Chu He looked at the Demon Lord with a flicker of surprise in his eyes—but quickly regained his composure.
“What are you, a blood-sucking bat? Smelling blood and swooping in wherever it’s spilled?”
His tone was curt, laced with unmistakable irritation. Normally, Fan Luo might have fired back with a sarcastic jab. But this time, he simply hovered in the void, leaning forward slightly as he studied Chu He.
“Have your injuries healed?” he asked.
“If you’re looking for small talk, Zhou Hui is nearby. Go find him,” Chu He said flatly. “I’m disciplining my child. This doesn’t concern you.”
If one looked closely, they’d notice Chu He’s grip on Maha’s wrist suddenly tighten.
Fan Luo pressed a palm to Maha’s shoulder, still grinning. “You really like using one to restrain the other. Is that talent part of the beauty package?” He clicked his tongue mockingly. “Don’t look at me like that—I never said it wasn’t useful. In fact, if you’re ever up for remarriage, I’d gladly treat your kids like my own. Helping out a stepson? No big deal.”
Chu He’s expression darkened. “What exactly do you want?”
Fan Luo gently traced a finger along Chu He’s cheek—then, in a blur of motion, seized Maha and shot upward!
Among the Six Paths, only the Demon Lord could traverse the void freely. Once he entered it, tracking him down became nearly impossible.
Chu He didn’t hesitate. He sprang up to grab Maha, shouting, “Zhou Hui!”
The massive rocks blocking the cave mouth suddenly shattered with a crash. A split second later, a pure green arrow whistled through the air, narrowly grazing Maha’s head. Just as Fan Luo looked up, it slammed into the rock beside his neck with a thunderous bang!
Fan Luo chuckled, “Your dad really doesn’t care whether you live or die, does he, Little Peacock?”
With that, a black mass of energy swirled in his palm, coalescing into a roaring vortex. It exploded outward like a serpent of dark wind.
As the swirling force erupted, it sealed the cave’s exit, causing the entire structure to quake violently—trapping Zhou Hui outside.
At the same moment, Chu He launched upward, striking toward Fan Luo’s throat. The Demon Lord blocked with inhuman reflexes, but Chu He twisted his wrist, grabbed Fan Luo’s arm, and used the leverage to flip into the air, slamming a powerful kick into the Demon Lord’s chest!
Fan Luo was hurled backward into the stone wall.
It was a flawless, textbook maneuver—sharp, fluid, and devastating. If Chu He had still been in his Aspect of Extreme Evil form, Fan Luo’s lungs would’ve likely exploded on impact.
Even now, Fan Luo coughed twice, his voice low and rumbling. Still, he held Maha tightly in one hand, the other pressing to his chest. “So aggressive. I really can’t go easy on you, huh?”
Chu He cut him off coldly. “What are you trying to do, Fan Luo?”
“Our son wants to go to the Blood Sea,” Fan Luo replied with a smirk. “You heard him. Don’t be such a hardass.”
He turned to Maha, grinning. “Your real dad doesn’t seem very reliable. But look at me—I’m helping you block heavenly thunder just out of principle. Doesn’t that earn me the right to be called dad, hmm?”
Chu He closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to suppress the fury building in his chest. He knew this was bad—very bad. The current situation was like a cicada stalked by a mantis, unaware that an oriole loomed behind. He and Zhou Hui were both weakened. Stopping Fan Luo now would be nearly impossible.
—And Fan Luo could deflect heavenly thunder. That was exceedingly rare in the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms.
Heavenly tribulation and divine punishment were not the same.
Tribulation was inevitable—it arrived with time, striking down anyone short of a true god, regardless of cultivation or rank. Divine punishment, on the other hand, was different: it came only at the hands of gods and Buddhas, a rare and terrible sentence reserved for the truly unforgivable. Even the human realm hadn’t seen one in ages. Mortal sins simply didn’t matter enough.
Tribulation was for tempering.
Punishment was destruction.
And rarest of all, certain demons—those belonging to the Four Evil Paths—were so deeply stained with sin that even the heavens avoided them.
—Fan Luo was one of them.
Chu He took a few steps back, stumbling slightly from exhaustion. He leaned against a boulder to steady himself. Then, with a bitter edge to his voice, he said, “You’re just using him to threaten me.”
