The stage is set. Fifty thousand soldiers, split across eighty camps scattered throughout Hell, lie in wait. At a calculated distance from their prey, they await the signal to strike. Hao Enlai accompanies Su Bao to the base closest to the Last Fortress — the Shanyang camp. This deserted town rests in the shadow of a crimson mountain range. These hills look as though they were carved from cinnabar, the same kind that stains their moon red. Against the oppressive darkness of the night, the world seems reduced to the hues of red and black.
No other life or colour dares to trespass in the domain of this old ghost.
Hao Enlai along with a thousand demons had arrived here a few hours ago. He and Su Bao anticipate any response from the Mara demon deeply meditating in his camp while the rest sharpen their knives, claws, and horns. They polish their staff and the more capable among them draw from the thick demonic energy which saturates the area.
Such potent energy is nearly impossible to find in the cities these days. They have long been bled dry. As a result, the art of cultivation has withered. Only nobles can afford the means to practice it and even then, most can't be bothered. Why go through the pain of core-building when carving into an enemy's flesh is much more fun?
Hence, the intense demonic energy radiating in this place is nothing short of a miracle. Yet, most demons have no use for it and those who do would never dare come here. No cultivation skill is worth dying for.
The eerie stillness was broken only by the distant cry of a lone eagle. Its massive wings carved across the moonlight, casting shifting shadows over the camp, giving them the illusion that they are being watched. Even the toughest demons shifted uncomfortably under its beady gaze. This place feels suffocating.
The flaps of the tent flutter and several eyes move to the demoness who rushes out of it. Hao Enlai straightens, striding toward her as she announces in a low voice, "Lord Ren has sent word from the home base. The battle has begun in the southern region. We are to commence the attack."
Hao Enlai shares a look with Su Bao who turns to face the crowd, his voice booming with command. "Soldiers! Prepare to strike the enemy base in ten minutes!" He raises two fingers. "There are only two rules! One, Zhang Xiyu, must be captured alive. Two, kill everyone else!"
The demons respond with two heavy thumps to their chests, fists like war drums. All unease vanishes beneath the wave of adrenaline, the familiar bloodlust gnawing at their veins.
Hao Enlai leans closer to Su Bao and gestures to a shadowy ravine at the camp's edge. "Across there," he says. "Zhang Xiyu's camp lies just beyond. It's the shortest way around and we can use it as cover. What do you think?"
Su Bao studies the terrain, then nods once. "Let's do it." Without another word, he turns and strides back to his tent to armour up.
Hao Enlai remains where he stood, still beneath the circling eagle. It wheels silently above him—watching, waiting.
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The carriage halts in front of a brothel. Deep in the night, the building stirs awake with the scent of floral perfume and the gentle twang of guqin strings. Warm, moody lanterns spill their glow across the silhouettes of delicate courtesans. Their fans flutter like butterflies as they lean into their patrons' arms, smiling like blooming flowers.
All of this heightens the atmosphere of lust. Nothing hides their invitation to a night made to fulfil all beastly desires.
This place is one of the finest brothels in the realm, lazily but elegantly named The Peony Pavilion. But Renhu didn't know this because he was some avid fan. No, he knew it because it is owned by Zhang Xiyu. When asked why he opened a brothel, he had only shrugged and said, "Money."
Why did Yutao call her here? Renhu's jaw tenses. Even as a traitor, he has some fucking audacity.
He watches Aika hop out of the vehicle. She's covered from head to toe, only her eyes are visible above the veil. She moves gracefully into the brothel, her figure quickly swallowed by the throng of courtesans flitting about like butterflies in heat.
Renhu hesitates.
He needs to follow her but everyone in there recognises him. If he steps in there like this, Yutao will be notified in mere seconds. Assuming that he is in there. Nonetheless, he cannot risk getting caught. If Yutao spots him, he will most definitely kill him and Zhang Xiyu will forever remain in the dark. He would never know the truth.
Outside the brothel, a courtesan greets the lecherous customers with a soft smile. Her lilac hanfu flows around her like water as she moves with effortless grace. "Miss Daiyu." A rough voice calls for her from behind. When she turns to the voice, she sees a man beckoning to the dark side of the garden, beneath a cypress tree. It must be a regular of hers if he remembers her name.
As she nears, the moonlight carves his face into focus and her expression changes. She immediately recognises the man and rushes to bow but she is met with resistance.
