Chapter 99 - 97: Rage

Chapter 99: Chapter 97: Rage

Feng Ling had passed by the edge of this patch of overgrown woods many times. The vegetation on the outskirts was so dense that even a cat would have trouble squeezing through, so she’d never imagined people could be hiding inside.

In a clearing in the deepest part of the woods, an area was enclosed by a fence.

Inside the fence, a few lanterns were lit. Two or three tattered straw mats and some stone slabs were laid out on the ground.

On each stone slab were weeds, leaves, and earthenware bowls filled with water.

The water was far from clean. It was mixed with mud and had blades of grass floating in it. There was even a snail crawling on the rim of one bowl.

And yet, as if he had lost his mind, Liang Zhou picked up a bowl and guzzled from it as if it were the finest wine on earth.

He was draped in ancient-style robes, the same kind the Fox Demons wore. Sitting amidst a group of foxes, he laughed as he drank, even toasting the Fox Demons beside him. He looked utterly insane.

Pei Xianjue finally couldn’t take it anymore. She drew her gun and fired at the Fox Demons on either side of him!

BANG! BANG BANG BANG!

It had to be said, Pei Xianjue’s marksmanship was terrible—nowhere near the level of the Special Attack Team. It took her seven or eight shots to hit just two Fox Demons.

The dozen or so remaining foxes scattered in an uproar, vanishing into the darkness in an instant.

Liang Zhou was stunned by the gunshots, frozen to the spot. A moment later, Pei Xianjue rushed forward and slapped him hard across the face!

SLAP!

Pei Xianjue roared, "Liang Zhou! Wake up!!!"

Liang Zhou’s vision swam. The grand banquet hall, the guests, the fine wine and delicacies—it all vanished. Only the Young Miss stood before him, her face a mask of rage, but he couldn’t understand why she was so furious.

Liang Zhou frowned, his mind still foggy. He was about to ask what was wrong when he glanced down and saw the wine glass in his hand had become a tattered bowl. And on that bowl was a snail, about to crawl onto his fingers—

"Ah!" He cried out in alarm and violently flung his hand away!

The bowl, along with the snail, was sent flying, smashing to pieces on the ground with a CRASH!

A wave of overwhelming nausea churned in his stomach!

With no time to speak, Liang Zhou doubled over and vomited, spewing out quantities of foul-smelling muddy water and rotten leaves.

Pei Xianjue watched him with deep concern. "How are you feeling? Any better? We searched all the way from the mountaintop down to the base, then went through Fox Village several times. We almost thought you were dead! How did you end up like this?!"

Liang Zhou couldn’t stop retching, close to bringing up bile. He was unable to speak.

Seeing that he wouldn’t be recovering anytime soon, Feng Ling grew impatient. She said to Pei Xianjue, "I’m going after those foxes, in case the Daoist can’t handle them."

Pei Xianjue nodded. "Go on. I’ll come find you after he’s finished."

Feng Ling turned and strode away.

A dozen or so foxes had just escaped. It wouldn’t be a problem if they simply hid, but if they all ran to find Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing, it would be a disaster.

Feng Ling’s figure soon vanished into the thick night fog.

Pei Xianjue sighed and looked back at Liang Zhou.

His face was flushed from retching. Perhaps from the violent strain, the scabbed wounds on his body began to ooze beads of blood. He looked utterly wretched.

Pei Xianjue took a flask from her bag and shoved it into Liang Zhou’s hands. "Drink some. It’s clean water. I’m being pretty good to you for a Young Miss, aren’t I? No other bodyguard gets this kind of treatment."

"Bodyguard?..." Liang Zhou’s eyes were glazed as he looked at her, his expression vacant. He began muttering to himself. "How could I be a bodyguard? I’ve assimilated three whole Mid-level Cards. I’m a one-in-a-thousand A-level Hunter. I successfully killed the first Maze Master in human history. Everyone is trying to win me over, to curry my favor. I’m a hero! The Supervision Bureau itself has to treat me as an honored guest..."