Fan Luo laughed heartily, clearly amused. He turned to Maha and said, “Poor little ing Wang. I used to think you were abandoned by both parents. Turns out your mother still sees value in you—as leverage. So… should I team up with him for your sake?”
Maha, bloodied and barely standing, said hoarsely, “Do whatever you want.”
The wound left by the green arrow still bled freely, refusing to close. His voice was gravelly, like it came from deep inside a cave.
“But once Zhou Hui gets in here, taking me as a hostage won’t work anymore. Cut the crap. If you’re going, then go.”
Fan Luo raised an eyebrow, amused. “You do understand your real dad’s style quite well. I’m impressed.”
He waved his hand without looking back.
The void split open with a sharp, tearing sound—like flesh being shredded. A jagged black rift tore itself into existence, rapidly growing into a massive, swirling vortex.
The suction it emitted was terrifying.
Even Chu He lost his footing for a second. He gripped the rocks to keep himself from being pulled in. For a brief instant, he looked like he might make a last desperate move. His expression flickered—
But the suction intensified.
Rocks at the mouth of the cave began crumbling. Massive stones rained down like a storm. Chu He barely managed to shield himself with a slab of stone, yelling, “Maha!”
Maha turned, locking eyes with him.
“If you regret it—” Chu He began.
BOOM!
The rockfall exploded outward. Zhou Hui burst through the seal, disheveled and furious.
“The fuck is your problem, showing up every damn time to get in my way?!”
Fan Luo grinned, threw up a hand in salute, grabbed Maha—and vanished into the black rift.
At that instant, the void twisted violently, tearing through the cavern like lightning.
The entire cave collapsed.
As debris roared down, Chu He slammed his fist into a rock, and Zhou Hui grabbed him by the shoulder.
“MOVE! This whole place is coming down!”
They ran, dodging boulders the size of cars as sacred seals glowed and shattered around them. Zhou Hui shielded Chu He, dragging him through the tunnel.
Up ahead, at a bend near the surface, the Nine-Tailed Fox stood waiting. With a flick of her tails, she launched them both upward.
THUD!
They hit the muddy ground above at the same time, gasping for breath as the downpour hammered down around them.
For a moment, neither could move. Pain shot through every limb, and even breathing hurt.
The Nine-Tailed Fox emerged from the chasm, transforming mid-leap into human form. She walked up lightly and looked down at them.
Zhou Hui lay sprawled on the ground, mumbling, “Fox… every time you open those tails like that, I swear I see your chrysanthemum…”
She stomped on him.
Wham. Silence.
Chu He tried to sit up, his vision spinning. His mouth tasted of copper. He swallowed thickly, then coughed—a ragged, hoarse sound that made his chest seize.
Clutching his throat, he looked around.
The collapsed construction site was now surrounded by police tape. Officers in raincoats filled the perimeter, holding back a flood of reporters. Cameras flashed, jostling to get past the cordon.
The torrential rain had slowed to a drizzle, then finally stopped.
But the sky remained dark and swollen with clouds—thick, black, and unmoving. H City would stay under this cover for weeks. Daylight would need artificial lights, and without streetlamps, it would feel like perpetual night.
Chu He struggled to stand.
Yan Lanyu was leaning against a tree, coughing violently. Every hack brought up more blood. His injuries were clearly internal.
Zhang Shun was already up, sipping water, apparently the fastest to recover. He saw Chu He and limped toward him, only slightly unsteady.
“Brother…”
Chu He waved his hand, signaling him not to speak, and walked to the edge of the building, to a shallow crater split open by lightning.
The weasel lay silently within it, the blood on its fur already congealed.
Chu He walked to its side, sat down cross-legged, and cradled the weasel in his arms. For a long time, he remained motionless. After a while, he finally extended a trembling hand and began to comb the blood-soaked fur of the weasel, stroke by stroke.
He repeated this mechanically, over and over, as if by this action, he could clean the weasel back to its usual lively, sleek self. Zhang Shun watched his back; it was a figure so thin it felt chilling, so thin that with every lift of his arm, one could clearly see the movement of his shoulder blades through his clothes.
His head was bowed, hair matted with blood and dirt clung to his ears and neck, and the prominent bones of his nape protruded strikingly from the drooping curve of his neck. It was a line so solitary that it seemed it could break at any moment, yet most of the time, it was an arc so unyielding it was indestructible.
