'm here. Already took care of five, five left. Requesting assistance.]

Five seconds later, the text appeared as 'read', and I received an immediate reply from Feng Mian:

[Okay. We're coming out.]

I handed the phone back to Mei Gui, and gave her a thumbs-up. She blinked in return and materialized her spear once more. I cracked my knuckles.

Alright...let's go in with a bang.

*****

- Meanwhile, Back At The Coastal Metropolis -

(Lan Gui Ying's Perspective)

"Tch...Xuan Kai, how dare he...!" Li Mu Shen muttered angrily. He and his lackeys had just finished getting a lecture from Song Qian Long, who had returned to the scene of the conflict earlier. However, Xuan Kai was nowhere to be seen.

I leaned in to Li Mu Shen's chest and cradled his face. "Mu Shen, don't be angry...it's not worth harming your own health over that piece of trash."

"I know that, but...he dared to lay a hand on you!"

I shook my head. "It's okay, I'm not hurt or anything..."

"Still! I'll definitely get him back for this, I swear..."

I smiled faintly, and leaned in even closer to him. But my heart wasn't in it. I never actually liked Li Mu Shen in the first place. I only act all lovey-dovey with him because he's from one of the Four Great Families of Shenzhen...

...But with this disaster tonight, what will even become of Shenzhen in the future? This entire city...even if it survives, it would take years to rebuild and get back to its original state. And if it doesn't, well...then the Four Great Families will be no more, either. If that happens...then what am I still doing here, pretending to love someone I don't even care about in the least?

Of course, if he died, it would be troublesome for me, since then I would be like a parasite without a host. I am aware of that, but I'm not ashamed of my way of living at all. In fact, it's the only natural thing to do, as a weak person.

In this world, the strong prey on the weak. Those are the fundamental laws of reality for all of eternity, and nothing can change that now. And so, for the weak, the only way to survive, is to find yourself a strong host to attach to. That way, you will be protected and safe, even though you are weak. That is my logic, and that is my way of living. It's how I have survived up until now.

All those years ago, my parents and I immediately went back on our agreement with Xuan Kai's parents, after hearing about what a failure he was. A boy without magic whatsoever in his veins? Oh, you gotta be kidding me. There's no way I would be able to survive, attaching myself to a host like that! And so, I found somebody else - Li Mu Shen.

But I do admit...abandoning Xuan Kai was a miscalculation on my part. Who would've thought the same powerless waste of the past would actually gain magic and become even stronger than Li Mu Shen now? This arrogant son of the Li family acts all haughty and talks about getting back at Xuan Kai, but honestly? Even I don't think he has the capability to put his words into action. He's gotten weak, pale in comparison to Xuan Kai...

...Now that I think about this matter carefully, maybe it's time for me to find a new host, huh?

Then, suddenly, a sharp pain erupted on the back of my neck, and my eyes widened from the shock. Li Mu Shen, seeing me stiffen so abruptly, quickly held me upright and asked with concern in his eyes.

"Ying'Er, are you okay?! What's wrong?!"

I shook my head weakly, as the pain subdued a bit. But now, I felt myself getting a headache, and my vision getting hazier and hazier. What is this...?

"S-Sorry, I'm going to go to the washroom for a bit..."

"H-Huh? But didn't you just go earlier, where we met that bastard Xuan Kai...?" Li Mu Shen wondered in confusion.

But alas, I was too nauseous to even respond, I struggled to my feet and headed for the female bathroom which, thankfully, wasn't that far from the circular couch we had been sitting on. I entered one of the empty stalls after several attempts, and received many disdainful and curious gazes on the way. I merely ignored them though, since I really couldn't even think straight anymore.

I locked the door behind me and collapsed to the floor, panting heavily. A sharp pain, similar to the one on my neck before, overtook me once again, but this time, it was within my own head.

"NGH!" I screamed in agony, and clutched at my head.

And then, everything went black.