A Familiar Stranger
I felt like I was in a dream, thoughts swirling in chaos.
The park. The swings.
The two small figures who used to sit there.
That was where we'd promised to leave together.
Why... wasn't being with another girl good enough?
It was destined — I was the one who couldn't wait for his return. He was the one who broke the promise. Even if the world had abandoned me, at least he'd escaped the darkness and could live in the sunlight, enjoying a brand-new life.
Why... if he'd already escaped the darkness, why come back?
Ethan Cole's face surfaced in my mind.
The image of him accompanying me to the park every weekend, waiting. The look on his face when he came out of the university and told me he'd seen Cassian Vance being lovey-dovey with someone else.
The little moments of him pulling me out of darkness. The first time he held me in his arms, trembling...
He'd always protected me, even when he lied.
But still...
That boy... he'd been waiting for me all along.
When consciousness returned, I was lying in Juniper's bed.
She looked at me nervously and asked softly, "Sister, are you feeling better?"
I sat up in a daze. Too much information, impossible to process.
Why had Cassian Vance escaped prison? Why hadn't he revealed himself to me? And why did he want to kill Quentin Vance?
I didn't have answers yet, but I knew something deeper was going on.
I rubbed my temples and told them, "Keep today's events a secret from everyone."
Valerian nodded repeatedly. "Got it, Sister."
"Okay. I've been out too long. I should go back before Hemlock gets suspicious."
"Sister, you're living alone with a man — be careful..." Valerian said seriously. "Don't trust men!"
"Right, I know."
I returned to Cassian Vance's house. Before I even entered, I heard renovation sounds. Inside, I found him still working on the wall panels.
He was fast...
I walked over slowly. He was lying on the boards, cutting them carefully to size.
Looking down, I could see the scar on his collarbone.
Noticing me standing motionless, he stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Wondered if you'd eaten. If not, I can make something."
He said, "I had someone bring food earlier. It's on your table. There's a microwave in the kitchen."
"Oh."
I took the food to the kitchen but couldn't help glancing back at him a few times.
He didn't notice me, focused on his work.
After heating my meal, I sat at the downstairs table and ate quietly.
Cassian Vance finally finished for the day and headed toward the bathroom. I suddenly asked, "How's your wound?"
"About the same. A bit better."
"Remember to put medicine on it."
"I will. Thanks."
He closed the bathroom door. Something felt strange to me.
We used to be so close, and now we spoke like polite strangers.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opened again. He said, "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"I can tell you really miss your husband..." he asked. "Can I ask what his best qualities were?"
I froze.
Ethan Cole had so many good qualities — considerate, steady, protective. He had every virtue imaginable.
I thought for a while and finally said, "His best quality... every day when he came home, the first thing he did was shower, wash his face, and wash his feet. He'd turn his socks inside out himself, throw his dirty clothes in the laundry basket — oh, and he'd separate his socks, underwear, and outer clothes into different baskets."
"Um..."
"Oh, and he always sat down to pee. He never stood at the toilet."
"Um..."
"Most importantly, if my mother-in-law and I had a disagreement, in front of her, he'd say it was his fault for not communicating earlier. In front of me, he'd say it was his fault for not handling it properly."
Cassian Vance sounded surprised. "Those are qualities?"
"Absolutely. For a woman, that's already a fairy-tale marriage."
Cassian Vance seemed to rack his brain without grasping the significance, and finally said nothing, closing the door to shower.
I knew he could manage all of that too.
But I'd already met Ethan Cole.
Whatever curiosity I had about him now was only about what had happened in his life, and most importantly... I needed to know what had happened the day my husband died.
After dinner, I washed the dishes and went upstairs.
Halfway up, the bathroom door suddenly opened. Cassian Vance stepped out wrapped in a bathrobe.
So... refined.
I didn't even have a bathrobe.
"You're not allowed to leave the Badlands for now. I told you it's dangerous out there. If you need to go back later, you must follow Judgment Tower's intelligence — only then will you be safe."
"But didn't we run into Adrian Cross last time?"
"That was an accident. Something that unlikely won't happen again."
"Right. I saw you take a beating from him like he was swatting a toddler. Let's hope such dangerous encounters don't repeat."
"I..."
I went upstairs, closed the door, and sat on the bed, staring blankly at Ethan Cole's photos.
I understood. I didn't blame him for lying to me back then.
If I'd known Cassian Vance got a life sentence for my sake, my life would have been over.
Everything Ethan Cole did was to protect me.
The grief hit again. I buried myself under the covers but couldn't escape the waves of sadness rising from the depths of my heart.
Right after the tragedy, I could still manage a protection mission.
