Chapter 215 (II): Monster

Inside one of the bars along the bar street, the hall had been remade, with a pool of wine and a forest of flesh. The Lust Divine General gripped a favored consort by the waist, and amid the splashing water, he crested the peak of pleasure.

His body went rigid, dead still for a dozen seconds, then he tossed the near-fainting consort aside and turned his head toward the edge of the pool, where a subordinate stood, head bowed, not daring to speak or even to look.

"Speak," the Lust Divine General said flatly.

The subordinate exhaled, still not lifting his head, and said quickly, "The Silver Moon Divine General called. He wants you to attend this year's 615 Summit. It's being held in Jiangnan Province."

The Lust Divine General frowned.

The 615 Summit was hosted by the three great evil organizations. Its aim was to get Evil-class Walkers to band together inside the slaughter dungeon, draw up plans, reach a consensus, and hunt down the Lawful-class Walkers as one.

Every year, the 615 Summit was held right after the official organizations' arena tournament. By then, the tournament results would be out, and the evil organizations needed the official Transcendent and Saint rankings to use as a basis for their discussions and deployments.

Each organization sent its heavy hitters to the 615 Summit.

The Lust Divine General had no wish to go. His plan to track Xiao Yuan down was still in the works. Blood Swallow had turned down his offer to team up, but this time, he'd lined up a payment the man couldn't refuse.

For days he'd thought of that great beauty around the clock, itching to defile her, to torment her, to shatter the longing for kindness in her heart, the part that reached for the light. If he went to the 615 Summit, he'd have to shelve the whole affair.

However, he was well aware of the temper that hotheaded older brother of his, the Silver Moon Divine General, possessed. If he refused, the man would come all the way to Songhai and beat him senseless, consequences be damned. In an Enchanting Demon’s dictionary, the term "beating" wasn't just some casual scuffle. It entailed snapped bones, torn tendons, and half your body being left paralyzed.

"Understood!" the Lust Divine General muttered quietly.

"There's one more thing," the subordinate murmured. "The Transcendent-tier championship of the official arena tournament has concluded. The champion is Yuanshi Tianzun."

The Lust Divine General's brows shot up.

"Yuanshi Tianzun?!" he exclaimed, startled.

He raced through what he knew of the man. He had cleared the Nocturnal Specter trial dungeon, Sheling Tunnel, back in April that year. He'd spent less than three months as a Nocturnal Specter. Not even three months, and he'd beaten the famous Zhao Chenghuang?

"Is he another Fu Qingyang?" The Lust Divine General murmured, his expression turning grave. "In that case, the focus for this summit is going to have to be how to hunt Yuanshi Tianzun down."

This one could not be left alive.

***

The garden within Pangxie City was lush and green. On the second floor of an antique little pavilion, Mama Xie was lounging on a bench set against the balustrade, a porcelain cup pinched in her slender fingers, taking in the view of the garden.

Everyone knew Pangxie City had two claims to fame. One was its gardens, said to be the finest under heaven, while the other were its crabs, which were widely acclaimed and pricier than ginseng.[1]

Mama Xie had chosen a tender green cheongsam as her outfit of the day, the skirt embroidered with lotuses so lifelike they looked as though they might lift off the silk, with her hair swept up in a classical bun. It made her look like a concubine lounging in the deep courtyards of the Republican era.

She had a gorgeous oval face accented with light makeup, her black eyeliner bringing out her bright, spirited eyes, and her brows drawn in such a way to mimic a young girl's coy innocence, yet her figure was fuller and finer than any girl could dream of. This particular concubine would have to be the lead of the opera troupe as well.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Mama Xie turned, and her whole face lit up. "Oh, husband, you're out~"

She rose gracefully and flew into the arms of the man behind her like a swallow escaping into the woods.

The Xie patriarch caught his lovely wife and looked around. "Lingxi's not back yet?"

Mama Xie cocked her head, thought about it, and said in a puzzled manner, "Huh, Lingxi's not back yet?"

A second later, the confusion on her face cleared. "My mind has been completely obsessed with thoughts of how I've missed you these past few days, husband, and I completely forgot about the girl. I thought she'd come home long ago."

The Xie patriarch broke into a happy smile. He clearly doted on his wife.

He looked to be in his thirties, with strong features: a high nose, heavy brows, and deep-set eyes framed with fine crow's feet at their corners. He was still handsome, though the suave, striking head-turner he'd been in his youth had mellowed into this more seasoned, weathered version as the years settled into him. Look closely, and you could catch a bit of Xie Lingxi in him.

His name was Xie Su, a Sovereign-tier walker, and the fifth son of the previous family head. He'd gotten his Character Card late in life, not until he was twenty. Before becoming a Spirit Realm Walker, he'd been a nobody in the Xie family. But that utterly unremarkable man happened to be a favorite of the Xie Great Ancestor, who had personally arranged his marriage and wed the family's crown jewel to him.

Mama Xie was of the Xie family too. Her forebears and the Xie Great Ancestor had been cousins, and once the Xie Great Ancestor became a Spirit Realm Walker, the whole clan rose with him, living in the shade of that towering tree.

In the hundred-odd years since the birth of the Spirit Realm, the Xie family had multiplied and thrived into a giant of Jiangsu Province.

Starting a few generations back, the Xie family had begun to intermarry. Each year, the elders would open the family register and pick out the young people of marrying age with almost no blood ties to pair off.

A famed beauty like Mama Xie had suitors beyond counting, yet the Great Ancestor had betrothed her to the good-for-nothing Xie Su. Every young man of her generation had seethed over it at the time. Behind his back, they called him a toad who had dared to eat swan meat.

No one saw it coming. The year after the two wed, Xie Su got his Character Card, and from there he became the protagonist of his own story. A year later, he had outshone his peers, and three years later, his elders. Ten years on, and he was the youngest Sovereign in the family.

Among the three Musician clans, he was a legend.

"The arena tournament should be over by now," Xie Su said. "Did Yuanshi Tianzun make the top five?"

He led his wife to a seat and poured two cups of tea. "The boy has superb talent, but being a prodigy at the Transcendent tier doesn't guarantee he'll continue to rise through the Saint tier, so I meant to hang back and wait for the right time to invest. He's improving fast, though. Once I learned he killed Li Xianzong in Yin Yang Town, I decided to court him. If he cracks the top five this time, I'll invite him over to the house once autumn comes and the Crab Banquet rolls around."

He did take Yuanshi Tianzun seriously. Young men this good were not easy to come by.

Mama Xie made a non-committal sound and pressed her red lips to the clean rim of the cup for a small sip.

"Not the top five!" she said.

Xie Su's face fell. "A pity."

"He won the whole thing!"

Xie Su pinched the tip of her nose. "Don't joke."

"Ask Lingxi yourself, then," Mama Xie said slyly.

Still on the fence, Xie Su dialed his daughter's number. "Lingxi, It's Daddy. Is the arena tournament over? How did Yuanshi Tianzun do...?"

When he finished the call and hung up, Xie Su froze, stunned speechless for a good while. Finally, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Another monstrous figure?!" he exclaimed.

The last monstrous figure was Demon Lord. Before that was Fu Qingyang, and before him, the Female Marshal.

Every one of them had built up a terrifying record.

Xie Su's face grew serious. "I need to go see the Great Ancestor."

***

Deep into the night, Zhang Yuanqing, who was looking forward to receiving his rewards the next day, was jolted awake again by a crackle of static.

After many days, the Cat King Speaker was about to act up once more.

1. Pangxie literally means crab. So the crab city has hyped-up crabs... ☜