Hemlock's True Face
We split up. Juniper had plenty of time, so she got out first and gave us the car.
I set Valerian as my teammate in the mission system so he'd receive Judgment Tower's rewards too when Juniper completed her task.
I drove toward Quentin Vance's location.
Valerian said, "Sister, why do you call her Doggie too?"
"Calling her Juniper feels too formal. And calling her Nana... I like keeping people at a distance. Don't want to sound so familiar."
"Sister really thinks ahead. Wish I could think clearly like you."
I drove on, not in the mood for more small talk.
Quentin Vance...
Almost every small village had an old man running a little convenience shop.
Spicy sticks were sold one at a time from opened bags. Plastic tubs of candy sat on the counter. When you opened the drawer of that time-worn table, only a few brands of cigarettes were ever inside.
I still remembered how kids loved to linger in that dim little shop, grabbing snacks that might be greasy or dusty.
He'd wipe each one with an only-slightly-cleaner damp cloth before handing them over. After buying their treats, the kids would sit outside his door with red chili oil all over their fingers and mouths.
I also remembered the taste of my first snack.
And I remembered being a dirty little thief.
Starving, I'd go to buy salt or MSG for Mom, and I'd finally give in to temptation. I'd sneak a pack of spicy sticks, turn my back to Quentin Vance, quickly lift my shirt, and tuck the snack into the elastic waistband of my pants.
Then I'd pull my shirt back down, making sure to hunch over while walking — otherwise the bulge on my belly would be a dead giveaway.
I stole from him many times.
Because I was so hungry... Before Cassian Vance had living expenses in high school, no one ever bought me food.
One day I went to buy something for Mom again. He was chatting with an old woman.
She saw me and muttered that the little thief was back, destined to get her hands and feet broken and be tossed on the street someday.
My pitiful self-esteem felt trampled. Even though my back was to them, my face burned bright red.
But Quentin Vance told her to stop. He said, "Kids are just greedy... It's not stealing. She's a good, sensible girl. She's just too hungry."
He'd known all along...
That day I walked out with my head down.
He'd never scolded me for stealing, yet I never stole from his shop again. Even when I was starving, I wouldn't take anything from him.
I merged onto the provincial road. The village was far from the city — over an hour's drive.
Valerian checked the time. "Sister, are we going to make it?"
"Whether we make it or not, at least we're trying..." I murmured. "In my life... I never want to miss another chance."
"Sister..."
"Hmm?"
"I often think you're really cool."
I didn't respond, focused on driving.
He and Juniper were like two goofballs. I wasn't used to hanging out with goofballs, but I didn't dislike them — I had no one else to talk to.
The car sped along and finally arrived at the village I'd never wanted to return to.
After getting out, nothing had changed.
The air carried the scent of soil and trees with a hint of chill.
I put on sunglasses and headed toward Quentin Vance's shop.
Valerian walked beside me and said quickly, "It's been an hour and fifteen minutes, but there's no sign of fire. What's going on?"
"Don't panic. Let's look first."
It was late.
The village was quiet, with only occasional dog barks.
Quentin Vance's shop was still open. A canopy was set up outside with an old pool table beneath it. A white incandescent bulb glowed inside.
It looked like he was about to close, but there were no signs of a fire. Strange — if the shop hadn't closed yet, Quentin Vance should still be awake. How could he not escape a fire?
We went inside and found the counter empty.
Bang! Bang!
Strange sounds came from the back room.
Valerian and I exchanged a look, then crept toward the back.
A man's back was turned to us.
Quentin Vance lay on the floor, crawling painfully and groaning, "Stop... please stop hitting me..."
What was happening?!
Before I could process it, Valerian saw the scene and breathed hard with fury, whispering, "Bastards — beating an old man like that. Let me get him!"
He moved toward the stranger. As Quentin Vance crawled, the man slowly turned around.
White shirt.
Half-mask.
Peach blossom eyes beneath his bangs, a small scar above his eyebrow.
Valerian, who'd been about to charge, realized who it was almost instantly. He grabbed my arm and pulled us behind the counter.
His body trembled, his voice shaking. "Th-that... that's Hemlock, isn't it?"
I also couldn't process what I was seeing.
Why was he here? Why was he beating Quentin Vance, an old man?
According to the mission intel, Quentin Vance was supposed to die in a fire!
My heart pounded. I barely dared breathe, terrified Hemlock would hear.
But seeing Quentin Vance on the floor, powerless and moaning, I desperately wanted to intervene!
Valerian sensed my impulse. He gripped my arm tightly and whispered, "Sister... don't do anything reckless. He'll kill us!"
