53

The Rakshasa Ghost had felt a bad premonition ever since Inch Tiger pinned him to the ground.

When the black-haired youth on the high seat smiled gently at him, that premonition crested.

The Rakshasa Ghost looked at the Demon Arena. In it, the ghost beasts locked behind iron cages had already drifted to the bars, their hungry ghost-eyes flickering with pale green fire, drool dripping, scanning the demons along the arena's edge.

The same panic that had once crossed the faces of his victims crossed the Rakshasa Ghost's face. He turned to flee the Demon Arena.

But the ghosts who had dodged his edge now ringed his path.

The Rakshasa Ghost's crimson hair whipped in fury, fangs bared, and he bellowed: 'You dare block me?'

The more afraid he was, the more his face twisted. The Rakshasa Ghost's features were already grotesque; now they were monstrous.

But the ghosts surrounding him did not step back.

No matter how strong, the Rakshasa Ghost could not resist so many. He was hoisted up by the crowd and hurled into the Demon Arena.

The three-meter Rakshasa Ghost crashed into the arena. Compared to the enormous space, he looked like a child.

Thunderous cheers erupted along the arena's edge.

'Look, the Rakshasa Ghost is going to die.'

'I bet he won't last a minute. Hahaha, I've had it in for him for ages.'

'Release the beasts! I want to see him chewed into meat paste! Rakshasa Ghost, your time's up!'

'Rip his head off and we'll kick it around like a ball.'

The Underworld has no day or dark sun; a sullen gloom wraps the entire Ghost City, and the writhing ghosts churn like a puddle of ugly sludge.

The ghosts' words reached Jiang Luo's ears. He smiled to himself: truly a pack of inhuman evil ghosts.

Cruel. Cold-blooded. Loving nothing more than chaos.

How vile. How vicious.

But Jiang Luo's soul was boiling because of it.

Niu Tou asked from the side: 'My lord, which ghost beast would you like released to fight the Rakshasa Ghost?'

Jiang Luo's gaze swept the iron cages.

Above each cage was a sketch of the beast inside. His eyes stopped on a python with nine heads.

He heard himself say, smiling: 'Since the Rakshasa Ghost likes eating heads, release this snake.'

Niu Tou's voice held a thread of sympathy for the Rakshasa Ghost. 'Understood.'

But the next instant, when he shouted the release at full volume, he could not contain his excitement. 'Release the Nine-Headed Hydra—'

The Rakshasa Ghost was still roaring.

'Who threw me down here? I'll eat them alive!'

Cursing seemed to dull his fear. The Rakshasa Ghost's voice grew louder and louder—until suddenly, raindrops fell onto his head.

The drops slid from his scalp to the bridge of his nose. The Rakshasa Ghost realized something. He stiffly reached up, wiped the moisture off, and held it beneath his nose.

The smell was thick with fish, the liquid viscous.

The Rakshasa Ghost looked up in terror.

A giant python was rearing upright, green fire burning in its eyes.

The Nine-Headed Hydra had nine heads: three men's heads at the bottom, three women's heads in the middle, three children's heads at the top. All nine fixed on the Rakshasa Ghost as the massive body shifted slowly.

Niu Tou said: 'The Nine-Headed Hydra has lived two hundred years. A hundred years ago, it nearly froze to death in winter and was taken in by three families. When it woke, it lived with them for two years. After two years, all three families had children. The Nine-Headed Hydra caught the scent and ate them. Once it had tasted human flesh, it went household by household and ate the three couples as well.'

'After that, the Nine-Headed Hydra grew nine heads, and those nine heads love nothing more than eating human skulls.'

Jiang Luo laughed in sudden understanding. He propped his chin on his hand, smiling as he watched the arena. 'Then they must have plenty in common.'

The next instant, the Rakshasa Ghost's scream split the air. He was torn in half by the Nine-Headed Hydra. The nine heads buried themselves in his body, and for the first time in years, fresh blood soaked the arena floor again.

After a single beat of silence, an even louder roar of cheers nearly shook the entire Demon Arena.

At the arena's edge, the excitement was so frenzied that some ghosts were shoved in, becoming fresh food for the Nine-Headed Hydra and sparking great waves of laughter.

'Next one!'

'Send another!'

Countless gazes fixed on the high seat.

The Demon Arena's king scanned them with a lazy eye.

'Which one to choose.'

Thump. Thump.

