Yin Yang’s smile remained as gentle as ever, but in Zhou Kexin’s eyes, he was now more terrifying than any demon.
“How do you want to play this?”
Her voice had returned to its previous timid tone. Yin Yang smiled faintly, and the illusory figure of the lantern-carrying ghost slowly emerged behind him.
Zhou Kexin felt her scalp tingle at the sight. She finally understood what that icy chill she had felt before was!
Whoosh—
The lantern-carrying ghost lifted the white paper lantern to its face and blew. A flurry of white paper scraps flew out, burrowing into Zhou Kexin’s wounds.
“W-what are you trying to do?!”
Zhou Kexin began to struggle violently, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Thump-thump!
Thump-thump!
Yin Yang pulled out the sushi knife and tossed it aside.
“Don’t worry. I’m just adding a bit of insurance to our cooperation.”
“To use your own words: as long as you cooperate, you won’t be hurt. You might even get some benefits.”
Both of Zhou Kexin’s shoulders were pierced through, making it impossible for her to apply pressure to the wounds. She could only watch as the blood flowed out.
Seeing this, Yin Yang snapped his fingers. Behind him, the lantern-carrying ghost blew another breath.
This time, what floated out of the lantern wasn't paper scraps, but sparks of fire.
The flames cauterized the wounds with a crackling sound. Zhou Kexin’s entire body convulsed from the agony, but fortunately, the bleeding stopped.
Yin Yang stood over her, looking down.
“Killing ordinary people one by one like you do—how long would it take to accumulate enough spirituality to advance? An eternity?”
“I’m preparing a Grand Carnival! If all goes well, a lot of transcendents will die.”
“Some of them will definitely have attributes similar to yours, such as those from the Killer pathway or the Criminal pathway.”
“The spirituality of a single one of those transcendents is worth more than ten of the ordinary people you kill!”
Zhou Kexin was extremely weak from the pain. Her lips were pale as she whispered, “You want to use me as cannon fodder?”
Yin Yang leaned down and pinched her face.
“Do you have a choice?”
Before Zhou Kexin could respond, she felt a sudden tightening in her heart. An intense sense of impending death caused her to break out in a cold sweat.
Her vision swam with darkness. Her perception of time slowed to a crawl, making every second feel like a year.
Just as she thought she was about to die, her heart finally resumed its beat.
“Haaah—!”
She gasped for air, realizing for the first time how wonderful it felt to simply breathe.
By the time she regained her senses, Yin Yang was already at the door.
“Approach the Qi family. Find a way to infiltrate them.”
Zhou Kexin’s pupils shrank. Even though she hadn't been in Wang City long, she had certainly heard of the Qi family!
They were the preeminent family in Wang City, monopolizing more than half of the city's industries. Even incoming government officials had to pay their respects to them beforehand.
To call them local tyrants would be an understatement.
And now, this person wanted her—a mere Sequence 8—to infiltrate the inner circle of the Qi family?
When he said he wanted to play big, could he be planning to move against the Qi family?
That... that was playing far too big!
“Oh, right. I’ve placed a few layers of insurance on your heart. If you want to find someone to break it for you, you’d better find a powerhouse at Sequence 5 or higher.”
“Otherwise, one wrong move and your heart will likely be burned to a crisp.”
Thud.
Yin Yang closed the door, disappearing completely from Zhou Kexin’s sight.
Zhou Kexin forced herself to sit up. Her right hand trembled as she touched her chest. There was a scar there from the fire, a constant reminder that everything that had just happened was not a dream.
A serial killer who had brutally murdered over a dozen people had met her match in an unexpected place and was now being held by the throat.
...
The Qi family.
“If Father successfully breaks through this time, our family will finally have a Demigod!”
“Yes. Our family has been away from Central City for far too long. It’s time for us to return.”
The people in the room were visibly excited.
The number one family in Wang City?
Hmph. Who would care about being the best in such a remote city!
The Qi family had once been one of the great families of Central City!
However, they had offended a legendary figure and were kicked into the dust by that existence.
Furthermore, a curse had been left in their bloodline!
No man of the Qi family who became a transcendent could live past the age of sixty!
This had all but severed the Qi family’s path to advancement. Even so, the Qi family had never given up. Eventually, they came up with a way to break the deadlock.
Become a god!
Even becoming a Sequence 5 Demigod would work. As long as one possessed divinity within their body, they might be able to resist the curse!
Thus, the family began accumulating resources, pouring everything into nurturing four younger members!
In the end, only the current head of the family successfully broke through to the sixth rank and survived.
But because he had broken through early, his rate of aging had become incredibly fast.
Though he was only in his fifties, he looked like a man in his eighties or nineties.
Fortunately, there was still time.
Now that the promotion materials were ready, they only needed to complete the ritual. Then, the Qi family would have a Demigod, restoring their former glory!
Squeak, squeak, squeak—
The sound of a rat’s squeaking suddenly rang out.
“Hmm?”
This was the inner sanctum of the Qi family. How could there be rats?
Several people stood up to search for the source.
Squeak, squeak, squeak—
The sound was clearer this time.
“In the ceiling!”
A middle-aged man frowned and looked up at the ceiling.
Thud!
A hairless rat, the size of a bobcat, fell from the ceiling.
“Whoa!”
A young man cried out in surprise. Then, they saw countless cockroaches crawling out of the hole the rat had made!
Each cockroach was twenty to thirty centimeters long. The sound of them scuttling made everyone’s skin crawl.
“Damn it!”
the young man retreated quickly. The others did the same, except for the middle-aged man who had first spotted the rat; he advanced instead.
He pulled out a stone knife from his robe and swung it forward.
“Slay!”
Hum—
A circle of faint red light formed.
Every cockroach within the radius of the ring was sliced into granules the size of soybeans!
The hairless rat hadn't died even after falling from such a height. It squeaked and tried to run away.
Hum—
Another flash of red light, and the hairless rat was also sliced into chunks of meat.
“Where the hell did all these cockroaches come from? Look at the size of them, they're practically monsters!”
“Call a pest control company to deal with this. If we can see this many, who knows how many more are hidden away.”
“Understood.”
The group frowned as they walked out, feeling like this was a bad omen.
After a few steps, the middle-aged man suddenly looked back.
He saw the remains of the cockroaches and the rat beginning to bubble and froth.
“This isn't right!”
“Get back! Seal the room and get someone to look at this!”
They had all dealt with transcendent incidents before and knew that this was far from normal.
And things that were not normal usually meant danger.
Before long, a pest control expert and a transcendent scholar arrived.
“Where is it?”
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