JoJo darted out of the alley and hid behind Lu Li.
“Don’t go into the alley. It’s her ntal projection,” Anna warned Lu Li.
The figure in the alley froze, and everything around it seed to halt. But soon, a low, slow voice drifted from the unlit depths:
“You again...”
A woman's face erged at the boundary between light and shadow. Her eyes, brimming with hatred, were fixed on Lu Li.
Lu Li’s hand went to the First Pistol as he asked Anna, “Can we handle this?”
“Wherever your blade points,” Anna replied with a smile. Her short hair fluttered as the aura of a vengeful spirit swirled around her.
The bloodied female face never broke its gaze from Lu Li and whispered, “What are you talking about... Why don’t you co closer...”
“Alright.”
Lu Li stepped into the alley.
The vengeful spirit focused on the approaching figure, paying no mind to Anna, who was poised to strike, or to Lu Li’s hand resting on the grip of his pistol.
Splash-splash.
Lu Li’s boots sent up sprays of filthy water.
He ventured deeper into the alley, the light from his oil lamp snatching the vengeful spirit’s body from the darkness.
It was a distorted body, coated in a layer of gri that not even the rain could wash away.
“Ugh...” JoJo shivered and took a few steps back.
Lu Li’s gaze swept over the body’s masculine contours. So, these figures were the rapists?
Splash.
Lu Li took another step, stopping at the edge of the alley.
“Why don’t you co in...”
“I can’t help you that way.”
With those words, Lu Li raised his hand. The spirit pistol, exquisite as a work of art, extended forward, and a rose petal on its grip unfurled.
Bang!
The gunshot shattered the silence. A silver bullet traced a fiery line through the air and slamd into the head of the unsuspecting vengeful spirit.
Clink.
The shell casing fell into a puddle.
The woman’s blood-red eyes blazed, and a soul-chilling shriek erupted.
For a mont, the rain over the alley ceased, then it ca crashing down with renewed force.
JoJo clamped her hands over her ears, but the piercing scream seed to echo directly inside her head.
Lu Li, who stood closest to the vengeful spirit, remained unfazed. Anna shielded him with her own body and lunged at the woman.
The auras of two vengeful spirits collided in the alley. JoJo felt the rain around her vanish, pushed back by the force of the confrontation. A suffocating wave of malice and curses billowed out from the alley.
The vengeful spirit and Anna were locked in combat.
The three figures at the edge of the alley stirred. They turned their heads, their vacant eyes fixing on Lu Li as they started towards him.
Bang! Bang!
Two deafening gunshots roared in quick succession. Two of the figures dissolved like reflections in water.
Clatter.
Lu Li dropped the spent pistols. The Second and Third, along with their casings, hit the ground. He reached for the Fourth, but one of the figures had already lunged, wrapping its arms around him. An icy chill, filled with malice, seeped into Lu Li’s body, paralyzing his movents.
“Lu Li!” Anna cried out, her eyes blazing crimson. “I’ll kill you!!!”
A black shadow detached itself from Anna and surged toward the figure holding Lu Li, penetrating its body and seizing control of its mind.
But at that mont, sothing unexpected happened.
“Ahhhh!” Anna clutched her head, screaming in pain. The icy aura she had been using to attack the vengeful spirit spun out of control.
The vengeful spirit bared its broken teeth in a ghastly smile.
The figure holding Lu Li was a ntal projection of the woman, saturated with her hatred and pain. Anna, like a blank slate, couldn’t bear the weight of such dark mories.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
The figure embracing Lu Li disintegrated, leaving behind only Anna’s shadow, still wrapped around him.
The connection between them was severed. Anna, breathing heavily, pressed a hand to her forehead, struggling to control her aura and resist the vengeful spirit, but she was already losing.
Splash-splash-splash.
Footsteps sounded behind her.
Lu Li tossed aside the smoking Fourth Pistol, drew the First, reloaded it with a silver bullet, and stepped into the alley, closing in on Anna and the vengeful spirit.
Click.
He cocked the hamr and, reaching over Anna’s shoulder, pressed the muzzle of the pistol against the vengeful spirit’s face.
“Stop!!!” the vengeful spirit shrieked, trying to pull away, but a sudden surge of Anna’s aura held it in place.
Lu Li pulled the trigger.
BANG!!!
The silver bullet tore straight through the vengeful spirit’s head.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” ca a piercing shriek. A wave of energy slamd into Lu Li. Anna shielded him with her body but was thrown aside herself.
Lu Li tried to grab her, but his hand passed through her ghostly form. In that instant, everything changed.
Dark clouds shrouded the sky, and a fine drizzle was falling.
A young woman walked down the deserted street, holding an umbrella.
Lu Li watched as she approached the alley, where three vagrants grabbed her.
The woman still had hope. Her umbrella and shoes lay at the entrance to the alley, where any passerby could have seen them.
But when she managed to break free and cry for help, one of the vagrants grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back in.
She saw a passerby notice what was happening, hesitate, and then walk away.
“Why won’t you help ...”
Despair washed over the woman.
Suddenly, Lu Li stepped into the dark alley.
“You want to interfere...”
A burly vagrant approached him. Lu Li grabbed his filthy hair and slamd his head against the wall.
Splat.
A dark stain spread across the wall. Lu Li released the body, and it slowly slid down. The other two vagrants scread in terror and fled.
Lu Li walked over to the woman, who was sitting on the ground, trembling with fear, and held out his hand.
Her tear-stained face looked up at him. Everything changed again.
The dim light of the oil lamp illuminated the darkening alley. The fine drizzle had beco a downpour.
The woman, slowly fading away, gazed at Lu Li and his outstretched hand.
Tears stread down her grimy face. Her silhouette grew fainter and fainter until it vanished completely.
The rain washed the tears from the ground.
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