Lord Chaiwang glanced at the carnage inside the Flesh-and-Blood Workshop.
The ground was covered in minced meat; it was impossible to tell who was who.
His subordinates, who usually bullied and lorded over others, had all been turned into fertilizer.
If it were any other hot-tempered demon king, they probably would have charged in to fight to the death.
But Lord Chaiwang was different.
He had survived this long and even managed to become a city lord because of one thing—cowardice.
What did the countless deaths of the demons in the city have to do with him?
As long as he was alive, subordinates were like chives; once one batch was harvested, another would grow.
He just wanted to send these harbingers of doom away as quickly as possible. Sending them to plague the other two envoys or the Toad Saint was fine, as long as they didn't stay in his Chaiwang City.
Once this "Great Buddha" was gone, he would still be the local tyrant here, continuing his role as the mountain king.
Thinking of this, Lord Chaiwang lowered his already humble posture even further.
He forced a smile that looked uglier than crying and bowed repeatedly toward Chen Zhou:
"Aya, I did not know Your Excellency was visiting. This lowly demon has failed to welcome you properly. It is a capital offense, a capital offense indeed!"
"These blind dogs were spoiled by me; how dare they offend you, Lord!"
"You were right to teach them a lesson! Well killed! Truly a marvelous slaughter!"
He didn't even glance at the corpses on the ground, as if they weren't his subjects at all.
Chen Zhou slowly turned around, looking at the giant scorpion with an inscrutable gaze.
"You are Lord Chaiwang?"
Chen Zhou's voice betrayed no emotion, yet it made Lord Chaiwang tremble all over.
"Yes, yes, yes, that is this lowly demon," Lord Chaiwang nodded hurriedly, his venomous tail wagging almost like a dog's.
"You can just call me Little Chai, Lord."
Looking at his comical appearance, Chen Zhou stepped outside.
As he moved, the Plague Rat, Piao, and the blood-soaked human-livestock who had just finished their slaughter followed him in silence.
This murderous aura forced Lord Chaiwang to retreat repeatedly, clearing a path.
"Lord..." Lord Chaiwang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said tentatively:
"Uhm... Tomorrow is the Great Demon Assembly."
"The Exalted Saint and the other great demon kings are waiting for your presence at the Black Bone Hall."
"This place is crude and filthy; I fear it might offend your eyes."
"Would you like to... set off immediately?"
"We shouldn't keep the Exalted Saint and the various demon kings waiting, right?"
The meaning was obvious: Please, just leave already.
Chen Zhou stopped and looked at him with a faint, mocking smile.
"What's the rush?"
"I've just arrived. I haven't seen enough of Chaiwang City's local customs and culture yet."
Lord Chaiwang's heart skipped a beat, and he nearly burst into tears.
Seen enough?
If you see any more, there won't be a single living soul left in this city!
"Furthermore..."
Chen Zhou's tone shifted, becoming playful.
"Since I am attending a meeting and meeting those demon kings for the first time, how can I go empty-handed?"
"I must bring a gift to show that I am well-mannered and haven't forgotten my etiquette, don't you agree?"
A gift?
Lord Chaiwang froze.
His small eyes darted around, instinctively scanning the ragged human-livestock behind Chen Zhou and then looking at the empty Flesh-and-Blood Workshop.
A flash of insight!
He thought he had guessed the thoughts of this bringer of calamity.
This Bone Temple Master, since he practiced that Bone Dao, surely couldn't do without blood food for offerings.
These monsters had just turned the human pens upside down; it must be because they hadn't found enough human-livestock to fill their bellies, or they wanted to seize a batch to bring to the Great Demon Assembly to show off!
Yes, that must be it!
When demons attended meetings, it was common to compare the quality of the blood food they brought.
Thinking of this, Lord Chaiwang felt a secret bitterness.
He asked tentatively, "Lord, when you speak of a gift, do you mean you want to prepare some human-livestock?"
Chen Zhou neither confirmed nor denied it, simply watching him quietly.
Lord Chaiwang took this as a silent affirmation.