Her shoulders are grasped tightly by Renhu who drags her behind the tree, away from prying eyes. Not paying any heed to her furtive glances, he whispers. "I will have you take a short nap." The right-hand clamps her mouth, suppressing her questions while the left hand strikes the pressure point at the base of her neck, rendering her unconscious. Her small frame falls limply in his arms. Carefully, he lays her down on the ground and checks the surroundings.
After making sure that no one is around, Renhu closes his eyes and focuses on each and every cell of his body. With practiced focus, he guides his qi through his body. His skin ripples, turning soft and elastic. His bones compress with sickening ease. His jawline softens, and his torso narrows. Breasts swell beneath his robes, and his frame turns smaller. When the transformation is complete, her now-loose clothes hang awkwardly on her altered body.
Renhu exhales.
He has turned into a woman.
Renhu unabashedly strips the courtesan's hanfu from her limp form, exchanging it for her own clothes. She yanks the pins from Daiyu's hair, twisting them into a messy bun of her own. Renhu pulls out a veil stored in Daiyu's waist pouch and wears it. A flick of the wrist, and the jade fan opens—she twirls it with practiced nonchalance. Now, she can pass for a courtesan of the Peony Pavilion.
Emerging from the shadows, Renhu strides into the building, scanning the room urgently for Aika. Drunken men leer and call out to her, but she ignores them, eyes instead seeking one of the low-tier managers. The higher-ups would see through her act immediately.
She doesn't have to search too long as her erratic movements draw the attention of a supervisor. "Hey! You!"
The young man snaps, dragging her aside with a scowl. "Why are you ignoring the customers? And fix your hair, you look like a rat."
"I'm so sorry," Renhu replies, voice breathless with fabricated nerves. "It's... it's my first day."
The manager's eyes soften ever so slightly. "In that case, you are not to entertain guests yet. What's your assignment for today?"
"I…" She hesitates, just enough to look genuine. "I was told to assist the courtesans in the VIP rooms. But I somehow lost my way…"
The manager sighs. "Only the fourth floor is occupied today and only two sections are being used. Section one is used from room one to six. You are lucky it's a light day for business. Use the second staircase. And oh, do not go anywhere near the second section. It's reserved."
Renhu exhales dramatically, brightening her voice. "Thank you so much, sir!" The man waves her off and Renhu makes a beeline for the second staircase. At least now she has some direction. The six rooms. And the mystery reservation in the second section. A whole section reserved? That's something that loafer the third prince or one of them owners, maybe Yutao would do.
To keep up appearances, she snatches up a wine jug from a passing tray. She naturally wants to check the second section first but the place is unexpectedly being guarded.
Just in case. Renhu combs through the six rooms, one by one—barging into scenes ranging from bizarre to depraved. But no sign of Aika. She could become the epitome of optimism and work on checking the rest of the floor. But something in her gut tells her it will be useless. Aika is in that second section. There's no logic to it—just instinct. Cold and certain.
But should she even follow this through? That's when it hits her.
Why did I even follow her? To catch Yutao? To interrogate Aika? To stop whatever is about to conspire?
But Renhu is not an entity who works with plans and calculations like Zhang Xiyu does. She doesn't weigh risks or measure outcomes. She is a purely instinctive animal whose actions are based on impulses. Watching that carriage roll away, just didn't sit right. Back then, her instincts had screamed to follow it and now here she is.
Debating whether to knock the guards out—or paralyze them.
Either way, Yutao will know someone has breached the second section. If luck is on her side, Yutao would be too preoccupied to notice the two guards frozen like wax sculptures and move on. And even that rides on the assumption that he is not already there.
Fuck it.
Without hesitation, Renhu approaches the guards. She walks to the second section as if she belongs and the guards, they don't buy it.
"Hey! You are not allowed- "
The guard stiffens in his position as if time has stopped for him. The other barely has time to react before a needle sinks into his skull. Both men now resemble wax statues; lifelike, yet disturbingly empty. The deception seems seamless—at least to the untrained eye.
If I get caught, then that's that. Shrugging off the last of her doubts, enters the second section. We will fight if it comes to it.
Renhu goes back to checking each room to find Aika. checking the rooms, one by one, as if on autopilot. She cracked each door just wide enough to see inside before swiftly moving to the next. Her motions are so fast and mindless that it takes her a moment to realize—she has found the room.