Pei Xianjue tried to shout some sense into him. "What kind of hallucination are you having?! If I hadn’t gotten here when I did, you would’ve died at the hands of these foxes! What Maze Master? Open your eyes and see who I am! Snap out of it!"

The scene before Liang Zhou’s eyes kept shifting, the dim forest and a magnificent banquet hall constantly intercutting. The chaos was agonizing.

He threw the flask aside and clutched his head, Pei Xianjue’s voice hammering into his ears, one sentence after another: "Snap out of it! Do you even know who you are?!"

Do you know who you are?

Do you know who you are?

Liang Zhou squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw. His thoughts raced wildly. He asked himself over and over: ’Who am I? Who am I?’

"From now on, you’re the Young Miss’s bodyguard."

A voice suddenly rang out.

He opened his eyes to see President Pei’s secretary standing before him, saying, "You must always remember your place. Don’t do anything to displease the Young Miss. If she tells you to go east, you go east. If she tells you to go west, you go west. You don’t need to be smarter than a dog, but you must be more loyal than a dog. Understand?"

"I understand, I understand..." he stammered, but then it felt wrong. ’Why would President Pei’s secretary be here in the woods?’

Just as he had that thought, the scene before him began to twist and pull away, reforming into a familiar street.

His good friend, long dead at the hands of an Alien Species, was sitting at a folding table at a barbecue stand, munching on skewers while talking to him. "You should quit that job, and soon. What kind of man gets ordered around by a woman all day? Besides, ’bodyguard’ doesn’t sound respectable. No matter how much you make, people will just see you as some rich family’s dog. You’d be better off going back to the club and competing. I seem to remember you won an award before, didn’t you?..."

"Liang Zhou!!!"

A sharp shout snapped Liang Zhou back to reality. He stared blankly at Pei Xianjue and mumbled, "I’m not a dog... I’m not a dog..."

Pei Xianjue barked in fury, "I never said you were a dog! Are you insane or just deaf? I told you to get out of this godforsaken place with me!"

"Shut up! I’m not your dog!!!" Liang Zhou bellowed, his hands shooting out to grab Pei Xianjue by the throat and throw her to the ground!

"You bitch! You have no right to order me around! I killed the Maze Master! I’m a hero! I’m the savior! All of you should be kneeling to me!!!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he choked her. Pei Xianjue was about to pass out, but with a desperate struggle, she drew a curved blade and stabbed fiercely at Liang Zhou!

Liang Zhou cried out in pain and released his grip, his eyes growing even more savage. He punched Pei Xianjue hard in the stomach!

Pei Xianjue’s vision went black as her body arched in pain. In the next instant, Liang Zhou twisted her arm behind her back, kicked out her legs, and slammed her face-down onto the ground, pinning her hands!

She was filled with shock and fury, unable to believe Liang Zhou would dare do this to her.

Liang Zhou straddled her, viciously tearing at her clothes with a kind of vengeful fury, repeating over and over as if possessed, "You’re just a woman! Just a woman! Nothing but a woman—"

For a moment, Pei Xianjue’s mind went completely blank.

She was a daughter of privilege; what Liang Zhou was doing to her was the ultimate shame and humiliation!

’Should I cry and beg for mercy?’

’Should I scream for help?’

In just a few seconds, countless thoughts and emotions flashed through Pei Xianjue’s mind, finally coalescing into a single word: Rage!

Rage! Rage! Rage! Rage! RAGE!!!

She was furious at Liang Zhou’s betrayal, furious at her own misjudgment of his character!

"Liang Zhou! You’re really something else! Wielding the most powerful Cards, but all you know how to do is bully women! You talk a big game about hating how unfair the world is, but then you use that pathetic piece of meat between your legs to humiliate others! What kind of Hero are you?! If you have any guts, let me go and fight me fair and square, instead of acting like some rutting animal! When your children and grandchildren ask you what you did in the Maze—whether you fought to the death against the Alien Species—how will you ever have the face to answer them?!"