He sighed heavily and slapped his thigh with a distressed look. "Aya! My Lord, if you wanted anything else, I would sell my last scrap of metal to get it for you."
"But as for human-livestock, it truly is unfortunate!"
"Just a few days ago, Poison Pheasant Fairy held a blade to my neck and took every human-livestock in the city, not even sparing the nursing babes!"
"They've all been sent to Poison Flame Mountain!"
As he said this, Lord Chaiwang also looked pained.
That was so much fair, white meat, the accumulation of so many years!
He had been reluctant to eat them himself, raising them slowly in hopes that his hoard would last a lifetime.
"Actually, I was very reluctant to let them go!"
Lord Chaiwang complained, "But I had no choice. I'm just one of the four envoys under the Thousand-Eyed Toad Saint; how could I be a match for a great demon king like the Poison-Wing Eagle King?"
"They wanted the human-livestock on orders from above. I didn't dare show any temper!"
"Poison Pheasant Fairy said this was for the Great Demon Assembly, to feast the ten thousand demons as an appetizer for the demon kings."
"Reasonably speaking, I didn't dare refuse."
Lord Chaiwang spread his hands helplessly. "I am empty-handed now myself. I'm worried about having nothing to eat in the future; I'll have to wait until the assembly ends and go to the borders of Thousand Isles County to capture some more savages."
While speaking, he peeked at Chen Zhou's expression, fearing the man might stew him in a fit of rage.
"Oh?"
After listening, Chen Zhou nodded thoughtfully.
"They are all at Poison Flame Mountain?"
"Absolutely!" Lord Chaiwang swore to the heavens. "If I have spoken a single word of falsehood, may my son be born without a butt-hole!"
"In that case..."
The soul fire in Chen Zhou's eyes flickered slightly.
If all the "goods" were at the Great Demon Assembly, then Chaiwang City was indeed an empty shell.
There was no profit left to be had.
Except...
Chen Zhou's gaze drifted lightly onto Lord Chaiwang's bloated body.
Lord Chaiwang felt his hair stand on end under that gaze, a chill rushing to his brain.
"L-Lord?"
He instinctively sensed something was wrong.
"You just said you had no choice?"
Chen Zhou's voice was soft, but it pierced clearly into Lord Chaiwang's ears.
"Actually, I don't need human-livestock. The gift I want is simple, and you can afford it."
Lord Chaiwang blanked. "Me? I can afford it?"
Before he could react, he saw Chen Zhou slowly raise a skeletal hand.
"Since it's the Great Demon Assembly, all four envoys must be present."
"If I take your head to the assembly, I'm sure the Thousand-Eyed Toad Saint will see it as a sign of my great sincerity."
What?!
Lord Chaiwang's pupils dilated instantly.
In that moment, he finally understood what Chen Zhou meant by "gift."
Not human-livestock, not treasures.
It was his own goddamn self!
"No—!"
Lord Chaiwang shrieked. The instinct for survival allowed him to explode with incredible speed in an instant.
He didn't even think of resisting; his massive scorpion tail slammed into the ground, intending to catapult him backward to flee.
However.
"Too late."
Chen Zhou curled his fingers.
【Hate Prison】
Countless pale bone spikes erupted from the ground beneath Lord Chaiwang.
There was no suspense.
Lord Chaiwang's hard carapace was as fragile as paper before the defense-ignoring Hatred Fire bone spikes.
Dozens of spikes instantly impaled his body, pinning him firmly in mid-air.
"Aaargh—!"
Lord Chaiwang struggled as he spat out venomous blood.
He looked in disbelief at the skeletal figure still standing in place.
"You... how dare you..."
"I am... the Toad Saint's..."
He didn't have time to finish his last words.
Chen Zhou clenched his hand.
"Crack!"
All the bone spikes constricted and crushed inward simultaneously.
A rain of blood fell from the sky.
A large, ugly head, impaled by a single bone spike, flew before Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou reached out his bone hand and caught the spike.
He held Lord Chaiwang's head as if he were carrying an ordinary lantern.
"Not bad."
Chen Zhou looked at the head and nodded with satisfaction.
"Now, I have two gifts."
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