Every evil ghost watched him, tense.

Jiang Luo focused on the black mist clinging to the evil ghosts.

The more evil a ghost, the thicker the Malevolent Aura—and the better the target.

It was not kindness prompting him to cull evil ghosts.

He simply felt that strong ones struggling before death looked best. Most entertaining.

These ghosts had done every vile thing. Had they ever imagined this day would come for them?

When they faced death, would they weep, or would they fight?

Jiang Luo extended a finger. That white, slender hand was a piece of art—defined knuckles, full fingertips. But now the finger seemed like a reaper's scythe. Every ghost it passed went pale; those it passed over wore relief.

The finger finally settled on a Livid Ghost wreathed in heavy Malevolent Aura, a countless-times killer.

The Livid Ghost's excitement drained from his face. He was shoved into the arena in disbelief.

'Only one Nine-Headed Hydra out there isn't fair to the other beasts.' The king on the high seat thought it over seriously, then couldn't help laughing. 'How about this—release them in batches?'

Niu Tou swallowed. 'If my lord thinks so, then so.'

'Then that's decided.' Jiang Luo leaned back. A faint demon-red glinted in his eyes. 'Five beasts, five ghosts. That's the kind of show worth watching.'

His white hand tapped the armrest. He leaned back and smiled. 'Otherwise, fights that end in one second are too dull.'

*

The Demon Arena's floor was soon drenched in blood.

The air the ghosts breathed seemed laced with blood foam. Many had stripped off their shirts like the living, bare-chested and red-faced, bellowing, 'Go on!'

'That ghost fighting the Faceless Wolf is useless. I bet he'd last an incense stick's time—wasted my paper money, bah.'

Every kind of ghost was there; gambling tables had long been set up. The Demon Arena had become a beast-fighting pit for their amusement.

Jiang Luo watched in silence.

The crowd's fervor only grew, but he gradually felt it grow stale.

His slightly quickened pulse settled back to normal. Jiang Luo felt he could even take a nap.

His foot swung idly as he searched the evil ghosts for the next batch to enter.

Those fearsome evil ghosts had looked impressive, but not one had managed to slay a beast. The one-sided crush was pure slaughter. Jiang Luo's body breathed heavier, his blood boiled—yet his spirit felt dry and monotonous.

If only something interesting would show up.

Jiang Luo thought.

His gaze swept casually, then stopped in a corner.

Behind the ghosts, in a dark, secluded corner, two figures stood.

One was a bald monk. The other, Chi You in a sharp Tuxedo.

Jiang Luo stared at Chi You, smiled an unfathomable smile, and finally sat up. He turned his head and said a few words to Niu Tou.

Far away, Ge Wuchen watched the scene of demons running wild and said pityingly: 'Betting their lives—truly a pack of fools.'

Chi You did not watch the ugly display. His gaze passed through the crowd and locked firmly on the throne high above.

'I never imagined,' he murmured, eyes unable to look away, 'that he actually made it this far.'

The evil god statue possessed both divinity and malice. The Divine Statue Heart was its essence—a concentration of malice, an utterly evil thing.

The Divine Statue Heart was, by nature, acutely sensitive to evil.

Enough malice would awaken the Divine Statue Heart and reveal its power. But something so evil would slowly amplify the 'evil' in a human heart, then effortlessly seize control of the soul. Yet Jiang Luo had not only kept his reason—he had used the Divine Statue Heart to open the Demon Arena.

This meant Jiang Luo's own malice was already enough to rival the 'evil' within the Divine Statue Heart.

How delightful this was for Chi You.

The Divine Statue was a body Chi You had been preparing for himself for years. He had fed it with his own flesh and blood to grow an evil god. Apart from the unexpected development of the statue gaining self-awareness, it was almost custom-made for Chi You.

The 'evil' inside the heart had become thick, inky black—because what soaked through it was Chi You's own evil.

But today, Chi You had discovered there was another person who could rival his 'evil.'

Now, compared to taking back the heart, he wanted to know what Jiang Luo's 'evil' truly was.

He watched Jiang Luo intently. Every movement of the black-haired youth was caught by him. A lazy lifted gaze, a downward look—each one filled Chi You with anticipation and pleasure.

Just then, Niu Tou drifted through the ghost crowd to Chi You's side and buzzed: 'The King wants you down in the arena.'

Chi You paused, then smiled slowly. 'Me?'