Zhou Hui stumbled over, smiled as he passed Zhang Shun but said nothing, then knelt beside Chu He.
“Don’t be sad,” Zhou Hui said.
Chu He didn’t answer, only softly said after a long pause, “Easy for you to say.”
Zhou Hui patted his shoulder, seemingly wanting to say something, but held back.
Chu He continuously caressed it, finally cleaning off every last bit of blood and dirt from the weasel’s fur. He lowered his head, gazing at its lifeless body without blinking for a very long time, then softly said, “I don’t have many friends, and here lies one of them…”
Zhou Hui tilted his head to look at him. “You’re really strange.”
“…”
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone from the thirty-three heavens, and a proper Ming Wang at that, treating a demon as a friend. I thought that in the Six Paths, only hungry ghosts were more lowly than a low-level demon like a weasel.”
Zhou Hui repeated, as if amused, “You’re really strange.”
Chu He didn’t reply, as if he hadn’t heard Zhou Hui at all. He slowly buried his face in the weasel’s cold fur. After a long moment, his shoulders began to tremble slightly. His grip on the weasel was so tight that his fingers twitched, and his knuckles turned pale blue.
“No one… no one respects it. It’s just a weasel, even Daoists… even ordinary Daoists it’s afraid of…”
You are so easily startled, so fearful, even common Daoists you dread, why, then, were you not afraid of Maha?
Why did you reach out to him?
Why didn’t you dodge?
“You don’t know…” Chu He coughed, each sound a muffled rumble that seemed to reverberate directly from his chest, his voice broken and hoarse, “You don’t know how timid it is, you don’t know how hard it tries…”
Zhou Hui turned his head away, not letting Chu He see the expression on his face.
The weasel’s tail twitched.
Chu He didn’t notice, but then the weasel’s leg twitched, then again.
“…Chu… CEO Chu,” after several more minutes, the weasel’s muffled voice finally came from above his head: “…you’re pressing on my lungs…”
Chu He snapped his head up, his expression indescribable in that instant.
The weasel looked at him cautiously, full of flattery, blood bubbles still constantly forming at the corners of its mouth, making its voice gurgle, “I… I’m so touched, CEO Chu, do you really consider me a friend, wululu… So you really are the Heavenly Dao Ming Wang, then does your acknowledging me now mean I can become an immortal too? Wululu… My wounds hurt so much—they hurt so much, wululu—”
Zhou Hui’s entire body was twitching oddly. After a long moment, laughter he could no longer suppress finally erupted:
“If the Phoenix, the Phoenix transformed into an ancient divine beast, its tears are rare healing holy water! The weasel wasn’t dead then; your tears almost washed its entire body, hahahaha… I just brought it up and gave it emergency treatment, hahahaha, hahahahahahaha—!”
Chu He was completely stunned, like a stone statue, unmoving. The dazed expression made the weasel feel a bit guilty, and it cautiously extended a paw to wave in front of him: “CEO Chu? Phoenix Chu? Your Highness Ming Wang?… Are you alright?”
Chu He suddenly erupted, yanked the weasel over, pinned it to the ground, and began to furiously beat it!
“Ah! Ah! Help! Help me, ahhhhh—!”
The weasel shrieked hysterically, while Zhou Hui frantically pounded the ground, laughing so hard he almost choked.
Chu He ignored him, eyes red, he grabbed the weasel by its fur and lifted it, seemingly wanting to hit it just as he had hit Maha earlier, but his hand raised high, ultimately didn’t strike down, instead, he just threw it onto Zhou Hui’s head.
The weasel and Zhou Hui both shrieked simultaneously, falling to the ground, and tumbling together in a chaotic heap.
Zhou Hui still roared with laughter, reaching out to pull Chu He down too, but Chu He coughed a few more times, clutched his chest, and hobbled up, walking away without a backward glance, limping.
The weasel lay on the ground, gurgling and spitting blood, as if a faucet was in its throat: “Is… is CEO Chu alright? Should I go apologize?…”
Zhou Hui pounded the ground: “It’s fine, it’s fine, hahahaha—don’t mind him, baby’s upset, baby’s heart is bitter, hahahaha—”
The group was rushed to the hospital. Thanks to Zhou Hui’s help, the weasel finally transformed back into Mayor Huang the moment the reporters burst through the gate. His bloodied, semi-conscious appearance was simultaneously captured by countless cameras, likely to occupy the front page of all H City newspapers that very day.
