“Heh~!”
Look closely—this man’s name is Luke.
As a distinguished member of the Mingen Sect, Luke lives by one principle: “Snuff out evil in its cradle.”
He once punched the goat demon “Lucifer,” fought the whale-beast “Leviathan,” and even left a psychological scar on the elder god “Cthulhu.”
His legendary deeds are well-known throughout the sect.
And now, it was that time of year again—the Mingen Sect’s grand offline gathering, where they came together to summarize their yearly exploits.
I curled up inside a cardboard box, silent.
My cold gaze watched from the shadows, memorizing every face. My ears shifted slightly, absorbing every sound into my soul.
This man named Luke claimed he defeated an “Elder God Octopus” seventeen years ago.
It was seventeen years ago that I collapsed.
It was seventeen years ago that Cthulhu—Cluru—entered the basement.
I have every reason to suspect that my current chaotic life, and Cluru’s fate, are both inextricably tied to this man.
“Long live justice! Even if that damned Division of Order brands us a cult, we will never abandon our battle against evil!”
Surrounded by the crowd, Luke stood proud—a small-time messiah in this twisted little congregation.
“Brother Luke! Tell us the story of how you sealed Cthulhu again—I wanna hear it!”
A voice piped up from somewhere in the crowd—sweet, coquettish—and Luke’s face lit up with joy.
Seal Cthulhu?
That was his proudest achievement.
He could tell that story a hundred more times and never tire of it.
And so, with theatrical flourish, he began again:
“When I first saw that girl, I immediately knew something was wrong—
They say the real Cthulhu cannot be gazed upon.
That to behold that nameless horror is to fall into madness, delirium, and corruption.
And she… she was just like that.
She was young, but her beauty bewitched the soul.
Shamefully, I was still weak back then.
When I looked at her face, I… I had impure thoughts.
Then she summoned her octopus familiar, and it all made sense—she was the vessel of Cthulhu.
Her familiar would one day become that terrible god.
She would plunge humanity into his dreamscape and drag the world into an age of darkness!”
“So what did you do?” the girl’s voice asked again.
“What do you think? I had to stop the disaster—destroy it, judge it!” Luke raised his glass high, burning with righteous fervor.
“How did you judge her?”
“Ah, well, that’s a long story… Anyway, in the end, she completely lost the will to fight. She cried loudly—I bet she’ll never dare show her face again!”
“…Did you touch her?”
“Of course not! I wouldn’t dare lay a hand on an Elder God. Her corrupting power would’ve tainted me!”
I stood up.
Stepping slowly into the crowd, I came face to face with Luke.
“Have you ever considered,” I asked, “that maybe she wasn’t an elder god at all? Maybe… she was just a regular little octopus. A naïve, innocent girl?”
“You’re too naive, little miss. Even if she was a regular octopus then, she could’ve evolved into Cthulhu one day. And it’s our mission to prevent that.”
“What exactly did you do to her?”
“Ahh, no need to bring that up now…”
“I said—what exactly did you do to her?”
This time, the voice that emerged was no longer my own.
It was the voice of ten thousand tortured souls, shrieking in unison from the depths of hell, echoing my words again and again.
Each utterance was harrowing and bone-chilling, making the cultists wish for death over hearing them.
At the same time, the overpass scenery around us dissolved.
Hellfire blazed, forming a towering wall of flame that enclosed the entire sect.
Nothing awaited them now but crimson and scorching heat.
I stood in the center, stepping into a six-pointed star, my eyes glowing red, glaring down at Luke.
Cornering him against the inferno.
Luke could already feel the scorching heat singeing his back.
The fire peeled his skin open like bark from a tree.
He screamed—insane with terror.
“Y-you… demon… You’re a real demon!!”
This… this wasn’t one of the poor saps he was used to tormenting under the guise of righteousness.
This was the real thing.
“Oh? So you’re only brave when you’re bullying the weak in the name of justice? Only then do you indulge your twisted little pleasures?
Well, now the real demon’s here—come on then, destroy me, judge me!”
“……”
How disappointing.
Not a single one of these cultists had the guts to summon their spirit familiars.
Pathetic.
Luke collapsed to his knees.
“Mercy, my lord! Please, have mercy! We’ve never hurt a real demon before, I swear! We were just… just messing around!”
“Oh?” My voice turned colder. “So you do know exactly what you were doing.”