Inside, Aika perches nervously at the edge of the bed. Her gaze is sharp, scanning Renhu with suspicion. But the jug of wine in Renhu's hands softens her guard.
"Oh, finally. Pour me a glass. Quick!"
Renhu blinks, as if just now noticing she's still holding it. Wordlessly, she steps to the small table by the couch, finds a glass, and pours the stale wine and hands it over. Her awkwardness somehow registered with Aika as fear.
Like a servant would, Renhu stands at a distance, the cold jug still in her hands. What the fuck am I doing? She runs a hand over her face.
Why am I serving her? Even then, Renhu politely sets the jug on the table.
Then, without another word, she cracks her knuckles and approaches the demoness meanwhile Aika chugs down the wine, remaining ignorant to the fingers inching towards her vulnerable neck.
"Ack—"
The glass slips from Aika's hand and shatters on the floor while her head slams back against the bed. Renhu climbs on top of her, pinning her wrists with one hand and wrapping the other tightly around her throat. Aika attempts to run away, her face flushing red as she claws at the grip crushing her windpipe.
How can a servant be this fucking strong? Who the hell is she?
Renhu raises an eyebrow, amused. Aika struggles fiercely, but this is nothing like the woman she must have been at her peak. It is almost disappointing.
Leaning in close, Renhu taunts her in a sickly-sweet whisper. "I didn't expect you to be so weak and pathetic. Is your old age finally catching up?"
Aika's face grows even redder. Her nails gouge at Renhu's wrist, drawing blood. Desperate now, she tries to summon her demonic qi—but it sputters. She is too late. Renhu's own energy was already flooding her veins, corrupting it, throwing her cultivation into chaos.
If Renhu keeps this up, Aika's dantian will rupture. Seriously, who the hell is she?
"Did… Ren Jiang… send you?" Aika gasps.
"You don't get to ask any questions." Renhu snaps, letting the misassumption hang. If Aika thinks Ren Jiang sent her, it means she's here without his knowledge. And that's something she will have Aika explain.
"Tell me why you're here. Or die."
Aika says nothing, her bloodshot eyes locked on Renhu's. She isn't giving in. So, Renhu tightens the internal assault, driving the qi deeper into her meridians—boiling her from within like liquid lava.
Renhu pulls off her veil and shoves it into her mouth, muffling her anguished screams. Tears run down her distraught face as she gasps like a dying fish.
Renhu eases the torment slightly. "Ready to cooperate?"
Aika gives a trembling nod.
"Good. Now why are you here?"
Renhu yanks the veil from her mouth. Aika sucks in ragged breaths, spitting words between coughs. "It was Yutao," she gasps. "He coerced me into getting that stone. I was kidnapped!"
Renhu lets out a dry laugh. "I have never seen a person cooperate in their own kidnapping."
But Aika keeps mumbling, lost in desperation. "I didn't betray him. I'd never betray Ren Jiang. Please—please don't tell him. I will give you anything. How much money—"
"Shut. The fuck. Up." Renhu tightens her grip. Her knee slams into Aika's thigh, pinning her harder, while her energy resumes its brutal invasion of Aika's core.
She sighs. "Ren Jiang didn't send me, okay? So, give me the truth."
"Are you willing now?"
Aika shakes like a leaf in a storm. Her eyes, wide and gleaming with pain, she slowly nods. Renhu withdraws the invading energy, her hand loosening from Aika's throat. Aika collapses into a fit of coughs, her body shivering under the weight of residual pain.
Then something changes. A strange emotion clouds her face. Is it hate? But it doesn't seem to be directed at Renhu. Aika whispers. "A few weeks ago… Yutao visited me in the Central Prison."
Central Prison. Two weeks ago.
She has been playing. Ren Jiang made all sorts of hefty promises and she should have known it was too good to be true. Aika is well aware of her relationship with her husband. They had married because they are equally fucked up. It's true that they are in hell, but even hell has social conventions.
And their marriage stood against it all.
What is love, respect or loyalty? These two were never interested in these principles of marriage. So, they made their own.
Lust, violence and infidelity.
This marriage worked well and they got their parents off their backs.
But even with such loose morals, the two knew to stand with each other through thick and thin. It is not a traditional romance, but it still lasts better when put through tough times. The two of them can have multiple sexual partners to discard. But they are not to discard each other.
Till death do us apart.
