The buildings throughout the town were generally around five stories tall, resembling rural village homes. Each house belonged to a single household. Though a household register might list only two or three residents, their dwelling would span four or five floors, complete with a sprawling courtyard.
The living comfort was something big cities could never match.
*Thud!*
Heavenly King Demonic Eye landed on the rooftop of a three-story residential building. The moment he found his footing, he saw the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, alluring in her flowing crimson dress, rushing out from a residential building diagonally opposite him.
She stood perched atop the roof behind her silver mask, her skirts fluttering and her fine hair dancing in the air.
The two confronted each other across dozens of meters. Above them hung the heavy curtain of night, while a slow evening breeze drifted around them.
The corner of Heavenly King Demonic Eye's mouth curled up. "If you wanted to know the truth behind the massacre of the Chu family back then, you could have just asked me directly. Put together any list of evidence showing corrupt officials taking bribes, and I would have traded with you.
"It was such a simple matter—was it worth causing such a massive fuss?
"Well, you still have a chance. Hand over a list of corrupt officials from Songhai or Jiangnan Province, and I'll tell you the truth of what happened that year. Of course, this time you'll certainly have to return to the Spirit Realm."
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter likewise curved her vivid red lips and spoke in a soft voice, "Finished talking? If you're done, make your move. I don't care to waste words on a madman."
Heavenly King Demonic Eye glanced down at the town below and raised an eyebrow. "You want to fight me here? Tsk, tsk. Isn't this the very method I used against the Songhai Branch? Alas, this trick really lacks technical finesse. Tit for tat comes all too easily."
At this point, a sudden red light flared in Demonic Eye's gaze. His mouth pulled open bit by bit, his smile twisting into a sneer, his handsome face suffused with bloodthirsty battle lust.
"Care to guess how many moves it'll take me to kill you? Or whether the townspeople down there will be caught in the crossfire?"
*Bang!*
A burst of red thread erupted behind the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, thousands of strands flaring out like tentacles and swaying gently through the air.
Her melodious, bell-like laughter echoed into the dark night. "A town? Are you certain this is a town? Open all three of your eyes and look closely! Oh, I forgot—your eyes cannot see through an illusion woven by a Voidwalker."
Heavenly King Demonic Eye's expression froze, and his split grin slowly pulled back.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter continued, "Demonic Eye, the prey you were stalking was nothing more than a puppet I crafted—a puppet of flesh and blood. The tracker you sent was killed by me as well. So why don't you guess why I never erased your tracking mark?
"Why am I still wasting so much breath talking to you instead of fleeing at once?"
The battle lust and malice on Heavenly King Demonic Eye's face turned completely rigid.
"Hahahahaha!" The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter laughed so hard she swayed like a blossoming branch, bending back and forth. "Even you have a day like this, Demonic Eye! Once I snap my fingers, your time of death arrives."
She raised a snow-white lotus-root arm and snapped her fingers with a sharp *crack*.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye's heart trembled. His eyes glazed over for a fraction of an instant as waves of pessimism, despair, and dejection welled up inside him.
A high-ranking Musician often relied only on the most unadorned form of hypnosis.
By leveraging the actual circumstances, a few simple sentences were enough to hypnotize the enemy and sway their target without raising the slightest suspicion.
Furthermore, the finger snap was the signal to commence battle. The instant she struck her fingers together, a brilliant streak of flowing flame shot in from the horizon, bearing terrifyingly scorching heat as it smashed toward Heavenly King Demonic Eye on the rooftop.
The Scarlet Fire Gang Elder was the first to arrive.
With a booming crash, the flowing flame struck Heavenly King Demonic Eye, the force collapsing the structure below floor by floor.
The illusion shattered abruptly. Heavenly King Demonic Eye had not been standing atop a three-story red-brick building at all, but rather on a towering tree.
Under that violent impact, the massive tree was instantly reduced to charred charcoal.
A deep crater blasted open where it had stood. In the pit were Heavenly King Demonic Eye and a stalwart old man with knotty muscles and a head of fiery red hair.
Tiger eyes, a square jaw, sword-like brows—his aura was ferociously aggressive, resembling an ancient veteran charging enemy battle lines.
The red-haired elder pressed both knees onto Demonic Eye's chest, clutching a spear forged of condensed fire. The spearhead was aimed directly at the vertical eye on Demonic Eye's forehead, ready to thrust home.
On Demonic Eye's chest, a hideous burn wound oozed mangled flesh and blood. His hands gripped the spearhead tightly; no matter how much force the red-haired elder exerted, he could not drive it forward even an inch.
Beneath them, the soil melted into blindingly bright, searing magma.
"Among all the Fire Stealers I've encountered, you're still a bit lacking."
The vertical eye on Heavenly King Demonic Eye's forehead rolled and unleashed a beam of golden-red light.
A flicker of madness instantly crossed the red-haired elder's eyes. Beneath his skin, patches of muscle rippled and contracted alternately, as if countless tiny insects were wriggling inside.