Niu Tou's bell-like eyes showed a trace of sympathy. 'Yes. The King wants you to face five ghost beasts alone.'

Chi You looked up. Across ten thousand ghosts, he met the eyes of the black-haired youth on the throne.

The black-haired youth lifted the corner of his mouth and gave him a charming, vicious smile.

'Truly a ruthless heart,' Chi You sighed, reaching to undo his tie and cuffs. 'Ge Wuchen, I'm afraid to tell you—we've made this trip for nothing.'

Ge Wuchen frowned.

Chi You had brought him to Fengdu Ghost City for two reasons: to take back the heart belonging to this body, and to release the arena's beasts and make them his Puppet beasts.

Ge Wuchen did not know why Chi You had suddenly conceived the idea of controlling beasts. When he asked, Chi You had only said: 'I just think controlling wild beasts should feel good.'

But Chi You always acted on whim—some would say willful. Ge Wuchen did not press further. The beasts were powerful; becoming Puppets would be a great asset.

So he had accompanied Chi You here. But now, at the last moment, what did Chi You mean?

'Master, what do you mean?' Ge Wuchen sighed and earnestly advised: 'We're already here. Bear with it a little. Pretend to lose, or don't kill all the beasts—can't we still achieve our goal?'

As long as the beasts didn't die, they could still become their Puppets.

Ge Wuchen truly did not want a wasted trip.

He had thought Chi You would listen. He believed Chi You didn't want a wasted trip either. Pretending to lose, or barely winning—playing the pig to eat the tiger. Chi You had endured exactly this in the Chi Clan for over twenty years. Ge Wuchen believed he would endure now.

But Chi You handed him the removed tie and cufflinks, smiling vaguely: 'But I feel this way of winning isn't beautiful enough.'

Then he walked two steps forward, dropped straight into the Demon Arena, and landed steadily.

The arena's beasts were still feeding on the corpses of the previous batch.

The ground was filthy. No Little Demon dared enter to clean up the remains. Blood and severed limbs flew everywhere; clean ground was scarce.

Chi You happened to land on one of the cleanest spots.

His arrival startled the feeding beasts. Five strange but equally massive ghost beasts turned their heads, terrifying eyes fixed on Chi You.

They sensed the threat from this evil ghost. All five simultaneously abandoned their food and approached cautiously.

At the same time, the sound of iron cages rising came from behind Chi You.

The ghosts watching from above could not shout. They stared, dumbstruck, as beast after beast emerged from the cages. Fear made their voices tremble.

'A-another five opened...'

Five more cages had opened.

Five beasts crawled out low, drooling from the blood-smell in the arena, eager as they closed in on Chi You.

The frenzied reveling ghosts sobered up at last. They held their breath and stepped back, exchanging glances.

'S-still betting?'

'How can we bet? That ghost won't last a second.'

'Right. Ten beasts—one ghost isn't even a mouthful for one.'

Jiang Luo watched through half-lidded eyes as the beasts closed around Chi You.

The heart that had felt bored stirred again. Pleasure made him want to laugh. Inwardly, he urged the beasts on—go, bite him.

Defeat that evil ghost. Tear the suited exterior off him. Make him bow his head. Leave him no escape.

In the arena, the beasts surrounded Chi You.

Chi You stood in the middle. Compared to the beasts, he looked pitiful and small. One hot-tempered beast roared at him first, the breath from its mouth whipping up a gust of evil wind.

Chi You's clothes were ruffled by the wind, hair scattered across his brow. The collar, now without a tie, fluttered in the wind—giving him an oddly casual air.

'Ten,' Chi You murmured to himself. 'Winning beautifully—this is really tough.'

The moment he spoke, the beasts, seeing no counterattack, grew bold and charged at him together.

Chi You avoided the filth on the ground, ignored the beasts, and walked toward Jiang Luo. Just as the beasts were about to reach him, the ones in front of him ignored him and lunged at the beasts behind him.

The beasts fought each other in pairs. The controlled ones became Chi You's loyal guards. Amid the roars, Chi You walked through unhurried, untouched.

But as he neared the arena's edge, a sudden earth-shaking commotion came from behind.

Chi You turned. New beasts had been released and were charging him, almost instantly at his front.

No time to turn them into Puppets. Chi You frowned, raised his hand. Black Mist wrapped a beast and crushed it like a small bird. But blood and limbs splashed directly onto Chi You, staining his clean clothes in an instant.