But when the aftershock came, I lay in bed for five days. I didn't want to move, didn't want to go outside, crying on and off.
Cassian Vance never disturbed me. He'd only knock at mealtimes and leave food at the door.
On the sixth day, I was lying in bed when I heard a tap at my window.
I went to the window and saw Valerian below, waving at me.
I opened the window. "Trying to do another mission? Hemlock told me not to leave here for now."
"Sister, come down first. I have something to tell you!"
Cassian Vance wasn't home either. I changed clothes and went downstairs. Valerian pulled me outside and said mysteriously, "Sister, Juniper and I were curious, so we did some digging into Hemlock's past. We found something huge!"
"Oh? Tell me."
"Actually, let Juniper explain. I'm not smart enough to articulate it properly."
"Okay."
We walked to the apartment. As we passed a Sin Hunter, he grinned at Valerian, "Brainless, always hanging out with your Big Brain, huh?"
Valerian deliberately waited until the man walked away, then muttered very quietly, "Stupid idiot..."
The Sin Hunter didn't hear, having already walked off.
I thought for a moment, then yelled to the hunter, "Valerian called you an idiot!"
Valerian jumped. The Sin Hunter came back and slapped Valerian hard on the forehead!
Valerian clutched his head and stammered, "I was just mumbling! Mumbling doesn't mean I was cursing at you!"
The Sin Hunter walked off, satisfied. Valerian said pitifully, "Sister, why did you sell me out?"
"Because you're a man..." I said. "A real man has two choices — either hold it in, or curse someone to their face. Never curse behind their back."
Valerian opened the door with wounded pride. After thinking it over, he said philosophically, "Oh well. I'll just consider it getting slapped by my son."
Beautiful.
While I wasn't used to hanging out with goofballs, I had to admit — being with Valerian and Juniper always lightened my mood.
Inside, Juniper sat at her desk, which was covered in documents.
When she saw me enter, she said seriously, "Sister, this genius has been studying for a while and found something suspicious!"
"What is it, Big Br... Doggie?"
Juniper took a deep breath, turned to Valerian, and said, "Are you sure she's not with the people who bully us?"
"Come on, Sister's just in a bad mood. She needs to vent sometimes. She's a good person — she saved my life."
"Back to business. I've studied Hemlock's past missions and found a problem."
"Speak."
"Sister, let me ask you first... Do you know why Sin Hunters only capture and don't kill?"
"Why?"
"To prevent wrongful convictions! People make mistakes, and Sin Hunters are no exception. Once someone is dead, it can't be undone. So unless absolutely unavoidable, Sin Hunters try not to kill."
I said, "But Hemlock kills every time."
"Exactly. And there's something very suspicious about that."
"Oh?"
She handed me the documents. "First, Hemlock has never been penalized by Judgment Tower. And I noticed that every single one of his protection missions appeared simultaneously with another protection mission. There were exceptions — like the mission to protect Maya Duke, and... the mission to protect your child."
I said, "You can skip missions that involved me."
I'd already guessed — Cassian Vance probably took those missions to protect me.
"Okay. Skipping your missions, all the others share two patterns. First, if it was a protection mission, it appeared alongside a higher-priority mission, causing nearby Sin Hunters to instinctively choose the other one, meaning no one got close to this mission. Second, if it was a punishment mission, look at these..."
Juniper placed several files in front of me. I picked them up and read.
"Punish the culprit behind the September 22 falling-object homicide at Baiyu Residential Complex!"
"Punish the drunk driver who ran over a child on Xuelian Road on September 5!"
I asked, "What about these missions?"
Juniper sneered. "I looked into that Baiyu Residential Complex. An object did fall on September 22, but it only caused minor injuries — the matter was settled with compensation."
"Hmm?"
"And the September 5 drunk driving death on Xuelian Road — I checked that too. The driver's blood alcohol was only 15mg per 100ml. He might have had half a beer or eaten some food cooked with alcohol. That level doesn't even meet the 20mg threshold for a DUI charge. Also, the primary cause of the accident was a child darting out from a side street — a classic blind-spot collision. The driver bore partial responsibility, not full."
I frowned. "Hemlock's missions have fraudulent elements."
"That's right! His missions have substantial fabricated elements. Strictly speaking, he isn't even a qualified Sin Hunter! Judgment Tower is also helping Hemlock commit fraud. These cases never made the news, so ordinary people can't find them. But genius here went and dug through police bulletins. These people didn't commit serious offenses, yet Hemlock brutally killed them. What a disgrace to Sin Hunters!"
Looking at these fake mission documents, I said, "Hemlock can't be a serial killer. Let's stop focusing on the mission details. Investigate whether these victims share anything in common — we might find new leads."