At least that's what she thought. Aika had stopped eating days ago, the bland prison food makes her nauseous. The mold infested air makes her nauseous. Looking at these grey walls all day makes her nauseous. She is just sick of it. She is slowly losing her mind by thinking of Ren Jiang every second. And when it's not him it's his caustic brother Liu Xue.
Doesn't matter who is on her mind. She is just itching to kill them.
Liu Xue for destroying her career, image, and life. Everything! And Ren Jiang for abandoning her. They all deserve to die a dog's death!
"You look horrid."
Aika snaps out of the quagmire of her thoughts and raises her head. Yutao cruelly smiles at her hideous figure. Her hair matted with grease and her hands chained to opposite walls like a beast. Nothing like the alluring figure she is used to being.
Her shame is quick to turn into anger as she glares at this haughty bastard with hate. Yutao's smile widens. "It's best for you to get used to this place. After all, you are going to be here for two hundred years."
Aika continues to stare at him with murderous intent but doesn't retaliate.
Instead, she asks. "What are you here for?"
"Did Ren Jiang send you to torture me some more?" She rolls her eyes.
Yutao's eyes light up with mild interest. "No. That would mean that he still remembers you."
Aika's jaw lands a few inches away from his face, her teeth clamping on thin air. The chains clang loudly while restraining the mad woman. All the while, Yutao doesn't even flinch. He further taunts. "You know what he calls you? One of his many scapegoats. To him, you are lower than a whore."
"Shut up!" Aika lets out an animalistic scream.
"He wouldn't even spit at your grave-"
"Stop!"
"-let alone send someone to- "
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut! Up!"
She shuts her eyes in pain, dry heaving on the dusty floor but only bile drools out of her empty stomach. Her voice cracked with rage.
"I want to kill that bastard! Him and that fucker Liu! Chew out their stupid limbs!"
Her cheeks sink into the skull, sucked off their usual vibrant blush. Her episode slowly dissolves into lifelessness. Looking at her torment, Yutao deigns an expression of awkward surprise as if he had no hand in it.
Aika blankly looks at the bottle of water that rolls to her feet and hears him say. "Get your shit together. I don't have all day."
Aika slowly uncaps the bronze bottle, chugging the water like a man in drought. Exhaling, she composes herself and repeats. "What are you here for?"
Yutao calmly replies. "I do not know what placates you but your husband will do nothing to get you out of here." Aika stares expressionlessly. He continues. "Seeing as Liu Xue is ardently pushing this case, Ren Jiang cannot afford to slip even a little. So, he sacrifices you."
"You are welcome to rot here for two decades, and when you leave this hovel…"
"You will have nothing. Your husband, palace, money, prestige. Your life. You will remain a lowly criminal till the day you die." Aika's head bows, hidden behind her long hair. Her tears of anger drop to the ground soundlessly. Because he is right. She has nothing left to return to. She has been ruined beyond repair.
"Or…"
"I can get you revenge."
She looks back up at him with a clouded gaze. "What?"
"…do you realise what you are saying? You must be joking."
"I am serious. I wouldn't make this trip if I wasn't."
Yutao walks closer to the bars separating them. "I can get you out of here."
Aika's gaze turns guarded. Her dim mood has slightly brightened. But not enough to forget the rules of the real world. This could very well be a trap, but why would Yutao implicate himself? Not to mention she has already fallen in the dregs of society so it really couldn't get any worse.
Even then, there is no such thing as 'free dinner'. And Yutao is far from a saint who would do this out of the kindness in his heart. Because his heart is just as black as the rest of them.
"So, what do you want?" she asks pridefully, not showing that his words have moved her.
Yutao's smile grows but his eyes remain cold. "Just an ancient relic in your house."
Her suspicion heightens. "That's… it? You want something from my house."
"Yes. Your freedom is pretty cheap."
Aika still looks at him like a cornered beast. "You are an outsider. How can you get me out?"
"That… does not concern you." He lazily imitates her tone. He claps his hand once. "Are you in?"
Aika takes a short moment to think it over. Going over their conversation to notice any other pitfalls. Eventually, she gives a shaky nod. "I'm in." Her eyes no longer looked dead to the world. Yutao nods back, his reaction telling her that he was certain this would happen.
"Here's what will happen next. In a few days, you will be moved to house arrest." Aika's eyes widened.
