Chapter 168: The Perfect Prey

Laboratory One.
The key to the heart of the Butterfly Dream Manor.
In Chen Yu’s mind, the "causal path" constructed from the "perspective" of the dinner plate was as clear as a high-precision navigation map.
Password: [7, 2, 9, 5, 1].
An absolutely secure secret corridor.
If he wanted to, he could sneak in like a ghost right now.
Yet, he did not move.
Go to the laboratory?
There is no rush.
Chen Yu leaned against the foul-smelling bunk, his mind crystal clear.
You eat a meal one bite at a time.
There was always a pair of eyes, like a fly, persistently staring at him from the shadows, buzzing relentlessly and annoying him to death.
Until he batted that fly to death first, he wouldn't be able to do anything in peace.
Chen Yu slowly sat up and reviewed the "death map" that Sister Ping had traded her life for once more in his mind.
Every single trap, every surveillance camera, every spot where his predecessors had fallen.
As he looked at this mental map, a cold smile crept uncontainable across his face.
It was time to swap the identities of the hunter and the prey.
Old Ghost.
Now, he was going to make this experienced hunter walk right into the hunting ground he had chosen.

The night was thick like ink.
In the logistics area of the Butterfly Dream Manor, most of the laborers and "waste butterflies" had already fallen into a deep sleep, or rather, had slipped into a dreamless coma under the torture of the poison.
The whistle for the guard shift change had just sounded.
In the monitoring room, the guard on duty was yawning, his eyelids drooping, his attention beginning to wander.
This was the golden ten minutes when the defense of the entire manor was at its slackest.
A dark figure with a hunched back slipped silently out of the labor dormitory in the furthest corner.
It was Chen Yu.
He had completely immersed himself in the role of "Ah Zhe."
The man whose spine had been crushed by gambling debts and despair.
He shrank his neck, shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and stepped forward with extreme caution. His eyes were filled with fear of the surroundings and a morbid, microscopic yearning for freedom.
The route he took exposed him perfectly to several key surveillance cameras.
Inside the monitoring room.
Old Ghost, who was on duty every night, was staring intently at one of the split screens.
On the screen, the newcomer named "Ah Zhe" was clinging to the base of the wall like a frightened mouse, scuttling toward the abandoned storage room in the West District.
On Old Ghost’s wrinkled face, no expression could be read, but a cruel sense of amusement leaked from his sunken eye sockets.
He knew that storage room well.
On the fake map provided by Sister Ping, that location was specially marked as a seemingly safe hiding spot.
In reality, it was the guards' favorite place to dispose of "disobedient trash."

There were no surveillance cameras, no one would hear you if you shouted to the heavens, and the earth would not answer if you begged.
"Little mouse..."
A low sound rumbled from Old Ghost's throat.
"Finally couldn't help it, crawling into the cage all by yourself."
He slowly stood up, picked up a rubber baton hanging on the wall, and stepped out into the deep night without alerting anyone.
The door of the storage room was ajar. Its hinges were rusted, and pushing it open produced a harsh "creak" that was exceptionally grating in the silent night.
A stale, long-sealed smell of mold rushed toward his face.
Chen Yu walked in.
Unlike a genuine fugitive, he did not frantically search around in panic for a hiding spot or a window that could be pried open.
He walked straight to the exact center of the room.
That was precisely where the moonlight could stream in through a hole in the roof.
A beam of pale light shone down upon him.
He stood motionless with his back to the door, like a lifeless sculpture.
He was waiting.
The [Causal Resonance] in his mind had long been raised to its maximum output.
In his perception, the entire world was no longer physical, but rather an ocean composed of various intentions and emotions.
Fear, numbness, despair... these were the primary colors of the Butterfly Dream Manor.
Yet, just a few seconds ago, a completely different intent appeared.
Cold.
Brimming with scrutiny.
And carrying the cruelty of someone appreciating a prey's final struggle.
That intent was rapidly approaching from outside the door.
It was here.
Chen Yu felt not a shred of tension inside; in fact, he felt a slight urge to laugh.
This old bastard really thought he was somebody.
The fish had taken the bait.
Outside the storage room.
Old Ghost’s figure appeared at the doorway like a phantom, utterly silent.
His feet made no sound as they touched the ground.
He poked his head out, swept his eyes around, and confirmed that the patrolling guards had just walked away and definitely would not come back anytime soon.
He glanced once more at the corner.
The surveillance camera in that spot had long been sabotaged by his own hands.
This was an absolute blind spot.
In his eyes, the figure with its back to him in the center of the room was merely a bug he was about to crush effortlessly.
He didn't even bother to wonder why this kid had appeared here.
It didn't matter anymore.
He pushed the door open, stepped slowly inside, and purposely made his footsteps clearly audible.
He loved the comical expression on his prey when hope instantly plummeted into despair after being startled.

With the sense of superiority of a cat playing with a mouse, his hoarse voice echoed in the empty storage room.
"Kid, wandering into a place like this in the pitch dark, what are you looking for?"
His voice carried undisguised mockery.
"Are you looking for a way out... or are you looking for a dead end?"
As his final syllable faded away.
"Screech—Bang!"
The door of the storage room was driven by an invisible force and slowly closed shut.
The last sliver of moonlight was also locked outside.
The entire space instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Old Ghost narrowed his eyes slightly, long accustomed to the dark.
Yet, deep within his heart, an extremely uncomfortable feeling inexplicably arose.
Everything was going too smoothly.
This newcomer was far too calm.
At that very moment.
The figure that had kept its back to him finally, slowly, turned around.
In the darkness, Old Ghost could not see Chen Yu's face.
However, he could sense that the other person's gaze was locked firmly onto him.
In that gaze, there were none of the emotions he had anticipated.
No fear.
No panic.
No despair.
Nothing at all.
Only calmness.
It was the kind of calmness a hunter held when looking at a beast that had fallen into a trap.
The expression on Old Ghost's face instantly froze.
His hand gripping the rubber baton tightened reflexively.
An unprecedented sense of danger surged through his limbs like an electric current.
He suddenly realized he had gotten something wrong.
He... seemed to have become the prey!
In the darkness, Chen Yu smiled.
Watching Old Ghost's drastically altered expression, he murmured word by word.
"No, I wasn't looking for a dead end."
He paused, the corners of his mouth curving upward even more distinctly.
"I was waiting for you, Old Ghost!"