Chapter 39: Exploiting the Opening, Patching the Gap

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Feng Mu returned home close to midnight. Wang Xiuli had yet to sleep that night; she sat in the living room, anxiously waiting for him. Earlier, when she went downstairs to the supermarket to buy a neutralizing agent, a close acquaintance—a woman who sold synthetic canned goods at a street stall—had discreetly informed her that her own son seemed to have gotten into some trouble outside, entangled by two thugs from the Blue Wolf Gang.

The woman’s husband sold steamed rice rolls from a cart. When she told the story, she spat twice in disgust and cursed those two thugs for eating five bowls of rice rolls without paying. After Wang Xiuli got home, she tried calling Feng Mu, but there was no answer. She then called Feng Ju—still no answer. Finally, she tried Feng Yuhuai, but that too went unanswered.

Feng Mu had thoughtfully set his phone to silent while heading out to kill. Feng Ju, who was monitoring several suspects tagged as extremely dangerous criminals—essentially marked for death in his eyes—had turned off his phone and handed it in. Feng Yuhuai was courting danger herself lately. She had recently become close with a few top martial artists in the grade and formed a small clique. These past few days, she roamed the streets at night on a whim, hoping by some stroke of luck to encounter five exposed peripheral members of an extremely violent organization.

The reason she hoped for five was to match their group size and to share credit evenly. Feng Yuhuai hadn’t muted or turned off her phone; she simply refused to use her old, outdated, ugly phone in front of her fellow members.

When Feng Mu walked in, he saw Wang Xiuli seated on the sofa, clutching her phone and lost in thought.

“You’re back? Why so late? Did those Blue Wolf thugs do anything to you?” Wang Xiuli snapped out of her daze and bombarded him with questions. While speaking, she tugged at him, inspecting him from head to toe.

His jacket was torn in places—he had ripped off the bloodstained parts. His shoes were dusty and dirty, the inevitable consequence of digging a pit and burying a body. His right index finger was wrapped in tattered cloth, faintly bleeding—a cut caused by a hooked blade, a genuine injury.

Without hesitation, Wang Xiuli unwound the bandage and stared at the exposed pale finger bone. Her eyes instantly reddened. “They hit you and even cut your finger flesh?”

Her voice choked with emotion. “Why did they beat you? No, you mustn’t go out for the next few days. Stay home and wait for your father to come back.”

Feng Mu looked at his mother, who was tending to his wound, and muttered softly, “It’s unnecessary. It was a misunderstanding and has been resolved. They probably won’t come after me again.”

Seeing that Feng Mu was unwilling to speak further, Wang Xiuli wiped her tears but pressed on relentlessly.

Feng Mu sighed and reluctantly revealed some details, so that Wang Xiuli would understand why her son became involved in this mess.

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In short, the Blue Wolf Gang’s leader’s son died, and they crazily assumed every student at Number 47 Middle School was the culprit, biting at everyone like rabid dogs—a completely absurd overreaction.

“I explained everything to them. Then those two thugs went to harass a limping man, so they probably won’t bother me anymore,” Feng Mu ended with an ambiguous question, then retreated to his room.

Wang Xiuli could hardly calm down. After hearing Feng Mu’s explanation, she was both shocked and angry, her heart nearly stuck in her throat.

She resolved to tell Feng Ju the whole story exactly as it was. Her son could never have killed anyone. Though his talents were a bit lacking, he was always honest and taciturn, absolutely incapable of crime, let alone murder.

Oh, right—Feng Mu had mentioned the night of the 15th. That night, he came home a little late. Feng Ju and Feng Yuhuai happened to be out, and she herself had gone to bed early, so...

After some reflection, Wang Xiuli recalled vaguely but wasn’t certain what time Feng Mu had come back that day.

“No, I saw Feng Mu come in myself. It was just a bit later than usual. If anyone asks, that’s what I’ll say—from now on, including Feng Ju.”

Wang Xiuli rubbed her temples hard, her gaze firm. She wasn’t trying to cover for or lie on Feng Mu’s behalf; she just felt this answer would avoid unnecessary trouble.

It would also spare Feng Ju from unjustly berating Feng Mu over this, preventing further estrangement between father and son.

Feng Mu closed his door and leaned against it for a moment. He felt a twinge of guilt for having somewhat used Wang Xiuli. After all, she was the only person in the family who truly cared about him.

Although Wang Xiuli cared more for Feng Yuhuai and Feng Ju, and he was always last in line.

That was understandable. Feng Mu made a mental note to repay Wang Xiuli’s kindness someday.

In this family, she alone deserved any real repayment of gratitude.

“The police station had long since identified the murderer, and the Blue Wolf Gang case was close to being resolved. Adding in the missing alibi and revealing the true limping culprit, all the holes in the case had been patched.”

Feng Mu contemplated for a while and felt that, from this point on, no matter who investigated, it would be very difficult to pin anything on him.

Although Feng Mu didn’t believe anyone would reopen the case after dealing with the Blue Wolf Gang, he was naturally cautious and had already plugged all the gaps in advance.

Sitting at the desk, as usual, he reviewed his actions from the day, summarizing and reflecting.

His pen scratched across the paper, ticking off each “self-assessment item,” indicating his satisfaction with today’s performance.

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His plans, goals, outcomes, and handling of unexpected events had all been impeccable today.

Except for one thing...

Feng Mu clenched his pen tip, his eyes slightly dazed. “Since I guessed Ma Bin’s purpose, I could have taken a safer approach and stayed out of it, just watching the show. Why at that moment was I so restless, my mind full of thoughts about getting involved and stirring up trouble?”

Reviewing it again, Feng Mu knew he would never call Ma Bin again.

Although he gained much, it sharply increased the risk and earned him fierce enmity.

His expression darkened as he opened a drawer, revealing a neat row of syringes inside.

“Because I have to draw blood every day, my blood volume has never been full. The ‘Mad Blood’ works continuously, 24 hours a day. My sanity, or rather my temperament, is subtly changing, bit by bit.”

Feng Mu found the root of the problem—‘Mad Blood.’

“When nothing is happening, my pure and kind nature and rational mind suppress this influence.”

“But once battle begins, I lose control and become like a different person. When I provoked that blonde, I wasn’t lying—I really kind of hoped the other person would fatally wound themselves in a blood exchange.”

Feng Mu recalled the morbid feelings during the fight, beads of cold sweat forming on his brow.

“I wanted their attacks to be fiercer, to inflict greater wounds on me. I craved my skin and muscles to be torn, blood vessels ripped open, blood gushing endlessly until only a single drop remained inside me.”

“Because that’s when I’m closest to godhood. My body instinctively longs for it, even if the cost is death a second later.”

This fight deepened Feng Mu’s understanding of ‘Mad Blood,’ his complexion shifting with unease.

“So when I saw an opportunity to cause trouble, I couldn’t suppress my excitement because ‘Mad Blood’ refuses to be calm; it’s born to seek danger and death.”

“The only thing that reassures me is that, even under the influence of ‘Mad Blood,’ I don’t hold back or deliberately injure myself in battle.”

“Wait, though—is my choice not to retreat and to fight to the death really untouched by ‘Mad Blood’ even a little?”

Feng Mu’s thoughts froze for a moment as his eyes slowly focused on ‘Mad Blood.’

He muttered to himself, “Damn, this ‘Mad Blood’ trait is a little bit sinister.”