Yutao says. "I will send you a signal on the day of action. Someone will be there to guide you out of the house. My men will bring you to the point of exchange. From there on, I will set you with a new identity and you will be free. Now what I need…"
"Is Ren Jiang's heirloom. That blue stone."
"What?!" Aika whisper-shouts. As if what he said was blasphemous. "Are you out of your mind? If you steal that you will get a fate worse than death. Agh-"
The woman falls to the ground as if pressed by an invisible hand from above. Her skull bangs against the stone floor and the force on her spine turns dangerously stronger. It takes all of her qi to defend against it but if it continues, the force will leave her paralysed. Just when she's about to break the pressure suddenly recedes.
He almost killed me…
While panting on the floor, her scattered brain comes to a terrible presumption.
That maybe, Yutao isn't here to cooperate with her. Them striking a deal felt nothing more than an act to her. Like an adult coaxing a child.
This motherfucker…
Her eyes tremble when she looks at him. His cold face devoid of the usual fake smile. She figures out that she had no choice from the beginning. She is his pawn, whether willingly or unwillingly.
"I will get you the stone."
"A stone?" Renhu mumbles to herself. What stone does he want? But before she realized, a hand grabbed her by the collar and threw her to the ground. Renhu dumbly stares at Aika, who cradles her neck while shifting away from the two of them. Two?
Renhu turns to look at the tall figure looming over her. His gaze is unreadable as it inspects her from head to toe. She doesn't have the leisure to lie on the ground and quickly gets back up on her feet. She feels a subtle intimidation from their increased height difference which annoys her a little. To add gasoline to fire, he says. "You make a pretty convincing lady."
"Want to work here part-time?"
"No. Thank. You." She grits out with a nerve popping off her head.
Yutao doesn't pursue the matter and instead diverts his attention to the other woman writhing on the bed. He directly commands. "The stone."
Aika moves like a rusted machine, slipping her fingers inside her waist pouch and pulling out the stone. Renhu looks at the iridescent gem with astonishment. The fragment pulsated with a beautiful blue glow, making it seem alive in her hands.
"Take it. Keeping it with me for too long gives me a headache. It's a queer thing."
Yutao doesn't object and grabs the fragment. His quick movements turn slightly sluggish with the fragment in his hand. He wants to quickly throw it in his interdimensional ring but it feels like the fragment is stuck to his hand. He knew that the fragment will affect him to some extent, it has always done that. And yet, this time the corruption feels stronger.
"Yutao." Renhu's voice seems far out of reach.
"Yutao." He seems to hear a more familiar voice.
In the faint illusion, his eyes open and he finds Zhang Xiyu sitting next to him. The two of them are imprisoned in this cave of pure evil. They must have taken a break from their training. In this vast cave, the two of them sat in a corner with their backs tight to the wall. His muddled voice reaches him.
"That demon brought me to her place…"
His vision blurs in and out of focus.
"Then she tried to rape me while eating me…"
"…pushing that knife in her guts, I ran away."
"Ren Jiang found me…"
"…even my bones burned in that pool of acid…"
"Yutao!"
The memories faded away as fast as they came. He watches Renhu tightly grip his hand which holds the Blue Lotus' fragment. Why is there blood on it?
His eyes move to the gruesome scene at his feet. In one word, it is flesh.
It's as if a person had exploded. Slices of skin floated over the pools of blood. The mop of hair looked like a sea creature. In this brilliant red painting of gore, only the bloodstained clothes reminded people of who those guts belonged to. It was Aika. Her left hand is still clutched by Yutao. And it looked like he was skinning her by using the fragment as a tool.
The severed limb slips through his hand while he throws the accursed fragment inside his interdimensional ring. Yutao stares at his masterpiece in a daze while Renhu observes him at a distance. She doesn't know what happened to him but this guy went totally ballistic on that woman. It was as if he was possessed. Was it qi deviation?
Renhu doesn't know because she has never seen how he got the fragments.
For minutes, Yutao stands over Aika's carcass. His clothes and face are stained red, as if he had showered in her blood. Yutao kneels on the flesh, his hands sifting through the pieces of meat as he looks for something. Seconds later, he pulls out an organ, the size of his palm and shows it off to Renhu.
"I think he will like it."
