I Have a Golden Crow

Finally, I see you!

Du Yu’s heart thudded wildly. Ever since entering this bizarre Rainy Night City, he’d been strung along by Red Raincoat all the way here.

He’d dashed through barricades, fought running battles, and witnessed one grisly murder after another.

At last, the Red Raincoat, who had always shown him only a retreating back, revealed her true face!

Red mist swirled, yet her facial features were relatively clear—it seemed to be a girl of striking and beguiling looks.

”Snap! Snap! Snap!” Outside the tower, in the military tent, soldiers hammered on keys, frantically taking screenshots.

Yet another brand-new character, yet another fairly clear face!

Even though the girl’s face was shrouded in red mist, this was an invaluable clue—maybe it’d help the Demon Spirit Military find her real-world counterpart!

A soldier spammed screenshots, muttering and far more agitated than during the Black Mist Woman’s appearance: ”There’s goods! Got something! Finally drew one on the Demon Taming Prentice Tier!”

No wonder the soldiers were ecstatic—over four months now, countless Demon Tamers had come and gone, but the Demon Taming Prentice Tier had never produced a valuable lead until now.

Battalion Commander Liu didn’t rebuke the soldier’s loss of composure. His own mind was in turbulent upheaval, eyes glued to the screen showing the little Red Mist girl.

This Du Yu... incredible!

By what seemed pure chance, he’d managed a head-on encounter with the Red Raincoat—and for the first time, had let people capture a key character’s image from the story!

Right now, Battalion Commander Liu didn’t yet realize—Du Yu wasn’t acting by accident at all!

Du Yu had made a clear judgment about his location, then reacted decisively, contriving this in-person meeting by himself.

”Who are you...” Yang Qingqing muttered, doing her best to reconstruct the red-misted face from the screen.

”It’s not safe here!” Du Yu’s words yanked everyone abruptly back to reality.

From first-person perspective, Du Yu had both hands raised, adopting a gesture to halt the fighting, hurriedly saying, ”You can’t hide here. They’ll be here soon—your family, all of you, will be slaughtered.”

”Ah!” Abruptly and unexpectedly, Red Raincoat let out a crisp cry, flinging out a hand. A Red Fog Ball shot straight at Du Yu!

Du Yu’s face tensed. He ducked back hastily, stumbling clumsily into the pitch-black home.

”Bang!” The Red Fog Ball exploded in the corridor, a wave of air surging forth!

Du Yu threw up an arm to shield his face, blurting, ”I’m out here blocking them for you—there’s still a chance to escape, take your family and—”

”Crash!” He hadn’t finished before the security door across the hall was wrenched open. An adult-sized Red-robed Mist Person spotted Du Yu—instead of talking, he also flung out a hand!

”Shit!” Du Yu cursed to himself, grabbing the security door in a flash.

”Bang!”—the sound of the door closing.

”Bang!”—the Red Fog Ball smashing into the security door.

Du Yu rushed forward, peering through the peephole. He saw Red Raincoat darting up the stairs, slipping into her apartment, Red-robed person slamming the door shut after her. The hallway fell silent.

”Du Yu!” A woman’s cool voice whispered in Du Yu’s ear.

”Master Qing.” Du Yu kept his eye on the peephole, the camera at his head pressed naturally to the door—the monitoring screen was nothing but black.

Yang Qingqing spoke: ”Take a deep breath.”

”Huh?”

Unexpectedly, Yang Qingqing’s voice suddenly went gentle: ”Just listen. Deep breath.”

Du Yu: ”...”

With Du Yu’s long exhale in her ear, Yang Qingqing continued, ”I know you feel deeply immersed. Not just you—even we, watching the monitors, are caught up in it ourselves.

But you have to remember, Du Yu, though it looks like you’re in a residential home, in truth, you’re inside the Shadow Gu Tower. Everything—everything—is an illusion conjured by the Tower. It’s trying to tell us a story.”

Du Yu’s mouth fell slightly open. He understood what Yang Qingqing meant.

When her cold voice softened, it was almost like a sedative for the half-awake: ”You can’t change the story’s course, can’t affect how it ends. Even if you could, you shouldn’t.

The greatest help you can give the characters is to record all of this exactly as it is—so that this buried history can see daylight again.”

She paused, then gently reminded him, ”Until any character genuinely threatens you, just quietly stand aside. The only reason to intervene is to save yourself—to proceed to the next floor of the Shadow Gu Tower—never to interfere with the story itself.”

”Yeah, I... I understand.” Du Yu laid a hand on the doorknob, softly replied.

A faint smile played on Yang Qingqing’s lips. Exploring the Tower was important, but after seeing all of Du Yu’s reactions, Yang Qingqing realized ever more profoundly what kind of apprentice she’d really taken on.

She said softly, ”You’ve already reached the third floor of the Shadow Gu Tower—a height no one else has ever attained. Right now, you...”

Du Yu: ”Shh!”

Yang Qingqing: ”...”

Battalion Commander Liu instantly snatched the headset: ”Press the camera up to the peephole. Let us record—whatever happens, we’ll tell you.”

As expected from a seasoned soldier, so sharp—Du Yu’s one-syllable warning, and the tent already guessed what was coming outside.

He tipped his head slightly, very carefully pressing the camera up to the peephole.

With the soldiers constantly adjusting the camera, through the peephole a unique, curved-angle image appeared on the monitor.

Black-robed People began climbing the stairs—the ”clack clack” of high heels echoed in Du Yu’s ears.

That woman came upstairs too?