Chi You's face darkened at once.

The beasts reeked. He kept crushing them one after another, already drenched in blood, completely transformed into a blood-soaked, disheveled mess.

He had won—but not as beautifully as he had planned.

Chi You looked at Jiang Luo with ghostly menace.

He knew without thinking this was Jiang Luo's doing. Sure enough, the black-haired youth couldn't hide his smile.

Chi You coldly curled his lips and walked step by step toward Jiang Luo.

Niu Tou murmured dreamily: 'He walked out.'

Unbelievable.

Someone had actually walked out alive from a complete encirclement of beasts.

Anyone who walked out alive could see the King. Chi You, wrapped in blood and Malevolent Aura, walked up to Jiang Luo.

The closer he got, the stronger the resonance between the Divine Statue Body and the Divine Statue Heart.

The Divine Statue Heart beat faster.

Chi You could even feel the Heart beating.

The more active the Divine Statue Heart, the easier its 'evil' could seize control of minds. Chi You suddenly smiled, strode quickly to Jiang Luo, bent at the waist, and in a most gentlemanly fashion lifted Jiang Luo's hand and pressed a kiss to it.

'Finally meet you,' he said admiringly, though his smile carried an eerie chill. 'Your Demon Arena is truly impressive and beautiful.'

He smiled, malice thick. At this close distance, the Divine Statue Heart was pushed to its extreme by his malice.

Mingled with Chi You's essential 'evil,' it made Jiang Luo's heart pound rapidly.

Chi You deliberately let the Divine Statue Heart use all its malice to influence Jiang Luo.

Chi You was vengeful. Right now, he wanted to see what Jiang Luo would look like once his true nature was exposed.

Jiang Luo's gaze moved from Chi You's face to the arena behind him.

All twenty beasts in the arena were dead.

This game, which could have lasted a day, had ended like this—and without harming Chi You at all.

Jiang Luo looked coldly back at Chi You.

He leaned back lightly, his palm still in Chi You's blood-slicked hand, black hair draped over his shoulders like dark, gorgeous roses.

'Who told you to stand while speaking?' Jiang Luo's displeasure and irritation seemed suddenly amplified. His gaze on Chi You carried impatience. This place required no suppression of emotion. Jiang Luo frowned openly. 'You make me very unhappy.'

In the Demon Arena, Jiang Luo was king.

Chi You compliantly dropped to one knee, smiling elegantly and falsely: 'Is this to your satisfaction?'

Jiang Luo looked down at him.

His gaze was deeply hostile, bristling with aggression.

Such a gaze instantly thrilled Chi You. His smile deepened. He slowly tightened his grip on Jiang Luo's hand and whispered: 'What are you thinking?'

Jiang Luo was thinking how to kill Chi You.

The deepest malice in his heart seemed to have been released. He watched everything coldly. The carnage in the arena, the ghosts' terror—none of it seemed to concern him.

He didn't care. He felt nothing. Carnage could not move his sympathy; death only awakened his thirst for blood.

Jiang Luo remembered when he had first come to this world.

When he had wept helplessly before Chi You's coffin, he had been thinking: tricking evil ghosts feels so good.

He liked Chi You as a character, but in that moment, he felt that tricking evil ghosts was even more thrilling than liking them.

Was deceiving an evil ghost satisfying?

Satisfying. Extremely satisfying.

Jiang Luo looked at the bloody, terrifying evil ghost before him, and another, more evil voice rose in his heart.

'Wouldn't killing the evil ghost end this fun? End this thrill?'

Right.

Then what should he do?

That voice said: 'Why not turn this evil ghost into a dog at your feet?'

'Make him fall for you like your lies said—madly obsessed. Whatever you say, he'll do it. Tell him to die, and he'll obediently die.'

'Like an evil ghost who drank a Harmony Talisman—stronger than that. He becomes an evil ghost you can control without Puppetry Art. Taming a fierce, ruthless evil ghost—isn't that even more thrilling?'

What you say seems right.

Making Chi You madly fall for him, making Chi You beg to be topped—also seemed a good idea.

Red crept into Jiang Luo's eyes.

Chi You caught the thick, sticky scent of 'evil.'

He was nearly intoxicated by this malice.

He looked at Jiang Luo with wonder and admiration.

This malice was so thick and enchanting. In an instant, Chi You was certain—

Jiang Luo's essence was the same kind of person as him.