Renhu: "…"
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Su Bao and Hao Enlai peer down into the valley. The night has swallowed it whole, making it seem endless—like it is bleeding into the void itself. Behind them, the demons stand in grim silence. Due to the poor visibility and the narrow, twisting path, they march in a column formation. This ragtag band of demons are outcasts of Hell. Ren Jiang might have called them his 'army' but their battered weapons and mismatched mounts say otherwise. Some could afford the ghost horses and many could not. Some could afford the finest swords while some still sharpened their rusted dagger.
Jin Niu called them a group of goons and he was right. But unexpectedly, the oncoming battle birthed a brittle comradery between them. Now, they moved together through the moonlit dark, silent but alert. The full moon highlighting their every move. Half an hour passed. The army has made it almost halfway through the valley, still trapped in its black throat.
While trying not to startle the procession, the eagle had been considerately circling them in silence. It dips closer, and a soldier notices its shadow slither over him. He looks up, watching as it glides toward a peak ahead. Its large body is almost as big as the man standing next to it.
Wait. Who the hell is that?
More figures stepped into view—standing still atop both hills, flanking the valley. The signal to halt ripples through the squad and no one needed an explanation.
They are surrounded.
Archers line the ridge like statues, watching them with the same cold indifference as the eagle. Seeing this, the demons did not hesitate to retreat. They did not wait for anyone's order. They just had to leave.
But things are never that easy, are they?
Screams erupt from the rear. Soldiers at the back stagger in panic, their path blocked by something rising from the darkness.
"STOP PUSHING ME BACK! IF WE FALL BACK, WE'LL DIE!"
The thing emerging from the valley's tail isn't alive—but it isn't dead, either. The creature's body flows like black ink in water. It rises like a tide and howls at them. It is not a natural roar. If one listens closely, they will know that this is an agonized symphony of multiple voices. The wailing of numerous souls.
Even though this is their first time seeing the creature, the demons recognize it instantly. They had read the case files of the unnatural disasters from a century ago. Catastrophes that had devoured entire regions of Hell. That information reminded them that this obsidian creature is made of millions of mouths. To be caught in its grasp was to be chewed alive by a black hole. Its undead body couldn't be harmed. It would be equivalent to throwing away their weapons in vain.
Panic shatters what little order the demon army had. Chaos blooms into infighting. Horses go mad, rearing and kicking, and some demons get crushed beneath their hooves.
Hao Enlai, who was at the forefront of this army, couldn't assess the situation behind them, let alone stop it. Because his attention was locked on what was ahead.
Zhang Xiyu.
The man sits atop a monstrous steed, its mane flickering like black flame. His black hanfu, embroidered with golden patterns, makes him look more striking. His foxy eyes gleams with menace, paired with a schadenfreude smile that curled at the edges of his mouth. He looks disturbingly casual, like someone who has stumbled onto something mildly amusing during his evening stroll. His presence alone freezes the commanders in place. There was something in the way he carried himself that uncomfortably reminds them of Lord Enma. And the army behind him—
That's what makes it worse.
Su Bao notices a peculiar batch of demons on the frontline. "Why are there so many…"
"Rolangs?" He breathes out in disbelief.
"These Skinwalkers don't belong to the battlefield and here they are leading the charge?" Su Bao leans closer, hissing low. "And how the hell did he know about our plan?"
Hao Enlai had no answer for such questions. Clearly, the sneak attack they planned has lost its value. Worse, they had walked straight into an ambush. The battle against Zhang Xiyu is a synchronised attack falling at the same moment. Word couldn't have travelled this fast from the other camps. And even if it had, Zhang Xiyu wouldn't have the luxury to prepare for it so thoroughly.
So, how the hell did he know about our plan?
Hao Enlai isn't a complete fool. A bitter answer hovered just beneath the surface, pricking at his mind like the tip of a blade. But in the end, he too wants to live. Self-preservation urges him to boldly reject that thought.
Only three people were behind this scheme.
"No."
Me, Ren Jiang, and…
"No. No. No. No."
He looks at Zhang Xiyu's predatory expression. A sneer that reminds him of an elegant python admiring its prey. Beautiful and venomous.
"Oh no."
In front of Hao Enlai's pale face, Zhang Xiyu laughs like a true demon. The sadistic pleasure on his radiant face only makes Hao Enlai look hollower, like a man already halfway to the grave.
Beside him, Su Bao recoils. The sheer contrast between the two men was terrifying. He doesn't need an explanation. He doesn't need to be told.
He already knows.
They are royally fucked.