I was already calculating my odds against Hemlock in my head.
Hemlock's left arm was injured — his combat ability was significantly reduced. But I still wasn't his match.
Comparing us was like a difference between 80 and 85 points.
But that was in a one-on-one scenario!
Now we had two people versus one. With Valerian assisting me, we might barely defeat Hemlock.
Wait... strictly speaking, our odds of losing were even higher. If Valerian got knocked out immediately, I'd have to save two people instead of one!
Hemlock raised his foot and placed it on Quentin Vance's head.
He said softly, "Any last words before you die?"
Quentin Vance wheezed, "Young man, what did I ever do to you... People say debts are owed to specific creditors. I don't even know you. Did you mistake me for someone else?"
"Don't know me?"
Hemlock raised his foot again and kicked Quentin Vance hard in the face!
The old man toppled onto his back, too hurt to even scream.
Hemlock reached into his pocket and took out a lighter.
He set fire to the tablecloth and let it burn.
Juniper's words echoed in my mind.
"A non-smoker bringing a lighter back from a fire scene where it wasn't needed — doesn't that seem extremely suspicious?"
Hemlock actually had a habit of setting fires?
In the firelight, he crouched beside Quentin Vance and whispered, "Killing you was my intention. But I've heard that girl mention your story. To repay her debt to you, I won't let you die with your eyes open."
He reached for his mask and slowly removed it.
A sharply defined jaw, lips curled in a hint of a menacing smile.
So familiar...
I blinked hard, staring at his face.
So familiar...
Imagine fixing his bangs, removing the scar above his eyebrow...
Then imagine him thinner — over fifteen pounds thinner.
The image surfaced in my mind: the boy from years ago, just as scrawny and underfed as me.
Cassian Vance!
The room spun. Even crouching behind the counter, I nearly lost my balance. Valerian quickly steadied me!
Cassian Vance was... Hemlock?
What kind of sick joke was this?!
Shock and terror spread across Quentin Vance's face. His mouth fell open in disbelief as he stared at Cassian Vance. "You... how did you..."
Cassian Vance's voice was cold. "Enough. Seeing your despair satisfies me. I don't waste words on the dead."
He stood up. Valerian and I sensed he was about to turn, so we ducked further behind the counter.
Footsteps approached slowly...
Hemlock walked right past us, so close!
Valerian crouched beside me, hands clasped in prayer, terrified of being spotted.
My brain was frozen.
The footsteps grew fainter. Cassian Vance had left.
Once we were sure he was gone, we finally dared to breathe. Valerian spoke with a trembling voice. "That was close! He almost killed us! My god, did you see his eyes? I never want to face that Hemlock!"
"Coward! And you claim you weren't scared?"
I glared at Valerian and rushed toward the back room.
Why did Cassian Vance want to kill Quentin Vance?
Quentin Vance still lay on the floor, moaning in pain.
The back room was full of clutter — a fire would spread fast. He couldn't get up on his own.
If this continued, he'd die in the flames!
I bit my lip, hesitating for some reason.
He'd seen Cassian Vance's true face.
If I saved him, he could go to the police and reveal Cassian Vance's identity!
I shook my head hard.
What was I thinking?!
This old man had been kind to me when I was little. And Cassian Vance was the one who'd broken my heart — how could I hesitate over something like this?
With that thought, I grabbed a bucket of water and threw it at the burning table!
The fire went out.
Quentin Vance was still on the ground, groaning.
I went to him and helped him sit up.
He looked at us with a mix of fear and confusion.
I lowered my voice and said softly, "My friend got a bit impulsive... Valerian, get him out of here."
"Take him where?" Valerian asked, confused.
I said, "Juniper's an escort, isn't she? Take him to the Badlands. Put him in the most remote workshop. There are so many people there, Hemlock won't notice him."
He was shocked. "Sister, he's not a bad guy. Why would we lock him in the Badlands?"
"Hemlock must have a reason for killing him! If we investigate and find he's innocent, we'll let him go. If he's guilty, we keep him there! Think about it — he saw the Emperor's true face. Can we let him leave? What if he goes to the police?"
"But if he doesn't die here, Hemlock will see the news and know he survived!"
"And Hemlock won't know he's in the Badlands! Just arrange the work properly. We didn't accept this mission, so he doesn't know we came here!"
"Fair point. Juniper can put him in the innermost garment workshop. Hemlock would never find him there."
We quickly hurried Quentin Vance out and sneaked back to the car.
My heart raced the entire way, terrified Cassian Vance might see us!
