Chapter Twenty-Five: Why Am I Twisted?

The sudden twist caught the young man off guard; never had he imagined that, even in the jaws of death, Mu You would still attempt to fight back. In his haste, Mu You's arrow flew slower than the boy's. The latter, his body honed by special training, jerked his head aside and dodged the shot.

But in doing so, he lost the aim of his own arrow.

Mu You seized the moment, stamping the ground and surging forward.

"You've underestimated me!"

Seeing this, the boy swiftly retreated to buy himself time, nocking another arrow to his bow. As long as it so much as grazed Mu You, even the shallowest wound would cripple him for sure—the arrowheads were coated with a slow-acting neurotoxin. Its victim would be wracked with agony, every limb and bone afire, paralyzed and helpless. That torment was enough to drive a man mad before death claimed him.

In his mind's eye, the boy already saw Mu You lying rigid on the ground, his eyes filled with pain and despair, gazing at him in mute supplication, his throat choked by inarticulate moans—begging for a swift end, just like the slaves the boy had executed before.

Yet reality rarely bends to one's will.

Mu You had predicted the boy's furious retaliation. As he charged, he slipped to the side, dust rising in his wake, narrowly evading the deadly arrow. In a flash, he sprang forward, flinging a handful of dirt into the boy's face, while his other hand tore off the metal guard from his chest, hurling it at the boy's wrist. It struck true, hitting a nerve. The boy cried out in pain, a flash of cruelty ignited in his eyes. Seizing the split second before his bow arm went numb, he loosed another arrow in the direction of the flying metal plate.

Mu You failed to dodge in time; the arrow grazed him. He immediately sucked hard at the wound, biting deeper with his teeth to draw the blood out faster, then spat the blood fiercely at the boy.

Fortunately, the arrow had been fired at random—the fletching was green, marking it as a numbing arrow.

The boy, retreating, had just opened his eyes when Mu You struck him with a headbutt. Blood streamed down the boy's face, painting his vision scarlet. He tasted it—blood. No one had ever dared insult him like this from childhood to now. Unbearable. Absolutely unbearable!

"Ah!!!" the boy howled to the heavens, gripping a fistful of arrows and firing them blindly into the dust before him.

"I'll turn you into a human pincushion!" the sharp-chinned youth cursed venomously.

"Where do you think you're shooting?" A mocking voice fell from above.

Instinctively the boy looked up—only to see a dark figure descending upon him like a mountain, slamming him to the ground. His head struck the earth, and for a moment, his ears were filled with roaring thunder.

Mu You, with overwhelming force, pinned the boy beneath him, snatching the bow and arrows from his grip and flinging them aside. The boy's legs snapped under the impact, and, in agony and panic, he swung his fists at Mu You with vicious angles, trying to drive him off.

"Stay the hell down!" Mu You snarled, landing a hard slap across the boy's face.

For a few seconds, the boy was stunned—then grew even more deranged.

"Die! Die! Go to hell, you bastard!"

Wild with fury, the boy grabbed a sharp arrow from the fallen quiver and stabbed at Mu You's eyes. Mu You wrested it away, pinning the boy's arms above his head.

The boy struggled desperately. Mu You felt the numbness creeping from his wound again; his grip on the boy began to weaken.

Sensing this, and seeing the disbelief in the boy's eyes, Mu You drove the arrow through his own left palm, the tip piercing cleanly through and into both the boy's arms, pinning them together.

"Ah! You're a lunatic!" the boy screamed in agony, never expecting Mu You to be so ruthless—even to himself.

"That's right. I am a lunatic—the most dangerous kind," Mu You growled, glaring at him with murderous intent. "Anyone who dares anger someone like me should be ready to pay the ultimate price, to endure vengeance that will not end until death!"

As if echoing Mu You's words, "Final Judgment" suddenly split into two layers at that moment, blood-red light seeping from the crack. The cold electronic voice rang out again.

"Condemned criminal Mu You, warning invalid. Death sentence now in effect. Countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Death had come at last.

"I may be about to die," Mu You said quietly, looking at the boy, then gave a self-mocking smile. Strangely, he did not feel much sadness. He never thought himself a hero, yet without realizing it, for Xu Chen and the others, he had come this far.

Perhaps he could not endure the pain that was to come. But if he could, he would win his gamble. So before that...

A savage gleam lit Mu You's eyes.

He had to kill this boy—leave him no chance.

With that, Mu You raised his right fist high, preparing to deliver the fatal blow.

"Six... five... four... three... two..."

But the deathly countdown halted at "one." Several seconds passed, and no pain came to his neck.

What was happening?

Mu You froze, sweat dripping from his nose onto the boy's face.

"Heh... haha, hahahaha!!"

Seeing Mu You in shock, the boy laughed at first, then his laughter grew wilder, his whole body shaking. Under Mu You's stunned gaze, he slowly withdrew his arms from the arrow, blood gushing from wounds so deep the bone showed. Yet the boy treated it as nothing, biting off the arrowhead and spitting it aside, twisting his waist slightly. In a flash, his entire body slipped out from under Mu You as if he were boneless.

Yes, slipped out. Just now, the boy had moved like a snake—so limber Mu You could not hold him down.

His legs collapsed behind him, but he placed his hands on his feet and, at a bizarre angle, bent them back to normal, then rose slowly to his feet.

"When I got close just now, none of your electronic watches gave any warning. Don't you find that strange?" the boy asked, steadying himself and wiping the laughter from his face.

At those words, Mu You suddenly remembered—yes, he was a "Free Man." Anyone within ten meters should trigger the watches' alarm, but just now, nothing had happened!

"I told you—my father is the biggest trafficker of electronic devices on Crescent Island. The 'Final Judgment' around your necks and the watches you wear are all his work. The watches are designed to detect anyone within ten meters whose constitution isn't that of a condemned criminal—a Free Man. But I'm different. I've been modified, too. They implanted something called the Meridian Soul Severer into my body. Most of the time, I keep it dormant, so my body is no different from anyone else's. But when I need to, I can awaken it—like now. Your 'Final Judgment' mistakes me for a condemned criminal, so the execution is suspended."

As he spoke, the boy's body grew increasingly limp, his bones seemingly elastic, writhing on the ground like a noodle.

Mu You retreated step by step, eyeing the transformed boy with utmost caution.

If he had been modified, did that not mean he possessed terrifying powers as well—and, worse yet, without any restriction?

"You're probably wondering how someone your own age could end up so deranged. Want to know why?"