It hadn't been long since Lin Yi left.
Only about three to five minutes.
From the darkness, a strange figure also wearing a raincoat emerged.
When it came to the Cat Demon's corpse,
it looked down and examined it for a moment.
A flash of crimson passed through its eyes.
The next moment, it abruptly raised its head and glanced in the direction where Lin Yi had disappeared.
An invisible, murderous aura began to spread.
This was also a Cat Demon.
However, the oppressive presence it radiated was far, far stronger than the one Lin Yi had just killed.
If Lin Yi were here right now,
facing this Cat Demon,
he probably would have been pinned in place by its intense pressure, unable to move.
This Cat Demon's cultivation level was definitely not low…
"Little Erlang, oh little Erlang, off to school with a bag on his back... COUGH COUGH COUGH... Huh? Who the hell is that? Not sleeping at home in the middle of the night, just wandering around in a raincoat? Must be a lunatic."
Suddenly, a drunkard staggered over from nearby.
He swayed as he walked, his speech already slurred.
The heavy stench of alcohol wafted off him.
The moment he saw the Cat Demon, he didn't seem to recognize what it was.
He could only make out a person in a raincoat standing there.
Recklessly, he headed straight for the Cat Demon.
Just as he was about to shove it,
the Cat Demon suddenly shot out a hand and seized him by the neck with incredible speed.
The moment the Cat Demon's true face was revealed,
the drunkard sobered up instantly, his eyes filled with terror.
But it was too late for him to run.
The Cat Demon bared its sharp fangs.
PSHH—
Blood spurted out as the light faded from the drunkard's eyes.
His body went limp and collapsed to the ground, his breathing ceased.
…
After rushing around the city for most of the night,
Lin Yi sat atop a building, looking down on the city below.
The entire city was plunged into darkness.
It was as if it had been swallowed by the night.
Only a few scattered lights shone from some residential complexes.
"Damn it. I haven't run into a second demon beast all night. Have they all gone into hiding?"
Lin Yi sighed, frustrated.
Ever since he discovered he could plunder the talent traits of demon beasts he killed,
and that he could also increase his Qi and Blood,
a whole new world had opened up for Lin Yi.
The mission was no longer important to him.
'If I can hunt a few more demon beasts before finding that Dog Demon,'
'and raise my strength a bit more,'
'I'll be able to face it with more confidence.'
But… when he actually tried to achieve this goal,
he found that all the demon beasts had vanished.
He glanced at the time and saw it was already past one in the morning.
'I have to go back and sleep, or I won't have any energy for class tomorrow!' Lin Yi thought.
With that, he stood up. Ever since he had plundered the [Wall-Running] trait from the Cat Demon,
and combined it with his original [God Speed] trait,
he'd discovered the two traits could be perfectly integrated.
His speed had increased,
and he could now ignore all sorts of terrain, moving freely and swiftly.
This saved Lin Yi a lot of time.
His Body Technique also possessed greater Sensitivity.
'Plundering traits is really addictive!'
The corners of Lin Yi's mouth curved up.
The next moment, he leaped off the building.
Then, using [Wall-Running], he jumped rapidly between obstacles.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the endless night.
…
「In the morning.」
The alarm clock rang.
Lin Yi opened his eyes.
He had probably gone to bed too late last night and hadn't gotten enough sleep.
He sat on his bed for a long time before feeling somewhat refreshed.
He got out of bed, left his room, and went straight to the bathroom.
After relieving himself, Lin Yi washed his hair and face. While he was brushing his teeth,
Lin Dazhi came out.
The moment he saw Lin Yi, his face remained expressionless, and he didn't say a word.
He went straight to the living room.
The sounds of cooking came from the kitchen.
Liu Hongmei was busy making breakfast.
When Lin Yi finished brushing his teeth and came out, Lin Dazhi rushed in impatiently.
From the looks of it, he had been holding it in for a long time.
Lin Yi paid it no mind and returned to his room to change into his school uniform.
By the time he came out again, Liu Hongmei had finished making breakfast.
"Hurry and eat!"
Liu Hongmei said with a soft smile.
Then she returned to the kitchen and stood before a clay pot, examining it carefully.
She lifted the lid, and a strong smell of herbal medicine wafted out.
Lin Yi frowned as he sat at the dining table.
He glanced toward the kitchen. "Is someone sick?"
"What? No..."
Liu Hongmei was startled for a moment, then shook her head with a light laugh.
After she turned off the stove, she used a cloth to pick up the clay pot and pour a bowl of the medicinal soup.
Only then did she carefully carry the bowl out.
"This is for your brother. Don't touch it. Go on and eat," Liu Hongmei said with a soft smile.
'For Lin Yu?'
'Is he sick?'
Lin Yi glanced over, puzzled.
In that instant, an indescribable medicinal fragrance washed over Lin Yi, making him feel refreshed.
'No, this isn't medicine for an illness. It contains a faint aura…'
Just as Lin Yi was speculating about the soup,
Lin Yu walked out with a bird's nest of hair, his eyes still sleepy.
"Xiaoyu, come and drink this tonic. You can go to the bathroom after you're done!"
Liu Hongmei paid no mind to whether Lin Yi was there or not.
She beckoned Lin Yu over.
Seeing the bowl of medicinal soup, Lin Yu's brows furrowed deeply.
He pinched his nose and said, "Mom, what is this? It smells awful!"
"This is the tonic I bought you yesterday. The physician said that drinking two doses a day will increase your Qi and Blood. Hurry up and drink it all. Don't waste it. This one dose cost one hundred and fifty yuan!"
Lin Yi: "??????"
'One hundred and fifty yuan for a single dose?'
'And he has to drink two of these doses a day?'
'My God, that means they're spending three hundred yuan a day just on this tonic?'
The average salary in the Old District wasn't high.
Lin Dazhi's monthly income was only about three thousand yuan.
Liu Hongmei worked at a factory, earning around three thousand a month as well.
'What kind of family could afford an expense like this?'
'They pay for his Martial Arts Hall enrollment and buy him expensive tonics?'
'Yet they couldn't come up with the thirty thousand for my enrollment fee?'
'No wonder Lin Dazhi wanted me to go out and start working last night.'
'With a money pit like this in the house, even if two more people were earning money, it wouldn't be enough.'
Lin Yi shook his head with a faint smile.
Before last night, if he had seen that bowl of tonic worth 150 yuan,
he would have felt extremely resentful, maybe even consumed by jealousy and hatred.
'An outsider is treated better than their own flesh and blood? Where's the justice in that?'
But now, Lin Yi felt not a trace of jealousy.
Instead, he was curious to see how long Lin Dazhi could keep this up.
How much longer could his life's savings last being burned like this?