Chapter 752: Exchange

"This is our business, nothing to do with you. I can try to accommodate you, but don't push your luck." Zhu Li stood at the forefront of the Red Building Tenants under a black umbrella. He wore a smile, entirely unfazed by my killing intent. "Didn't you come to the Pig Cage Apartments to find someone? These three are the only living people left in the Apartment Building. Hand over that corpse, and all three are yours."

Zhu Li couldn't care less whether the three lived or died. Beneath his signature smile lay a coldness divorced from humanity. "You can do whatever you want with them. I won't ask. Whatever makes you happy."

"None of them are who I'm looking for. What use are they to me?" It was my first time seeing the young man from the top floor. He had pale skin and a sturdy build. Aside from the patch of skin torn from his back, he had no other wounds or scars. The impression he gave me was completely different from a live show streamer.

Live show streamers all carried a distinct aura—even Xia Chi, who had only been one for a short time. It was impossible to explain, something only fellow streamers could recognize.

"Are you sure they're of no use?" Zhu Li tilted Bai Ya'er's chin up, turning her face toward me. "She is the most exquisite work of art I've ever seen. Give me the corpse, and she is yours."

"Teacher Zhu, I—"

"Shut up."

He hadn't even raised his voice. It was just two simple words, yet they made Bai Ya'er tremble.

"You can take all three. I only want the corpse." Before Bai Ya'er could react, Zhu Li shoved her aside, leaving her sprawled in the mud. "Think about it. It's a fair trade. They are the only three humans in the Pig Cage Apartments. If you really came here looking for someone, they must be among them."

"I haven't even given you a description of the person I'm looking for, yet you're that certain?" Under the influence of the Good and Evil Asura Mask, my voice was cold and flat, stripped of all emotion.

"I have no reason to lie to you. Honestly, your arrival at the Pig Cage Apartments tonight is an accident in itself, and I'm sure you know that better than I do. No one in Jinghai has dared to take over this place for decades. The water here is deep. If you want to wade in, be careful not to drown." Zhu Li didn't even glance at Bai Ya'er on the ground. He grabbed the little boy from the sixth floor by his clothes and hoisted him up. "Think it over. The only three living people in the Pig Cage Apartments are right here. I hate trouble. If you refuse the exchange, I'll just kill them right now, and neither of us will get what we want."

Rain drenched the little boy's messy hair. Born missing a part of his soul, he couldn't cry or scream like a normal child. Suspended in mid-air, he flailed his arms and babbled frantically, his small face twisted in sheer agony.

Zhu Li was incredibly decisive. He wasn't giving me any room to negotiate. Baring his fangs right from the start, he was ready for a fight to the death.

"Don't play games with me. I want the corpse, you want the living. We both get what we need." Holding the umbrella in one hand, Zhu Li reached his other hand out to the side. The Doctor standing behind him understood immediately. With a sinister smile, he pulled a Scalpel from his pocket and placed it in Zhu Li's palm.

"Life itself is a work of art. Whether dismantled or pieced together, it is near perfect." Pressing the blade against the little boy's skin, Zhu Li traced a few lines, as if admiring a fresh block of clay. "Everyone is unique, which means every piece of my work is impossible to replicate. I originally had other uses for these three. What a pity."

"Carving with human lives isn't art. It's murder." With three lives in his hands, I had no choice. Setting Bai Ya'er aside, the little boy was Junsheng's reincarnation—he had to be saved. The young man might be connected to the Underworld Live Show's second optional task, so I needed to keep him alive too.

After a moment of thought, I planted my foot on the Phantom Pig corpse. "How do we make the exchange?"

"Don't be in such a hurry." Seeing my agreement, Zhu Li finally set the little boy down. "Your killing intent is sky-high. Far too overbearing. I wouldn't dare get close. How about this: leave the corpse where it is and back away to the corner of the building. Then I'll release them."

"You certainly know how to scheme." Grabbing the Phantom Pig corpse, I walked straight toward the Red Building Tenants. "The corpse goes to you, and I'll take the three living people. If you dare pull any tricks, I'll kill you all."

