The Bloodbound Veil

Chapter 4 Smoke and Porcelain

"Remember, a pet dog that bites its master will always be put down," Voss said coldly without turning even slightly toward Silas.

Silas left Director Voss's office with calm steps. He left the black iron tower and descended into the city streets shrouded in gray fog. The cold air immediately enveloped his body as he walked away from the government headquarters. He followed the stone sidewalk slick with the remnants of the morning dew. Each step felt firm beneath his feet on the wet road surface.

His next destination was the slums of Vane District, which were notorious for being extremely dangerous. The place was filled with underground opium houses and high-profile criminals. The area was known as a hiding place for fugitives seeking to escape the law. Silas slipped both hands into his coat pockets to conceal his silver dagger. He walked alone through the crowd of ragged people along the roadside.

The stench of garbage and toxic chemical fumes wafted from the open drains along the street. Silas continued walking without paying attention to the sharp stares of the local thugs. He knew exactly how to survive in a filthy place like this. If he showed even the slightest hint of fear, those criminals would immediately pounce on him and tear him apart alive. He continued following the direction of the aether compass inside his coat pocket.

Silas finally arrived at an old single-story building that looked highly suspicious. The building stood among the ruins of an apartment block whose residents had long since abandoned it. Thick gray smoke continuously billowed from the house's rooftop chimney. The distinctive smell of nerve-destroying agents was sharply carried by the night wind. The place was one of the largest opium houses operated by an underground syndicate.

He pushed the loosely locked wooden door open with one hand. The door swung wide with the creak of rusty hinges. The strong smell of chemicals and aether smoke immediately stung his nose. Silas held his breath for a moment before stepping into the dimly lit room. The atmosphere inside the house seemed quiet yet ominous.

The aether hallucination addicts sat motionless in the dark corners of the room. Their empty eyes stared aimlessly at the decaying walls. Their bodies were emaciated from inhaling the poisonous gas too often. They ignored Silas's presence as he walked among them. To those addicts, the real world no longer meant anything.

Silas slipped past the hired guards stationed near the basement stairs. The guards were large men carrying iron clubs in their right hands. Silas relied on his keen instincts to move without making a sound. He already had his silver-coated dagger gripped tightly inside his coat pocket. He waited for the right moment to sneak down to the lower floor.

When the guards looked away, Silas moved quickly down the stairs. He descended the wooden steps toward the much darker basement. Strange whispers and hoarse laughter could be heard from behind the damp stone walls. The air underground felt much colder and more suffocating. He felt along the stone wall with one hand to keep his balance.

In the middle of the cramped basement, he suddenly stopped walking. He found his fugitive target standing near a dull wooden table. On the old table was a stack of thick envelopes filled with gold coins and secret letters. The target looked nervous as he kept glancing around the room. The security around the place was apparently not as tight as he had previously imagined.

The target was trading secret documents with a courier wearing a white porcelain mask. The mask worn by the courier reflected the dim light from the chandelier above the table. The important documents were crucial to the continuation of the investigation into the cult m******e. Silas could not allow the documents to fall into someone else's hands. He moved closer behind a stack of large wooden crates.

"Hand over those documents now or you die where you stand," Silas said coldly as he emerged from his hiding place.

The porcelain-masked courier immediately jumped backward in surprise upon hearing Silas's voice. His right hand quickly moved to draw a short-barreled pistol from beneath his black robe. The hired guards in the corner of the room quickly moved to attack Silas without warning. They swung their iron clubs at Silas's head with all their strength. Silas ducked quickly, avoiding the deadly blow in a split second.

A fierce close-quarters fight broke out among the piles of fragile cargo crates. The sound of blunt impacts echoed throughout the cramped basement. Silas blocked the enemy's iron strikes with his dagger without making a loud sound. He moved like a shadow among the clouds of swirling dust. Each of his attacks was aimed directly at the opponents' vital points to incapacitate them.

He was forced to secretly use the entity's power to incapacitate the overwhelming number of enemies. Thin black energy spread across Silas's hand as he struck the guard's chest. The aether-powered blow pierced the physical defenses of the large guard. The hired guard was thrown far away and crashed into a stack of crates, shattering them into pieces. He died instantly without having a chance to put up any further resistance against Silas.

Seeing his companion die in such a short time, the masked courier immediately panicked in fear. The masked courier fled through the back door while carrying the briefcase of secret documents. Silas wasted no time and immediately chased after the courier. However, his path was immediately blocked by the fugitive target, who was trying to escape in the opposite direction. The target tried to pull a folding knife from beneath his clothes to fight back.

Silas immediately lunged forward at full speed and slammed the fugitive onto the concrete floor. A loud impact rang out as the target's back struck the floor with tremendous force. The fugitive target was subdued without significant resistance beneath Silas's grip. Silas pressed his knee against the target's chest to lock down the unfortunate man's movements. He stared sharply at the target's face, which was beginning to turn deathly pale with fear.

However, before he could speak, the target's body suddenly convulsed violently beneath his knee. His mouth opened wide, releasing thick white foam with a fishy odor. The target's eyes rolled upward in a horrifying manner. Every muscle throughout his body simultaneously tensed rigidly. The strange reaction happened so quickly that Silas could not prevent it.

Thick black fluid suddenly began continuously flowing from both of the fugitive's eyes. Silas stepped back in shock at the sight of the strange and unnatural reaction. He released his grip and stood up while observing the corpse before him. A blood curse appeared to have been activated inside the target's body to silence him forever. The syndicate truly had left no opening for anyone to investigate their secrets.

The target stared straight at Silas with black eyes filled with profound despair. He gasped for breath, expelling the last remaining air from his lungs before death claimed him. Although his body was already dying, he could still move his lips to speak. Silas brought his ear closer to hear the target's final message. The sentence was spoken in a very cold and terrifying whisper.

"He has already signed a blood contract; no one can save you from that shadow," the target said before dying instantly.