Ashley’s Arrival

The atmosphere between heaven and earth turned eerie and deathly still, with only the howling wind echoing across the grasslands.

Zhang Ye and the others all rose to their feet. Even Blood Baron had climbed back up, his expression shifting as he stared into the darkness in the distance, as if he had sensed some hateful presence.

From the pitch-black darkness came a faint, subtle sound. It was like rats scurrying through sewers, yet also like rushing water, making their skin crawl.

Moonlight broke through the slowly drifting clouds and spilled onto the ground. Only then did they notice an eerie figure silently standing not far away, its eyes fixed intently on the four people present.

The other party appeared to be a young girl. She had dark skin, short black hair soaked wet, and wore a somewhat tattered set of clothes. She looked like an entirely ordinary girl.

But appearing out of nowhere before them in the middle of the night obviously meant she was anything but ordinary.

The girl’s face was somewhat gaunt, and her eyes held both indifference and excitement, as though she had spotted something she desperately desired.

"I’m about to piss myself. Okay, just kidding. Can someone tell me who this is? I know ghosts exist in this world, but I didn’t expect to see one up close this soon." Pietro swallowed.

"She’s human. I can smell the sweet blood in her body, but there is something else on her too. It smells disgusting." Blood Baron curled his lip.

Kara, meanwhile, had no intention of indulging her. She lifted her foot, ready to give that inexplicable intruder a hard lesson.

Human or ghost, terrifying-looking or not—once she got a taste of a Kryptonian greeting, hopefully she would still be able to keep up that eerie act.

"Not yet." Zhang Ye swiftly stopped Kara.

The moment he saw her face, Zhang Ye recognized the little girl. She was none other than Old Hawkeye’s beloved daughter, Ashley Barton. What puzzled Zhang Ye was why she had come here instead of staying safely in Hammerfall City or outwitting the second-generation Kingpin.

If Zhang Ye had reacted any slower, Kara probably would have thrown the little girl away like a discus the next second.

"Ashley, what are you doing here?"

"You remember me. Good. I didn’t want to go through the trouble of introducing myself before killing you." An icy aura radiated from Ashley as she smiled and stared directly at Zhang Ye.

"…"

The moment she said that, everyone present fell silent.

After a long while, Pietro finally couldn’t stand the strange atmosphere any longer and asked Zhang Ye, "…You know this crazy girl?"

"Sort of. I guess." Zhang Ye had no idea what expression he should be wearing right now. He only felt awkward.

Ashley, on the other hand, seemed completely unaware of anything. She merely sneered and continued on her own. "Witch Raven, that’s your codename, right? Don’t misunderstand. I’m just confirming it, because I need to know what kind of tombstone to prepare for you."

"Alright, alright, stop." Zhang Ye hurriedly cut off her increasingly sinister words. "Is there some misunderstanding here? Why did you suddenly decide to kill me?"

At his words, the killing intent in Ashley’s eyes intensified. She slowly walked toward Zhang Ye, muttering under her breath.

"It’s that look. That attitude—just like my mother’s. As if I’m some defective product, some worthless piece of trash. It’s always been like this. At least I have Spider-Man’s superpowers, but what about her? She has nothing! Compared to me, she’s the real piece of trash!"

Pietro and Blood Baron stared at each other in confusion. Neither of them understood what the girl was babbling about. Kara and Zhang Ye seemed to understand a little more, but neither of them could really sympathize with her.

"Everyone looks down on me. In my mother’s eyes and in the eyes of those gangsters, I’m just useless trash they could take or leave. And to everyone else, I’m some inhuman freak. Fine. Once I twist all your heads off, let’s see if you can still think that way."

"Ashley, first of all, I never thought you were trash. I simply look down on you. If you’re truly proud that Peter Parker’s blood runs through your veins, then you’d better inherit your grandfather’s good qualities first instead of becoming an ill-mannered brat with a filthy mouth."

Zhang Ye patted Kara on the shoulder, then walked toward the direction Ashley had come from. Looking straight into Ashley’s eyes, he continued.

"I know environments can change a person’s character. Perhaps the current you is more suited to the wasteland, but that’s wrong. It’s twisted. Just like the world right now, I intend to change this world, and you need to change your way of thinking too.

"You’re a good girl. I don’t want your future to become that person from my memories."

"Hah. What laughable preaching."

Ashley paid no attention to Zhang Ye’s words and merely gave a contemptuous laugh.

"You don’t think saying a few nice things means I’ll let you go, do you? I know you’re a wizard. It’s hard to imagine that someone like you could still exist after Red Skull destroyed everything related to witchcraft. I’ll give you a chance. Be cooperative and hand over the wizard’s inheritance."

Zhang Ye raised an eyebrow. Now he understood why this little brat had come looking for him. She had her eye on his identity as a wizard and his magical inheritance.

Look at that—only these fearless little punks from the wasteland would learn he was a wizard and, instead of deciding not to provoke him, come charging over in excitement to loot his gear.

Seeing Ashley act as though she had him in the bag, Zhang Ye could barely hold back a laugh.

"And if I refuse?"

"Even better. Then I’ll have a reason to kill you. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you right away. I know you wizards all have some strange magical storage spaces. I’ll torture you properly until you’re willing to hand it over. I hope you can hold out for a while and keep me entertained."

"Just you?"

"Heh. You have no idea how much power I possess now!"

Terrifying killing intent radiated from Ashley’s eyes.

Zhang Ye sighed. He had noticed long ago that something on Ashley’s body was affecting the foolish girl’s mind.

"…Venom, is that you?"

The instant he spoke, black, sludge-like liquid suddenly surged across Ashley’s body.

It was accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream.

"Greetings, sir!"

—

Ashley:?

Here’s a joke:

Author: I’ve hit a writing block lately. It feels awful.

Reader: How could you have writer’s block? I’ve already guessed it. You should write it like this next—it’s so simple!

Author: It’s because I don’t want you to guess it that I’ve got writer’s block, waaaah.