Mayor Huang was very worried, but Zhou Hui said it was fine, they had special means to handle this. Sure enough, the next day, when Mayor Huang was lying in his hospital bed, bandaged and with his leg elevated, flipping through the newspaper, all the news reported that a group of Japanese spies, under the guise of investment, had been collecting intelligence.
After being discovered, they kidnapped Mayor Huang and fled underground in H City. The provincial police swiftly organized a force to encircle them, and Mayor Huang actively cooperated, cleverly outsmarting the kidnappers. Finally, the Japanese spies were rounded up, and the Mayor himself was successfully rescued.
As for the lightning and heavy rain, they were glossed over. The meteorological department repeatedly emphasized that citizens should minimize going out recently, avoid working at high altitudes, and ensure safety with water and electricity.
No one knew that the first thing Mayor Huang did after arriving at the hospital wasn’t an emergency blood transfusion, but rather crying and begging for a bath, insisting on using a basin, and then wanting the bathwater to be kept in the refrigerator and not poured out.
Zhou Hui was utterly curious and offered a peace talisman in exchange for Mayor Huang telling him the reason, but just like his previous attempt to sell a peace talisman to Second Young Master Zhang for eight thousand eight and being scorned, he was rejected this time as well.
Finally, Zhou Hui resorted to threats, coercing the Fatty Huang into reluctantly revealing the truth: apparently, there might still be remnants of Phoenix tears on his body. Of course, such a rare and wondrous item from heaven and earth had to be preserved, in case of any future accidents.
Everyone profoundly felt this was logical and were speechless. However, given that there was only one Ancient Phoenix, and its tears in phoenix form were rarely seen in a thousand years, it was hard to say how long they would last. Perhaps they would lose their efficacy upon exposure to air.
The encounter with a genuine Peacock Ming Wang in H City, with two team leaders getting into trouble together, and especially finding the long-missing Phoenix Four, caused a huge stir within the National Security agency. The next day, Beijing dispatched personnel who made many trips to the H City hospital, eventually taking Yan Lanyu and Aida away.
Aida was not dead, which astonished everyone.
It was said that during the cleanup of the underground grotto by National Security’s specialized “Cleaners,” he was found in a hidden crevice in the tunnel.
At the time, he was on the verge of death from massive blood loss. After emergency treatment, he was escorted onto a plane to Beijing under the charge of espionage. What would become of him after that would depend on the internal power dynamics of National Security.
As for Yan Lanyu, news from Beijing indicated he was indeed severely injured. Upon arrival in Beijing and disembarking from the plane, his psychological support disappeared, and he directly collapsed, terrifying the escorting agents who immediately sent him to the ICU.
Perhaps because they had experienced life and death together, there was an unconscious emotional concern. Zhang Shun inquired about his condition several times but did not receive a definite answer.
Zhou Hui only told him that the young man was one of the special individuals National Security needed to retrieve from overseas, but due to very complex political reasons, rescue efforts in Japan could not be carried out, thus delaying until today.
And Zhang Shun himself, as a rich second generation who couldn’t lift a hand, had gone through life and death and miraculously only suffered minor injuries. Apart from severe bruises on both hands from moving rocks and a rather unfortunate chipped half-front tooth, doctors soon announced he could be discharged.
The day of his discharge, Second Young Master Zhang was quite miserable. Other patients being discharged were either picked up by parents or elders, or siblings, or wives and children.
But Second Young Master Zhang’s brother was nowhere to be seen, and none of the sycophantic women who chased his money were present either.
At the hospital room door, only the old butler with two servants waited. Zhang Shun watched the old man in the next bed drink bone broth made by his wife and direct his son to peel oranges and cut apples, and suddenly felt a sour, unpleasant feeling in his heart.
The old butler seized the opportunity to earnestly advise, “That’s why I said you should find a good girl and marry early, have a few children, and pass on the Zhang family bloodline…”
Zhang Shun thought, no thanks. What if they gave birth to someone like Maha, who might be peeling his father’s head with a knife in the middle of the night instead of peeling apples?
The old butler was still rambling when Second Young Master Zhang couldn’t help but interrupt, “Where’s my brother? Why isn’t he here for my discharge?”
