Chapter 51 - 50: A Modern-Day Pan Jinlian

Chapter 51: Chapter 50: A Modern-Day Pan Jinlian

If the Blood Shadow had a face, its expression would have been priceless.

He Xiaotian came right back, bringing a flaming hammer down on its head. The timing was perfect, striking just as it was left vulnerable and unable to fight back.

"BOOM!!"

The hammer struck with ferocious power, flames surging.

In an instant, this strike had evaporated nearly half of its blood.

"SPLAT!"

The pool of blood reformed into a human shape, but its height was rather startling.

From its original height of nearly six feet, it had been hammered down into a little dwarf.

"AHH!!"

A roar filled with rage and venomous hatred echoed throughout the entire residential complex.

All the surrounding residents were jolted from their sleep, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Some of the more timid ones even wet the bed.

"The hell are you screaming for?!" He Xiaotian couldn’t be bothered with such trivial matters. He activated his Qinggong, Eight Steps Chasing Cicada, and with an incredible burst of speed, he was in front of the Blood Shadow in an instant. The hammer in his hand came smashing down once more.

"Shield!"

The Blood Shadow’s body rapidly lost blood, and in the blink of an eye, it was only fifty centimeters tall.

But a shield woven from blood materialized, blocking the hammer’s path.

"BANG!"

Blood splattered as azure flames coiled around it.

A continuous HISS filled the air as white steam instantly flooded the living room of Apartment 302.

With the hammer blocked, the Blood Shadow darted toward the bathroom without hesitation.

"Trying to run? In your dreams!"

He Xiaotian acted decisively, throwing the other hammer in his hand.

"BOOM!"

The floorboards shattered, blown clean through, and the Blood Shadow was forced back.

What welcomed it next was—He Xiaotian’s embrace.

Looking at the struggling little dwarf in his arms, he chuckled sinisterly.

The searing azure flames covering his body flared up again.

"Buddy, I’ll remember you. After all, you’re the one who’s bringing me a fifty-million-dollar fortune."

As soon as he finished speaking, he tensed his arms, ready to deliver a bone-crushing hug.

"Wait!"

"POP!"

He Xiaotian stared at the bloodstains left on his arms and blinked.

’This thing can actually talk?’

[Ding! You have slain the Blood Bizarre. 5,000 Experience Points awarded.]

’Biz... Biz... Bizarre?’

So the source of evil lurking in Apartment 302 wasn’t a vengeful ghost or an evil spirit at all, but just an awakened Bizarre.

To be honest, this discovery completely floored He Xiaotian.

’So after all this, you used to be human.’

No wonder it knew to see guests to the door, to exercise restraint, and even to play such a grand game of deception.

But his expression quickly turned to a wide grin. 5,000 Experience Points!

That was basically comparable to the black shadow from Z County, the one who wielded the Blade of Resentment and acted so invincibly.

’But why was he so weak?’

From the moment he charged into Apartment 302, it had been no more than a dozen seconds, tops.

And in that short time, he had hugged a Bizarre to death!

Then again, he wasn’t considering that it hadn’t taken much effort to eliminate that black shadow back then, either.

Since then, he had gained a veritable fortune in Experience Points and had grown much stronger.

Was it really so strange that he could now kill a Bizarre worth 5,000 Experience Points with a mere flip of his palm?

"CLANG!"

A crisp sound reached his ears.

He Xiaotian looked down and saw a blood-red, fingernail-sized bead lying quietly on the floor.

"What’s this?"

As he bent over to pick it up, a wave of dizziness washed over him.

The whole world seemed to be spinning. The sensation was startling.

’Don’t tell me that bastard left behind one last trick to get me after he died?’

’Careless! I was too careless!’

"Ah Qi, Ah Zhe went through a lot of trouble to get you on *Real Men*. As long as you perform well on the show, your popularity will take another leap, and you’ll go from a third-tier to a second-tier star. It’s a shame the production team won’t let the whole team come along. You have to go by yourself. I can’t imagine how much you’ll have to suffer."

A gentle voice from behind him made He Xiaotian’s blood run cold.

Then, he turned uncontrollably and began to speak.

"Don’t worry, it’s fine. It’s only three months of closed-set filming. It’ll be tough, sure, but my biggest regret from when I was younger was not joining the army. Now I have a chance. I can make money and fulfill a childhood dream. Why wouldn’t I do it?"

Listening to the words coming out of ’his own’ mouth and looking at the sharp, V-shaped face in front of him, He Xiaotian found the whole situation incredibly bizarre.

Then his perspective shifted from first-person to third-person.

’What is this?’

’Wait, why does this guy named Ah Qi look so much like Zheng Qi?’

A movie star who had recently quit the popular group *Step-Up Boys*.

’So that’s why. He was going to be on *Real Men*. No wonder.’