"Can you even kill us?" Beside Zhu Li stood a person in a dark gray uniform. He had also brought a black umbrella. Gaunt and thin with protruding cheekbones, he looked just like a vulture gorging on carrion.

"Want to try?" My pace didn't change as I walked toward him, not even bothering to raise my head. "A petty Clown. What else can you do besides jump around?"

A blue vein bulged on his hand as he gripped the umbrella handle. He took a step forward but was stopped by Zhu Li.

"If you want to fight, I'll oblige." My killing intent washed outward, causing even the wind and rain to shy away.

Zhu Li's brow twitched before his smile swiftly returned. "Everyone gets what they need. Let's not get angry. I'll release one person first. How does that sound?"

He reached out and shoved Bai Ya'er forward, giving her a deeply meaningful look.

The slender, exquisite woman seemed to understand his meaning. Biting her lip, she picked herself up from the mud and jogged over to me barefoot.

My impression of this woman wasn't great. If Zhu Li was a demon, she was the servant attending him—a puppet who had sacrificed her own soul.

Zhu Li definitely harbored ill intentions by sending her over first. I secretly ordered the Fate Ghost to guard my back.

"The corpse is right here. Give me the rest." Standing in front of Zhu Li, I faced the dozen Red Building Tenants entirely alone, without a shred of fear.

Zhu Li grabbed the little boy with one hand and pressed down on the young man's shoulder with the other. "You've got some guts, but more often than not, the boldest die the fastest."

"You don't need to worry about that." I threw the Phantom Pig down in front of them. Several Red Building Tenants stepped forward to drag the corpse back. At the same time, Zhu Li released his grip, shoving the little boy and the young man toward me.

"The Pig Cage Apartments is not a place you should be. Consider that my final piece of advice." The smile on Zhu Li's face slowly vanished as he turned and walked away under his black umbrella.

Watching his retreating figure and staring at the black umbrella over his head, I inexplicably felt the scene was familiar. 'Maybe it's just because their umbrellas look too much like mine.'

Whether by coincidence or accident, the umbrellas held by the Red Building Tenants were completely identical to the black umbrella He Bo had given me. Digging deep into my memory, the umbrella the Old Granny gave me when I first went to interview for the Live Show seemed to look like this too.

'Black umbrellas sending off souls. From beginning to end, people keep giving me umbrellas. It's truly hard to understand.'

Untying the black cloth from the young man's face, my movements slowed. His eyes were swollen and oozing blood, as if he had been blinded by chemicals.

"Can you hear me?"

The young man pointed at his left ear. At first, I didn't understand. Turning his body over, my Judging Eye swept across him, and only then did I discover a small twig driven straight through his right ear. Only his left remained intact. "If you had come a little later, both of my ears would've been deafened."

The young man's plight was tragic, but under the influence of the Good and Evil Asura Mask, all the sympathy and kindness in my humanity were utterly suppressed. Instead, I acutely caught the crucial piece of information in his words. "You knew I was coming?"

"I knew he wouldn't lie to me. He said someone would come to help, and you really did." The young man smiled with great effort, his lips trembling. "He told you to come, right?"

No one would make a joke like that while hovering between life and death. I looked at the young man, unsure of how to answer, only feeling as though I had been used.

"Go rest in the stairwell first. Once the sun comes up, I'll take you to a hospital." I turned to glare at Bai Ya'er. "You stay put, too. If you dare step out of line, I will kill you without a shred of mercy."

I was just about to leave when the young man gripped my clothes. "These monsters want to be reincarnated! They are looking for reincarnation! The old woman who lives on the second floor is in there too. They used this little boy's life to threaten her, forcing her to help them! Hurry up and find her—if you wait any longer, it'll be too late!"

"What?!" I looked at the gradually retreating Red Building Tenants and made a prompt decision. Releasing the spirits from my Ghost Ring to guard the young man, I chased after the Red Building Tenants all alone.