The intensely bright incandescent light seemed to sting the eyes.
When Bai Ruo approached with a whip in hand, the boy, restrained by chains, began to struggle even more violently.
The room was suddenly filled with the loud CLANGING of iron chains.
The excitement in Bai Ruo's eyes grew more pronounced.
'Bai Ruo is kind of terrifying, like a madwoman,' Jiang Zheyu thought.
She took a deep breath to steel herself, then abruptly stepped in front of Bai Ruo, quickly blurting out the excuse she'd just devised. "Um, bestie, this lowly Beastman actually dared to reject me before. I'm still not over it. Give him to me. I'm going to make him suffer this time."
Bai Ruo looked at Jiang Zheyu, who had suddenly blocked her path, and sneered, "What's the rush? You can have him when I'm done playing."
"No, I want to buy him out. I'll take him back to my villa, lock him up, and torture him," Jiang Zheyu said, feigning an insatiable anger.
"Tch..." Hearing that Jiang Zheyu actually wanted to buy someone out, Bai Ruo scoffed even louder. "If you want to buy someone out of the Night Club, Star Coins won't work here."
Jiang Zheyu's eyelid twitched slightly. "Then what will?"
"You have to enter the fighting ring." A new, amusing idea seemed to occur to Bai Ruo as she smiled at Jiang Zheyu. "Yu Yu, why don't you go into the ring? Once you buy this Beastman out, we can play with him whenever we want."
Bai Ruo had long been itching to get her hands on the Wolf Boy, captivated by his dark, untamable eyes. If she could have bought him with Star Coins, she would have done so long ago.
Now, seeing this fool Jiang Zheyu, she thought she might be able to use her.
"The rules for buying someone out are simple." Bai Ruo's voice suddenly became gentle. "You need to get in the ring for ten minutes. If no other VIP client wants to buy him out within those ten minutes, you can take him away. But if another VIP client does want to buy him, you'll have to fight them. The winner gets to take him."
'The owner of this place must be a little unhinged,' Jiang Zheyu thought.
"And don't worry about the fight. They'll give you a special mask, so you don't have to worry about it falling off and someone recognizing you," Bai Ruo said with a gentle smile.
'These rules feel incomplete,' Jiang Zheyu mused. 'And why is Bai Ruo so insistent that I be the one to go up there?'
She gave a harmless smile. "According to what you said, Ruoruo, it has to be a VIP client. You're the VIP client, aren't you? Or can a VIP client designate someone else to go? If that's the case, your odds of winning would be much better if you sent one of your males up there instead of me."
A flicker of something crossed Bai Ruo's eyes. 'Since when is Jiang Zheyu this sharp? She should have just agreed immediately, shouldn't she?'
But she quickly composed herself. "Perhaps I didn't explain clearly. The VIP client does have to enter the ring personally. You can't designate someone else. That's why if I sent one of my males up, it would be exposed immediately. But you're different, Yu Yu. You and I are both females. If you wear a mask and pretend to be me, no one will find out."
Seeing Jiang Zheyu's expression, she added, "Besides, you're the one who wants to buy him, not me. I'm just giving you the opportunity."
There was another rule Bai Ruo didn't mention: only a female had the right to initiate a ring challenge to buy out a Beastman.
But this buyout rule at the Night Club had long since collected dust, because no female had ever initiated a ring challenge—let alone entered the ring personally—to buy out a Beastman.
"I'll get in the ring." 'I have S-rank spiritual power, after all,' Jiang Zheyu thought. 'Somehow... somehow I should be able to win without fighting hand-to-hand, right?'
As the young woman's words fell, the violent struggles of the Wolf Boy behind her faltered for a moment.
His deep, ink-black eyes swiveled mechanically, fixing themselves on Jiang Zheyu.
If she just wanted to torture him, she could have just spent some money. There was no need to go through so much trouble to buy him out.
The two Beastmen behind Bai Ruo, however, remained unmoved. All they knew was that this female, Jiang Zheyu, was being played by their Female Master, Bai Ruo, once again.
The second sublevel of the Night Club housed an even larger fighting arena, a massive ring shaped like a gladiatorial coliseum.
Every day in the ring, Beastmen fought and killed each other. Sometimes, lunatics who had undergone complete Beastification were released to slaughter normal Beastmen.
The wealthy patrons who watched the fights would don masks and observe with great interest from the stands. Many Male Beastmen also came specifically to watch the matches, seeking a thrill.
A huge, transparent electronic screen hung above the ring. Rows of red text scrolled across it, displaying match numbers, times, and the names of the competing Beastmen. The text would scroll twice, flash twice, and then transform into a leaderboard showing fight points.
In the ring, Beastmen transformed into gigantic beasts, ten or even twenty meters tall—as high as the entire second sublevel—and frantically attacked their opponents.
The circular, tiered seats were packed with people. The top level was lined with even larger glass booths, all made with one-way glass that allowed those inside to see out, but prevented anyone from seeing in.
The colossal arena was overflowing with people, all of them cheering, screaming, and howling like a massive, crazed carnival.
"Next up! It's the highly anticipated match between the number one on the points leaderboard, Asoming, and our new fan favorite, A Si!" the host on the stage announced, his voice loud and frantic.
In one of the booths on the top level, a handsome man with long silver hair and dark green eyes sat. His sharp brow bone and the corner of his lip were pierced with dark green Bone Nails, and he wore a tailored, well-fitting white suit.
He sat on the sofa with his long legs crossed, his well-defined fingers gently swirling a wine glass. The expensive red wine inside sloshed with the movement.
"You're saying a female has initiated a ring challenge to buy out a Male Beastman?" His voice was deep, slow, and laced with amusement.
"Yes, Boss." The manager in the black suit beside him nodded, his own disbelief apparent. "It's currently Asoming's scheduled ring time. Should we postpone the female's match until later?"
"No." The man set down his wine glass, the corner of his lip curling into a slight smile. His dark green eyes were filled with the cruel amusement of someone eager for a good show. "Postpone Asoming's match. Have the female enter the ring now."
'The female who is supposed to enter the ring isn't my esteemed VIP client, but my esteemed VIP client found another esteemed female to take her place. I can just pretend I didn't notice.'
'All females are the same: greedy, malicious, and vain.'
He was very much looking forward to seeing one of those ugly-hearted females get brutally beaten.
Jiang Zheyu put on a wavy brown wig and slipped into Bai Ruo's knee-length, white slip dress. Her fair calves were exposed, and on her feet were a pair of thin white flip-flops, revealing small, pale feet with ten round, pink toes.
She had tried to refuse—'who the hell fights in a white slip dress?'—but Bai Ruo had insisted that to avoid revealing her identity, it was best to disguise herself as her.
Jiang Zheyu's objections were futile, so she could only bite the bullet and put it on.
She also wore an exaggerated, white mask with a malicious grin. Her figure was slender and beautifully proportioned, and her exposed collarbones and pale, slim arms seemed to glow.
Seeing Jiang Zheyu like this, Bai Ruo had a vicious thought: 'It wouldn't be so bad if she died here.'