This was a sign of inner power becoming blocked and running rampant.
Even a Dominator Realm Fire Master could not entirely withstand Heavenly King Demonic Eye's "Gaze," inevitably succumbing to its influence to some degree.
Demonic Eye's palms suddenly surged with power, shattering the fiery spear. He pressed both palms squarely against the red-haired elder's chest.
*Roar!—*
A clear, resonant dragon roar reverberated across heaven and earth, dispelling the evil delusion.
The red-haired elder snapped awake. His body disintegrated into tens of thousands of trailing flames, evading Demonic Eye's strike. The flames coalesced in the distance, reforming the elder's figure.
His expression remained somewhat frenzied, but the power churning inside him had been smoothed out by the dragon roar.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye sprang to his feet and turned into a dark blur, bolting toward the gates of the zoo. He needed to escape this place.
The moment he dashed forward, a tide of red threads surged from an angle, weaving a sky-spanning web that wrapped around him.
At the other end of those red threads was that breathtakingly peerless beauty.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye possessed not the slightest scrap of tenderness for the fair sex. Raising an arm, he caught the thousands of strands, wound them around twice, and yanked with savage force.
*Snap!*
The red threads severed instantly.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's hands swiftly formed seals, imbuing the broken strands with a second life so they became whole again and coiled back toward Demonic Eye.
Yet Demonic Eye had already broken free of the area enveloped by the threads, and the zoo's entrance came into view.
*Wuuu...*
A mournful wailing wind rose. Outside the zoo, a gale sprang up, sending sand and stones flying as surrounding trees snapped one after another.
The second to arrive was Elder Luoshen of the Water God Palace.
She wore a black layered dress reminiscent of lotus leaves, a black leather women's jacket, and a fine black veil over her face, with loose hair cascading down.
Riding the tempest, she stormed into the zoo.
"Cough, cough! Cough..."
Just as Heavenly King Demonic Eye was about to burst out of the zoo, an itch suddenly seized his throat. Weakness washed over his body, and the color rapidly drained from his face.
He had fallen ill.
The gale carried pathogens virulent enough to cause sudden death in a Saint. Though they could hardly kill Demonic Eye, they still briefly impaired his condition.
Seizing the opening, Elder Luoshen's body dissolved into a sky-engulfing surge of waves—actual, tangible water.
*Crash! Swish!—*
Waves upon waves slammed into Demonic Eye, swallowing him whole.
At that very moment, a daylight-bright arc of light flared outside the zoo gates. When it first shone, it was still beyond the perimeter; by the time its curved trace could be seen clearly, it had arrived in an instant right before Demonic Eye.
*Slash!*
The arc parted the waves and cleaved into Demonic Eye's chest, unleashing a massive spray of blood.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye staggered backward.
Beyond the gates, a middle-aged man with a face handsome as jade, clad in fish-scale armor and holding an ancient bronze sword, strode into the zoo with resounding steps.
Right behind him, a curly-haired toy poodle darted in, raised a paw, and slammed it down with all its might.
"Seal!"
As the command fell, an emerald-green barrier of light suddenly rose, enclosing the entire zoo within.
The water drifted gracefully before congealing in the distance into the figure of the woman in black robes and leather jacket, wearing her sheer lattice veil, standing to Demonic Eye's left.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter glided in on the wind, taking her stand to his right.
Behind him, a pillar of fire descended, and the red-haired elder materialized from within the blaze.
Even farther away, a hazy yellow figure emerged from the earth. Formed entirely of rock, devoid of hair or facial features, it radiated a heavy, boundless aura.
Demonic Eye looked around at the figures surrounding him and curled his lip.
"Interesting!"
***
Late at night, the air conditioner hummed as it blew cool air, the curtains rustling faintly. Zhang Yuanqing lay in bed, too excited to sleep.
*If even this can't deal with Heavenly King Demonic Eye, then my only choice will be to pack my bags, leave my hometown, and apply for a transfer to Jiangnan Province. As for how to explain things to Grandma and the rest... Explain my ass! Life and death take precedence over everything else.*
Pulling his thoughts back, Zhang Yuanqing seemed to sense something and looked toward the bedroom doorway.
The chubby infant spirit crawled in merrily, balancing a blue bra atop its head.
After so many days, it had finally managed to pilfer a bra again.
The bra sat over Little Doubi's sparsely haired head like an oversized sleep mask, the shoulder straps dangling past its cheeks.
The sight was utterly comical and ridiculous.
"Aba, aba..."
The infant spirit scampered nimbly onto the bed, presenting the undergarment as if offering up a prized treasure.
*You really stay true to your roots, don't you? Wouldn't stealing Uncle's wallet be much better?* Zhang Yuanqing buried his face in his hands, tossed the bra casually by his pillow, and went back to waiting for news.
Having delivered its treasure, the infant spirit rolled off the bed with singular purpose and crawled toward the game console.