Suddenly, He Xiaotian seemed to remember something.

’Hasn’t this young star been missing for ten days?’

’Don’t tell me I’ve entered his past?’

’Is it because of that blood bead?’

The three months of military training were novel for He Xiaotian at first.

But after a while, he got incredibly sick of it.

He finally endured until the end.

Since filming went smoothly, the production team announced that they were wrapping up fifteen days early, and everyone could go home.

Zheng Qi didn’t tell the woman, planning to give her a surprise.

But when he got home early, he found no one there.

He went into the bedroom and groggily fell asleep.

"Are you crazy?!"

A low snarl from the living room startled Zheng Qi awake.

"You actually want me to hire a hitman? To have a car run him over? Do you have any idea who he is? He’s a third-tier star. If he dies in a car accident, it’ll cause a huge public outcry! It’d be one thing if no one found out, but if they trace it back to me, I’ll go to prison!"

Zheng Qi recognized the voice. It was his agent, Ah Zhe.

’Hire a hitman? Death by car crash? A third-tier star?’

’What is all this?!’

"I’m not crazy. As long as we’re careful, no one will find out. Then the two of us can take Zheng Qi’s money and run away together. Or do you really want to watch me marry him and have his children?"

’Is that... is that my girlfriend’s voice?’

’The two of them are plotting to kill me and take all my assets?’

In that instant, Zheng Qi’s entire worldview shattered.

A modern-day Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian!

Zheng Qi was furious. He stormed out of the bedroom, roaring.

His agent, Ah Zhe, and his girlfriend went pale with shock.

The two of them dropped to their knees, begging for mercy and apologizing profusely.

Being caught red-handed while plotting a murder—they couldn’t help but panic.

How could Zheng Qi possibly forgive them?

He spat out a vicious threat, saying he would ruin their reputations.

He would use his entire fortune to make sure they died a horrible death.

The moment Zheng Qi turned to leave, his agent, Ah Zhe, grabbed an ashtray and smashed it against the back of his head.

"BANG!"

Zheng Qi clutched the back of his head and collapsed to the ground.

The scenes that followed were brutal and bloody.

Dismemberment, deboning, draining the blood, and flushing the remains down the toilet.

Even He Xiaotian winced as he watched.

’That Ah Zhe is one ruthless bastard!’

And so, Zheng Qi disappeared.

His relationship with this so-called modern Pan Jinlian was a secret affair; no one knew about them.

As for the company, Ah Zhe covered everything up.

No one could come looking for him and find any clues.

But having been betrayed by his girlfriend and agent, then murdered, dismembered, and drained of blood, Zheng Qi’s resentment was anything but ordinary.

Over time, he actually came ’back to life’.

He wanted to rush out and get his revenge, but he wasn’t strong enough.

The moment he left Apartment 302, his power would constantly diminish.

So he could only lie in wait in this room, silently waiting for that shameless pair to return.

But unexpectedly, because of the trouble he’d been stirring up lately, many people started saying Apartment 302 was haunted.

Ah Zhe, of course, heard about it too.

He didn’t know if the haunting was real or not.

But he didn’t dare set foot in the complex.

In any case, he had erased all traces of the crime.

Even without the rumors, he wouldn’t have dared to live there.

After all, Apartment 302 was the very place where he had murdered Zheng Qi.

That’s when a few bored, rich kids heard that the complex on Haining Road was a haunted property and used their connections to buy it outright.

Ah Zhe had no choice but to agree.

Of course, the price was right.

After that, they set up a bet.

Then, lured by Greed, people who didn’t fear death moved in.

Zheng Qi could feel an intense craving for human blood.

As long as he killed the occupants and drained their blood, he could become stronger.

For the sake of revenge, he unleashed his inner beast.

His power wasn’t strong enough during the day; he could only appear at midnight.

He knew there were several pinhole cameras left in the living room by the rich kids, so he was very careful, wanting the bet to continue.

He used the sound of dripping water from the bathroom to lure people over.

The vision fast-forwarded until finally, He Xiaotian appeared.

Because this burly man with the heavy hammers was sleeping so soundly...

Zheng Qi couldn’t contain his inner Greed. He crept out of the bathroom, intending to drain all of He Xiaotian’s blood.

He would destroy the cameras afterward. Everything was perfect.

But then a pig’s squeal came from the hammer, startling him and sending him running back to the bathroom.

What happened after that was self-evident.

One final, crushing hug ended it all.

Zheng Qi was liberated. Consumed by hatred day after day, he had finally and utterly perished.

The world spun, and He Xiaotian found himself back in the trashed living room of Apartment 302.

"So the blood was the basis of its existence, while Zheng Qi himself was holed up in the bathroom. Sigh, what a complete accident."

As for that agent and his girlfriend, they were truly pieces of scum.