Chen Zhou walked unhurriedly, leading the human-livestock forward. Soon, a massive black building appeared at the end of the East Market.
This was the core area of the East Market Flesh-and-Blood Workshop. Rows of enormous cages constructed from the ribs of giant beasts stood upon the square. This was the true exchange for human-livestock.
However, at this moment, most of the cages were empty. In a few scattered corners, some of the old, weak, and sick were imprisoned—remnants that even the frog demons found beneath their notice.
At the far end of the square stood a slaughtering hall built of black stone.
The procession came to a halt.
The thirty-seven human-livestock stopped more than a hundred meters away from the gates of the workshop, their bodies trembling violently. Their flesh felt the fear far sooner than their souls could.
This was the slaughterhouse, the final destination for all their kind and the entire purpose for which they had been raised.
They instinctively shrank back, wanting to move away from that black building, even if only by a single small step.
"Interesting."
Chen Zhou stopped. He could feel that the stagnant pool of emotions within these human-livestock had finally been ignited by a faint spark of fire, sparked by their physical fear.
This was a good thing.
His pills had healed their bodies and enhanced their cultivation, but that was far from enough.
Their souls were already dead, thoroughly strangled by the demons in the most cruel of fashions. To truly bring them back to life, kindness and medicine were insufficient.
In this world where human life was as cheap as grass, they needed a drive stronger than the fear of death. That drive was hatred.
As future candidates for the Evil God's followers, hatred was naturally a power worthy of praise.
"Keep up."
Chen Zhou did not look back, giving the command calmly.
The human-livestock shuddered again, but they did not dare retreat. The command directly overrode their newly sprouted instinct of fear. Obeying their master's orders was the primary principle carved into their very bones.
Even if hell lay ahead, even if that building made their souls scatter, they had to follow.
Chen Zhou walked straight toward the massive gate of the workshop, which was crudely nailed together with beast hides and iron bars. He raised a hand and gave a light push.
Boom!
The seemingly sturdy gate was instantly eroded by death qi the moment it touched his skeletal hand, crumbling into a cloud of fine powder.
Inside the workshop, a dozen pig demons and wolf demons were chatting with their shirts off. The intrusion of Chen Zhou and his group left the demons quite surprised.
A plump pig demon holding a dripping, sharp cleaver turned around, ready to scold whoever was blind enough to barge into the kitchen. However, the moment it saw Chen Zhou's grim white bones, the words stuck in its throat.
It could not sense Chen Zhou’s aura, but the demon qi emanating from the three flower demons behind him and the unusual blood-qi fluctuations from the group of human-livestock made its mouth water.
Flesh and blood actually delivering themselves to be slaughtered? With the Great Demon Assembly approaching, this was truly a piece of luck falling from the heavens!
"You..."
Before the pig demon could finish, Chen Zhou’s ghost domain expanded, and the Hate Prison was activated.
A gray mist instantly enveloped the entire workshop. A cage formed of bone spikes firmly suppressed the dozen demons where they stood.
Thud! Thud!
The demons' knees shattered as they were forced to the ground. They discovered with horror that they could not move even a finger, forced to watch as the skeleton slowly walked to the center of the hall.
Chen Zhou turned around to face the trembling human-livestock.
"Look at them."
His voice exploded directly in their minds, carrying a majestic, divine weight.
The human-livestock raised their heads. They saw the demons who usually held the power of life and death over them now kneeling on the ground like sheep or pigs waiting for the blade. This massive contrast caused a flicker of confusion to appear in their eyes.
"Take up the knives."
Chen Zhou pointed to the bone-chopping knives on the tables, which were still stained with scraps of meat.
The human-livestock hesitated.
"Take up the knives!" Chen Zhou’s voice grew heavier.
Finally, the girl whose wounds had been treated was the first to step forward. With a trembling hand, she gripped a sharp blade thicker than her own arm. Soon, the others also stepped forward and took up weapons. But they only held them.
They stood before the demons with knives in hand, at a total loss for what to do.
Chen Zhou watched this scene with indifference. As expected, servility was not so easily broken. He raised a skeletal hand, and within his palm, clusters of black light-points pulsed.
【Seed of Resentment】.
"Since there is no hate in your hearts, I shall grant it to you. Only hatred is your salvation."
Chen Zhou waved his hand.
The Seeds of Resentment vanished into the foreheads of the human-livestock. In an instant, cold, violent emotions filled with the desire for destruction took root and sprouted within their seas of consciousness.
Their eyes immediately became bloodshot. Within their once hollow pupils, the reflection of the ugly and hideous demons before them appeared. Past memories were forcibly churned to the surface.
The beatings, the humiliations, the screams of their companions being slaughtered, the despair of seeing loved ones swallowed alive... All these images, catalyzed by the Seeds of Resentment, transformed into pure killing intent.
"Kill."
Chen Zhou uttered a single word.
"Kill... kill..."
The girl unconsciously repeated the word. She did not understand its meaning, but she felt a surging emotion rampaging through her heart. She was in pain, and she wanted to vent it out. The girl raised the sharp knife high and hacked down ruthlessly at the pig demon in front of her.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed. With the first one acting, the second followed. The rest of the human-livestock, just like the girl, mechanically swung the sharp blades in their hands.
There was no method, no technique—only the hacking and slashing of pure release. The demons' eyes widened in terror; they wanted to beg for mercy, they wanted to scream, but the suppression of the ghost domain sealed all their sounds and movements. They could only watch as their former food turned into executioners wielding the slaughtering blades.
Blood stained the vine clothes of the human-livestock and splashed onto their faces.
Chen Zhou watched coldly from the side. He could feel that although the hatred in these people had been ignited, it was still insignificant. They were killing not out of the pleasure of revenge, but because of their master's command and the impulse forced upon them by the Seeds of Resentment.
It wasn't enough. Hatred of this level was too cheap.
With a thought, Chen Zhou contracted the ghost domain, loosening the power suppressing the demons just enough to let them let out shrill screams.
"Aaaargh!!"
"Mercy! Don't kill me!"
The screams stimulated the eardrums of the human-livestock. Simultaneously, Chen Zhou triggered the 【Seed of Resentment】, increasing the output of hatred. A more intense wave of hate surged, reaching a level that almost crashed through their reason. Yet, it was through this that the last remaining embers of humanity—unwilling to be extinguished—were finally awakened.
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