It sprawled in front of the controller, raised a tiny, stubby finger, and cautiously pressed a button, immediately peering up at the screen with eager anticipation.
The screen remained pitch black, displaying nothing.
This was not what it had expected.
Little Doubi circled the console several times in distress, then angrily bumped it over. With a sharp clatter, it startled itself and hurriedly looked back at its master on the bed.
Seeing that Zhang Yuanqing showed no reaction, the infant spirit's little face relaxed into an expression of relief.
Following Zhang Yuanqing's advancement to Level 3, the spirit servant's intelligence had grown substantially, yet its body would never age. Having died in infancy, it would forever remain an infant.
Bored out of his mind, Zhang Yuanqing picked up the bra and held it under his nose, sniffing lightly.
He caught a faint, delicate fragrance mixed with the scent of body wash.
Without question, Little Doubi had snatched it from the laundry basket in the bathroom.
Ever since the previous bra theft, she had been extraordinarily vigilant against anyone harboring illicit designs on her undergarments, making sure to wash them by hand right after showering.
*She only kept that up for a few days? Jiang Yu'er really can't be relied upon—she got lazy again...*
Zhang Yuanqing planned to sneak it back in a little while.
At the same time, a question crossed his mind: Little Doubi seemed to harbor an unusual penchant for worn underwear.
Tonight, the moment Jiang Yu'er left it unwashed, it had stolen it right away.
Yet the clean bras in the wardrobe went completely untouched.
An innocent, ignorant baby certainly wouldn't harbor perverted desires. It was truly bizarre—where had things gone wrong?
If it were somehow influenced by its master... *but I don't have this kind of fetish either...*
Just then, a somewhat shrill ringtone echoed through the quiet, dark bedroom, cutting short Zhang Yuanqing's train of thought.
The screen displayed the caller's name—Fu Qingyang!
His heart tightened and thumped wildly. Sitting bolt upright, he answered impatiently, "Centurion, is there a result?"
Fu Qingyang's cool, aloof voice came through the speaker: "The elders have captured Demonic Eye. He is imprisoned in the Zoo."
*Phew...* Hearing this reply, Zhang Yuanqing let out a long, heavy breath of relief.
He felt an immediate weight lift from his body and mind. His worries vanished; the world suddenly seemed so wonderful.
Then he caught the key word in Fu Qingyang's statement. "Captured?"
Why hadn't they killed him directly? Since they were able to capture him, they could certainly have slain him. Taking a Dominator alive was vastly more difficult than executing one.
Fu Qingyang explained, "Demonic Eye is a Heavenly King of the Soldier Master Sect. He cannot be killed. Slaying him would merely be releasing the tiger back to the mountains."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Yuanqing didn't follow.
Perhaps because Zhang Yuanqing had joined the White Tiger Guards, Fu Qingyang held nothing back in many matters. "Elder Gou said it has to do with that rule-based item from the Chu family. A Heavenly King of the Soldier Master Sect possesses a single chance at resurrection. Moreover, the resurrection point is located wherever that item resides."
*The Chu family's rule-based item—the one seized by the Soldier Master Sect back then?* Zhang Yuanqing grimaced. "What a pity. Fortunately, there's only one resurrection. Wait, Centurion, what if Heavenly King Demonic Eye enters the Spirit Realm while being imprisoned?"
Fu Qingyang said calmly, "Then he will naturally perish in the Spirit Realm and resurrect in the north."
Zhang Yuanqing cursed *fuck* inwardly before hearing Fu Qingyang continue:
"A Dominator's Spirit Realm quest cycle is very long; there is no need to worry about this issue in the short term. Furthermore, with the man in our hands, there are plenty of ways to handle it—such as harvesting his flesh and blood to prepare for the future."
*That's fine then, that's fine. Once Demonic Eye resurrects down the road, we can just curse him to death...* Only then did Zhang Yuanqing breathe easy, before asking, "Did any of the elders get hurt?"
He had originally wanted to ask whether anyone had died.
"The Water God Palace Elder, the Scarlet Fire Gang Elder, and the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter were heavily injured. The other three elders suffered light injuries," Fu Qingyang said.
*Hiss!* Zhang Yuanqing drew a sharp breath inwardly.
Demonic Eye had taken on six opponents alone and heavily wounded three?
And that was without any living beings nearby providing him with "Berserk" fuel.
Moreover, Demonic Eye seemed to rank at the bottom among the Soldier Master Sect's Four Heavenly Kings. Just how terrifying were the other three?
The evil professions truly lived up to their reputation as the peak of combat power. Fortunately, their numbers lagged behind the orthodox professions.
"Get some good rest. Focus on preparing for the arena tournament next. I look forward to your performance."
Fu Qingyang hung up.
*Less than a week remains until the arena tournament. I hope Xiao Yuan can hunt down a Bewitching Demon for me before it begins...* Zhang Yuanqing recalled Little Doubi, pulled up the quilt with deep satisfaction, and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 174