Evan Lin walked down the street with Rachel Liu slung over his shoulder, drawing countless curious glances.
The boy's face was cold and indifferent, showing neither sorrow nor joy. Rachel Liu, draped over his shoulder, was so beautiful and alluring that people couldn't help but be captivated.
But the way he carried her was far from proper.
Evan paid no attention to the stares around him, instead recalling an old acquaintance from the Immortal Martial Continent.
That man came from Ten-Thousand Blood Mountain, carrying a woman's corpse, vowing to slaughter billions. Everywhere he passed, nothing survived; he cut down three Immortal Lords in a row and devoured demon beasts, unmatched by any.
No one knew his past life, no one knew his present.
Even fewer knew it was Evan 'Nine Mysteries' Lin who personally opened his coffin, and also personally buried him.
Countless fragments intertwined in Evan's mind. Looking at the city streets before him, it all felt like a dream—a sigh escaped his lips.
Evan stood at the crossroads, his entire being filled with loneliness and desolation.
"Since you're awake, get down and walk yourself."
Evan spoke slowly, his voice cold and clear.
Rachel Liu, who had been lying on Evan's shoulder with her eyes closed, trembled slightly at his words. Her lashes fluttered, but she didn't open her eyes.
Evan jolted his shoulder, and Rachel cried out in surprise as she was shaken off and dropped to the ground. Unable to steady herself, she fell, landing hard on her rear. The burning pain made her glare angrily at Evan.
"You did that on purpose!"
Evan remained expressionless. "Since you're awake, go back on your own."
"You!"
Rachel glared at Evan, her expression shifting. She got up from the ground, frowning and still a bit pale. "Simon Zuo—did you really kill him?"
"Yes."
Evan looked at Rachel, narrowing his eyes. "Are you planning to avenge him?"
Rachel shook her head, looking at Evan Lin standing before her—the very boy who had killed so many people without changing expression. The more she looked, the less she could figure out what kind of person he really was.
Actually, Rachel Liu had already woken up when Evan Lin carried her out of the Zuo family compound, but she couldn't figure out why she kept pretending to be unconscious.
To justify it, Rachel could only comfort herself that she was too shaken, her legs too weak to walk.
Beep beep beep beep.
Just as Rachel was about to speak, Evan Lin's phone started ringing.
Rachel saw Evan pull out an old Nokia phone from his pocket, her eyes filled with surprise.
"Hello, Mom."
"Yeah, the exams are done. I did okay, I guess—not great, but not terrible either."
"I haven't told Aunt Lu yet. Oh, by the way, I might be a few days late getting back to school, so I'm letting you know first."
"Don't worry about me, Mom. I still have money."
"I know, I'll be careful. You shouldn't overwork yourself either—go to bed early tonight."
"Oh, and one more thing, Mom: yesterday I bought a lottery ticket and got lucky—I won fifty thousand yuan."
"I'll transfer it to you later, okay? I have enough money. If you want to buy something, just go ahead. And stop that extra tutoring class—don't tire yourself out."
"Really, I'm not lying to you. When have I ever lied to you, Mom?"
"Here's the deal, Mom. I'm giving you a mission: before I come home next time, you have to spend all fifty thousand. Clothes, appliances, furniture—replace whatever you want! Since it's lottery money, you don't need to feel bad about spending it."
"Don't save it for my marriage fund. I'll earn my own bride price."
The call lasted more than half an hour.
Rachel stood quietly to the side, watching as Evan Lin's tone and demeanor instantly softened when he picked up the phone—so different from the cold, ruthless killer he'd been moments before. It was like two extremes in one person.
This made Rachel's gaze toward Evan Lin grow more complicated; the more she looked, the more she felt he was impossible to figure out.
"Alright, that's enough. I'm heading out for some late-night food—I'm starving. Hanging up now!"
After hanging up, Evan looked at his phone and sighed.
On the phone, hearing Evan Lin had won fifty thousand, Joy Zheng's tone shifted from suspicion to happiness. Her first thought wasn't the money itself, but worry that Evan might have gone astray. Fortunately, in her heart, even though Evan's grades were always poor, his character was solid and he'd never done anything bad—only then did she relax.
But when Evan told Joy Zheng to spend all fifty thousand, she scolded him instead, insisting with a smile that she'd save it as his marriage fund.
Yet all these years, Joy Zheng hadn't even bought herself a single new outfit; her clothes were long out of fashion.
Though Joy Zheng had always been beautiful, she'd raised Evan alone out of fear a stepfather might mistreat him, so for years she struggled on her own.
Time had left Joy Zheng with countless white hairs and a face more aged than her peers. Every time Evan thought of it, a deep ache welled up inside him.
The reason Evan didn't just send her hundreds of thousands was that he feared Joy Zheng would overthink it. The lottery story was a spur-of-the-moment excuse.
Putting his phone away, Evan took a deep breath, glanced at Rachel Liu standing in front of him, and frowned. "Why are you still here?"
"Treat me to a late-night snack."
Rachel looked at Evan, completely serious.
"Reason?"
Evan looked at Rachel. In his previous life, he could only look up to her like a toad admiring a swan, but after being reborn, much of that naive teenage awe was gone.
"I'm hungry, you're hungry too, right? That was your mom on the phone, wasn't it? You told her you were going out for supper—surely you weren't lying to her?"
Rachel seemed dead set on having this late-night meal. She didn't care whether Evan was willing or not—she just grabbed his arm and started walking.
"I know a snack street nearby. The food there is really good."
"I always wanted to go before, but I never dared to go alone. Now that you're free, come with me."
Rachel dragged Evan along. He thought about it and decided he couldn't be bothered to refuse.
For one thing, Evan was actually a bit hungry; for another, if he went back to the hotel now, it would probably be chaos again.
As for Zeng Yuanhan and Zhao Ying, who'd been bitten by the dog earlier, they were probably at the hospital by now.
On the way, Evan got a call from Old Liu. The old man's tone was a bit anxious, but after hearing Evan was fine, he clearly relaxed and reminded Evan not to come home too late.