Juniper said with frustration, "Sister, how am I supposed to investigate commonalities? I'm not a professional detective. I have no investigative tools."
"There's always a way..."
I started thinking hard.
Then I looked up seriously. "I've got it!"
"Sister, what lead?" Valerian asked eagerly.
I said, "Remember when we first met? Hemlock killed the security guard Dylan Garrett, but because he was injured, he couldn't kill the other one, Warren Briggs. And you almost got your legs broken by Warren Briggs, screaming for help..."
"Sister! I already remembered! You don't need to repeat the details!"
Juniper stared at Valerian in surprise. "Brother Xia! Didn't you say you handled that mission yourself?"
"Yeah! I screamed for help from Sister, but that was my strategy..." Valerian said. "Once Warren Briggs turned his attention to Sister, I immediately got up and fought, and eventually took him down."
Juniper nodded as if enlightened. "Then you're pretty impressive, Brother Xia!"
I didn't expose his lie.
Men — no matter how cowardly or timid, they always want the girl they like to see them differently.
I said, "The point is, why did Hemlock push through his injuries to take them on? Warren Briggs survived, so maybe he knows something."
"That makes sense!" Juniper said. "Sister, I'll go investigate Warren Briggs right now!"
She scurried out the door. Valerian called after her, "Walk slower! Don't sprain your delicate little foot!"
"Got it!"
I stared at the two of them, then sat on the bed examining the mission files.
Interesting.
The strongest Sin Hunter, yet he only did fake missions.
Valerian said, "Sister, you're so smart — great at fighting and analyzing... Hey, could you teach me some combat skills? I want to be as strong as you."
I said, "Don't fall down. Don't stop. Don't be soft."
"That's it?"
"Sounds simple, but fighting comes down to this: don't fall, because once you're down, you won't get back up. Don't stop, because pausing gives the enemy their chance to counterattack."
"What about not being soft?"
"Most people imagine they'd fight fiercely, but in reality, most pull their punches subconsciously, even avoiding vital spots..." I said. "Strike with full force at their weak points. No holding back. Believe it's either them or you."
Valerian nodded thoughtfully. A while later, Juniper returned.
She slumped into the room, and I asked, "What happened?"
"Sister, I went to the factory to find Warren Briggs..." Juniper said. "But I found out he's dead. One morning people woke up and he wasn't moving. When they checked, he'd stopped breathing."
"Cause of death?"
"The The Badlands isn't normal society. Villains die here all the time — who checks each death? His body was already processed. Cremated and scattered into the sea."
I sighed. "As we suspected, Warren Briggs was a lead — and now the lead is gone."
Valerian said weakly, "Then... shouldn't we stop investigating this? That's the Emperor we're talking about. We have no grudge against him. Investigating his secrets is like lighting a match in a septic tank — asking for death."
"You're right. You two should stay out of this. I'll investigate on my own."
I propped my chin on my hand, thinking, then suddenly asked Juniper, "Sage is Hemlock's dedicated escort, right?"
"Right!"
Hemlock's missions were always fake, and he had a handler who cleaned up after him.
Sage was suspicious... and his absence on the day my husband died was also suspicious.
"How can I reach Sage?"
"Sage only serves high-level Sin Hunters. Also, escorts work in day and night shifts. Juniper and I are both on the night shift. But she handles Earth-level and Human-level hunters, while he serves Heaven-level."
"So if I do a punishment mission at night, I might run into Sage?"
"Exactly!"
"Then it's time to act."
Valerian saw I was planning something and quickly said, "Sister, can I come along?"
I glanced at him and sighed. "Fine."
Even though bringing Valerian was practically useless, I knew that if I didn't take him, he'd go do missions alone.
Every Sin Hunter mission carried danger.
I didn't want to discover his corpse someday. Better to keep him close.
We each went home and got ready, then set out.
By the time we reached the city dock, it was already 8 PM.
I sat in the car and opened the Judgment Tower app to browse punishment missions.
"Punishment mission: Target will be arrested by detective Adrian Cross at 9 PM. Please plan accordingly..."
Skipping this one.
Any mission involving Adrian Cross was off-limits — too dangerous.
"Punishment mission: Target will be arrested by detective Adrian Cross in 28 days. Please plan accordingly..."
28 days — skip. Farther from him was better.
Valerian couldn't help saying, "Sister, why do you skip every mission that has Adrian Cross? That's so cowardly. What's there to be afraid of? Didn't I take him down last time?"
"You mean the time all four of us ganged up on him, and you sneaked a stun baton but still got knocked out in one punch?"
"Sister, your habit of pointing out details is really annoying! Hey, how about this one — no Adrian Cross at all!"