Strangely, the apartment next door had previously been locked tight, but now, it suddenly swung open.

Inside, a Red-robed Person fired point-blank, and instantly the hallway erupted in chaos.

”Don’t move!” Liu Camp ordered, then turned to the tent, ”Drop everything, mute all stations!”

In a flash, the tent fell dead silent. Curious soldiers all stared at the monitor, taking in the curved hallway shot.

Brutal!

Utter carnage!

One dead Black-robed Person lay by the stair rail, then was kicked down the stairs amidst the violence.

Black-robed and Red-robed People savaged each other in that tight space. Through the peephole camera, there was no way to capture the whole battle.

In the end, the Black-robed People crashed into the apartment across the hallway—walls shattering, tables flipping. Black-robed and Red-robed were literally knives-out, fighting at point-blank range. This scene defied all common sense!

Were all these people Demon Tamers?

Where were their Demon Pets? None in sight—all of them fighting close quarters!

And their Demon Skills? Just a bunch of people who only know how to use Red Fog Mass and Gray Fog Mass? Is this a joke...

Yang Qingqing frowned for a moment, lost in thought, then realization dawned in her heart.

The Shadow Gu Tower was simply relating the story. To help Du Yu better grasp it, it had not only set the world in modern times, but also drastically simplified everyone’s fighting methods.

”Clack, clack, clack.” Heels sounded again.

The peephole now showed a woman’s back in a wool coat, standing at the neighbor’s door, gripping a black rain umbrella she’d long since readied.

She strode into the home. Amidst the uproar, she suddenly seized a flying Red-robed Person, slammed him against the wall, and drove the point of the umbrella straight through his skull, into the plaster.

”Ss—”

The tip of the black rain umbrella slowly withdrew, bringing with it a stream of red mist, and as the umbrella pulled free of the skull, a black blade replaced it, driven into the wall, pinning the Red-robed corpse in place.

Utterly composed, at ease!

No one had anticipated that such a cramped apartment could hide so many Red-robed People, or that their slaughter would be so savage.

”Ring~ Ring ring~”

A bell shrilled. The diminutive Red Raincoat suddenly leaped out, moving like a cat—darting sideways along the wall, aiming straight at the Black Mist Woman.

The Black Mist Woman reached to grab the Red Raincoat, but for reasons unknown, her whole body seemed to freeze for a split second.

”Ooh—ya!” Red Raincoat yowled strangely, slipping between the woman’s legs, dashing for the door.

With a low ”thud,” Du Yu jumped in fright.

He didn’t see quite what happened, only that Red Raincoat flew out, planted a foot on the security door, pushed off, and shot up the stairs above.

Through the camera, the Black Mist Woman inside the neighbor’s apartment regained her movement and came walking out.

”Clack, clack, clack.”

The sound of heels—it was as if they were pacing through everyone’s hearts.

The soldiers watched, focused and breathless, not daring so much as a gasp!

Because the Black Mist Woman seemed to have noticed Du Yu behind the door—she stood right before the peephole, staring straight at whoever was behind it.

To be exact, she glared through the camera, as if she were watching the mass of soldiers in the tent!

Such an encounter—”eerie” was hardly enough to describe it.

”Shhh....” Yang Qingqing kept her voice as low as possible, whispering to Du Yu, ”Don’t make a sound. The Black Mist Woman is right outside the door.”

Truly—just a door away!

While Master Qing whispered, the tent was perfectly still.

No one wanted Du Yu, hiding inside, to die. Or maybe... under that Black Mist Woman’s gaze, any sane person would freeze, not daring the slightest move.

The muffled sounds of cries continued—Black-robed People sprinted out, racing up the stairs.

Slowly, the Black Mist Woman finally turned and ascended the stairs.

Yang Qingqing: ”She’s gone.”

”Clack, clack, clack.” The echoing sound drifted off in his head, and even without Master Qing’s confirmation, Du Yu knew it too.

He finally let out a breath. In a whisper: ”Next comes the scene of Red Raincoat being forced to her death, falling off the building.”

Yang Qingqing whispered back, ”We’ve already witnessed that part. For now, check the apartment across the hall. See if you can find any valuable leads.”

”Okay.” Du Yu gently opened the security door. Chaos greeted him—corpses sprawled everywhere. His view was limited, only catching a sliver of the home, but even so, it was horrifying enough.

Especially that Red Mist Person nailed to the wall by the Black Mist Blade. The corpse still swayed, ever so slightly...

He’d seen this sight before.

Back then, crouching on the southern apartment rooftop, he’d watched this same swaying corpse from another angle...

In the end, the Red-robed Person still died.

Du Yu pressed his lips, stepping out of the dark apartment.

Just as he crossed the threshold, into the exact spot where the Black-clad Woman had stood, the scene before his eyes shifted abruptly!

Du Yu’s body clenched. Now the setting was suddenly a bustling city street!

A wave of noisy commotion washed over his ears.

Neon lights flickered, bathing Du Yu in a fantastic array of colors.

On the big digital screen, a beautiful woman showed her pale face, holding a tiny bottle of cosmetics.

Cars streamed along the road, people teemed under the night...

Amid the bustling night city, at a distant intersection knelt a petite red raincoat figure, holding a small sapling in her hands.

The girl knelt at the curb, trying to plant a tree on the asphalt, drawing curious glances from the passing Gray Mist pedestrians.

Du Yu’s eyes narrowed in a flash!

That wasn’t just any sapling—it was two trunks twined together, winding upward in a spiral...

”Twin Trees!?”

Shadow Gu Tower—Fourth Floor!