Even after starting the engine, I still couldn't believe any of this was real!
Why him... Why had Cassian Vance become a Sin Hunter?
Since he'd recognized me, why hadn't he acknowledged our past? Was it guilt?
Halfway back, Valerian got a call from Juniper confirming her mission was complete.
He told Juniper to bring the truck for a pickup. The surprise left her stunned.
When she met us with the truck and asked who the old man was, we told her it was Quentin Vance. Her face filled with shock.
"Let me piece this together..." Juniper said. "You go to save Quentin Vance, and then you lock him up in the Badlands? I don't know if Sister's been hitting the whiskey too hard or if my brain just crashed, but even a genius like me can't follow your logic."
"You have no idea! Terrifying! We almost didn't make it back!"
Valerian gave Juniper a dramatically embellished account. She listened with a deepening frown and finally said, "Something's off."
"Off where?" I asked.
She said, "Sister, the protection mission said Quentin Vance would die in a fire, right?"
"Right."
"Remember the mission I handled? Remember my lesson on Sin Hunter priority?"
"Young adults take priority over the elderly."
Juniper snapped her fingers. "Exactly! When these two missions appeared simultaneously, any Sin Hunter receiving them would naturally go save the young woman first."
"And then?"
"The issue is, when a Sin Hunter goes to protect her, Quentin Vance's mission also appears. But by then they're already committed to a different route. Who would abandon a 24-year-old life to save a 65-year-old? Any Sin Hunter would have to sigh and give up on Quentin Vance's mission. As long as no one goes there, no one would discover his death was actually murder!"
"You're saying... the protection missions were designed to distract us?"
"Or rather, the Emperor used protection missions to lure us away while simultaneously using them to classify Quentin Vance's death as an accident! Since he planned it this way, he must have erased all evidence. He never imagined you'd actually go save Quentin Vance!"
I drew a sharp breath.
That made sense.
Of course Cassian Vance knew I'd recognize Quentin Vance's name. But he didn't know I'd traveled all this way to do a protection mission — he probably thought I was still at the Badlands!
I said urgently, "Hurry! Get back to the Badlands as fast as possible! Both of you remember — if Hemlock asks about this mission... Valerian! You say you borrowed my account, that YOU accepted the mission, and I never saw the phone! As long as my account has an active mission, I can't view other protection tasks. I don't know anything about Quentin Vance!"
"Got it, Sister!"
"No more talking. Get us back, now!"
We scrambled into the vehicles and sped back toward the Badlands.
On the ferry, my heart was still racing.
We should be faster than Cassian Vance, but I was still nervous. I asked, "Can we make the boat go faster?"
Juniper said, "No can do, Sister. One reason escorts can never be tracked is that there are multiple teams, each with their own secret routes. We can't contact the boat crew! The doors to the upper deck are heavily locked. Once a Sin Hunter got drunk and tried to sneak a peek — got shot in the head on the spot! Judgment Tower didn't even investigate. They just warned everyone not to cross lines, that curiosity could get everyone killed!"
Damn it!
Judgment Tower was strictly cautious.
True — in Judgment Tower, you could never cross boundaries. Better to err on the side of caution, because one mistake could cost everyone their lives.
I could only pray in silence.
Finally, we arrived at the dock.
But there, moored at the dock, was a familiar-looking boat.
Dawn was breaking, but the moon was still visible.
Cassian Vance, wearing his mask, sat on the boat's rail, looking up at the moon. Major lay beside him, and he reached out to gently stroke Major's head.
As I approached, Major started wagging his tail and barking at me.
My heart was in my throat!
As the Emperor, having your own dedicated boat was a real advantage — much faster than ours!
Cassian Vance stepped onto our ferry. Major bounded over to me, maybe so happy to see me that he whimpered and pressed himself against me.
As Cassian Vance approached, I couldn't help cursing internally.
He said, "Didn't I tell you to stay here? I warned you it'd be dangerous if you went out."
"I was feeling suffocated, so I went out for a walk..." I said. "Right now I just want to keep working until I pass out. Only then can I sleep."
"I saw you accepted a protection mission on the app."
He walked to the truck and placed his hand on the cargo compartment. Suddenly he said, "I just don't understand. Your protection mission had no villain in it. Why did you come back in a truck?"
One simple sentence, and my skin broke out in goosebumps!
Just then, Major — a former rescue dog — began circling the truck, sniffing, then barking loudly!
Cassian Vance said softly, "Open it."
Juniper swallowed hard and whispered, "There's nothing inside..."
"I said, open it."
She had no choice. She grabbed the door handle and slowly pulled it open...