The old butler said, “Young Master has been away from home for a long time, isn’t he on a business trip? Oh, Second Young Master, you absolutely mustn’t be like you were as a child, always finding fault with Young Master over small things. No matter what, you’ve called him ‘brother’ for so many years, and Young Master has always been very good to you…”
Zhang Shun’s heart tightened slightly. He immediately made an excuse to dismiss the old butler and found a quiet place to call his brother.
When he was first hospitalized, his mind was in turmoil. Every night when he closed his eyes, he doubted if his thrilling underground encounter was real. What Buddha bones, what phoenix, what Peacock Ming Wang—it was all just a particularly convoluted and bizarre dream he had because he played too many computer games. Perhaps because of this avoidance psychology, he deliberately didn’t look for Chu He, and Chu He also didn’t proactively contact him.
By now, he realized, he hadn’t seen his brother for over a week.
Unexpectedly, the call was hung up as soon as it connected. Two more attempts also resulted in a hang-up. Second Young Master Zhang, like a jilted young girl, sniffled with tear-filled eyes and gritted silver teeth, channeling the resilient willpower he displayed while moving bricks in the tunnels.
After seven or eight more calls, a slightly hoarse yet remarkably calm voice finally came from the other end of the phone: “Hello, Zhang Shun.”
Second Young Master Zhang angrily demanded, “Where are you?!”
“Busy.”
“Busy with what? You’re not even here for my discharge today?! Everyone else’s family comes to pick them up! Where are you?!”
On the other end, Chu He was silent for a long time, only the rustling sound of the phone signal was audible. After a while, Zhang Shun heard him sigh.
“A-Shun, I’ll be leaving for a while,” he said. “I plan to return the company president position to you.”
Second Young Master Zhang was instantly dumbfounded, standing in the hospital corridor, unable to react for a long time. When he finally came to his senses, before he could even speak, he heard his brother say, “That’s all for now, I’ll contact you later,” and then hung up.
Second Young Master Zhang stood in the corridor, feeling no joy from the windfall of millions of dollars; only the bewilderment and desperate anger of a young girl whose feelings were compensated with money after being abandoned by a faithless man.
Over the next week, he indeed couldn’t reach Chu He again. His brother didn’t go to the company, didn’t come home, his documents were all there, but his phone remained unanswered. Just as he had arrived footloose and fancy-free, this person once again vanished from his life, footloose and fancy-free.
While tidying up the house, Zhang Shun found an old photo album. Opening it, he saw a photo of himself and Chu He from their youth. In that instant, he vaguely felt that the person he had called “brother” for over a decade might truly have been nothing more than a grand illusion.
Second Young Master Zhang experienced a sense of disorientation similar to a student after college entrance exams, suddenly going from extreme tension and pressure to a state of idleness, feeling that his psychological balance was out of whack. This state persisted until half a month later when he went for a follow-up hospital visit. In the hospital corridor, he surprisingly ran into Mayor Huang and Li Hu.
Mayor Huang was still wearing a hospital gown, his head bandaged, strolling slowly down the corridor. Li Hu, in high heels, walked beside him with her arms crossed. Seeing Second Young Master Zhang, she first froze for a moment, then turned and walked away.
Zhang Shun didn’t even have time to greet Mayor Huang and directly darted to block Li Hu’s path: “Stop!”
His voice was so sharp it almost changed pitch. Several doctors and nurses in the corridor turned their heads, curiously scrutinizing them.
Li Hu reluctantly stopped, “Long time no see, Second Young Master Zhang, I suddenly need to use the restroom…”
But Zhang Shun remained unmoving in front of her. In that instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind—how should he start the conversation? How could he most effectively pry open this woman’s mouth?
Several ideas popped up, but were quickly dismissed. These experts among experts, if not hit directly at their weak spot, would easily deflect him, just like when he questioned Zhou Hui before.
Zhang Shun was no longer the naive rich second generation he once was. His mind, though briefly in disarray, quickly calmed down. He stared directly into Li Hu’s eyes and said, “I have a question for you.”
Li Hu looked around, wanting to say something, but Zhang Shun didn’t give her the chance. He directly asked, “—You tricked me into going underground to use Maha’s hand to kill me, right?”
Li Hu froze instantly.
Zhang Shun could even feel cold sweat slowly seeping from her temples.