“Of course we do! A real demon—we wouldn’t dare! Those beings are at least on the verge of legend-level spirits! So we just… bullied a few goat-users, wolf-summoners, bat tamers—stuff like that!” Luke blurted out.
“I’ll ask you one more time. Seventeen years ago, what exactly did you do to that octopus girl? And I warn you—if you lie, you’ll witness what a true demon is capable of.”
“I didn’t do anything! I swear on the heavens—I never dared lay a hand on her!
All I did was bribe her classmates and friends, make everyone around her start calling her ‘Elder God’ and ‘Monster’—and they believed it.
Then I went to convince her family… but it turned out her parents had just passed away.
Her aunts and uncles—those greedy bastards—actually threw their full support behind me!”
“Support?” I echoed.
“I remember the funeral was huge—not something a regular family could afford.
And her parents died so suddenly, they probably didn’t even have time to write a will… Looking back, those relatives must’ve just wanted her gone, so they could inherit everything.
So they jumped at the excuse.
From that day on, they called her ‘Elder God’ and ‘Monster’ too… Everywhere she went, people looked at her like a freak, shut her out.
Her parents were gone. No relatives she could rely on. No place she could belong.
Not long after… she vanished.
No one knows if she’s alive or dead…”
Luke’s head banged repeatedly against the floor, still kneeling.
“I admit—I was wrong, okay? But I’m not the only one to blame!”
……
“You deserve to die.”
“All of you deserve to die.”
“But death is too merciful.”
“You will live and pay tenfold for every sin you’ve committed. You’ll live to savor the punishment that makes death look like a kindness.”
With a sweep of my hand, I summoned spiritual force and etched curses onto every person present.
But this time, it wasn’t a blessing—it was a spell of damnation.
“Enjoy the rest of your lives.”
“I’ll be tuning in to the news… waiting to hear all about it.”
……
The so-called disciples of Mingen would continue to live.
But every time they closed their eyes, they’d be plunged back into that inferno, skin flayed by flames, their nerves lit ablaze with agony.
Even sleep would not spare them.
And that… was only the beginning of the curse.
“Ngh—cough—”
I looked down at the blood on my palm and gave a wry smile.
Overdid it again… So impulsive. To think I used both soul-scouring and forbidden cursecraft just for this.
Using demonic arts too often corrodes the Dao heart—it leads to corruption, degeneration.
I’ll need to earn some merit soon to balance it out.
In my last life, I had no choice. I walked the path of a demonic cultivator all the way to the end.
But this life… maybe I want to try something different.
I silently chanted a cleansing mantra, forcing down the lingering bloodlust.
Before I knew it, I was back at the school dorm.
I opened the door—
And found Cluru, her tentacles flushed bright red, viciously strangling a pillow, twisting it like a soaked rag.
On closer inspection, I realized the pillow had a crude drawing of… fox ears?
Uh… maybe I picked the wrong time to come back.
It seemed Cluru was in a rather dangerous emotional state.
Yet the instant she saw me walk in, her tentacles changed color.
From red to a calm, cheerful sky-blue.
“You agreed! Agreeing means you agreed!” She’d been holding it in all day—and finally, she got to deliver the next line in our long-forgotten game.
Satisfaction. Blissful satisfaction.
Like a long bout of constipation ending with an earth-shattering plop—the whole world suddenly felt clear and unblocked.
I wearily closed the door behind me.
Staggering toward Cluru, I let my chin rest on her shoulder, too drained to hold myself up.
My arms slipped around her waist, and I tumbled with her into the middle of the bed.
The unexpected contact made Cluru freeze.
It was the first time—
Past or present—it was the first time I had ever hugged her on my own.
“…Didn’t agree,” I muttered, swallowing the blood pooling in my mouth.
Cluru snapped out of it instantly.
“You did!”
“Didn’t… Anyway, we’re heading into Qingshan tomorrow.”
“Mm.” Cluru nodded solemnly. “It’ll be dangerous. Stay close to me.”
“Huh?? You’re the one who should stay close to me!“
“You’re too dumb. Obviously I’ll be protecting you.”
“Did you just call me dumb?!”
“Tch.”
“What the hell was that tch?!”
“Don’t think you can dodge the topic—you agreed, and you know it.”
“No-no-no-no-no!”
Outside the door, Teacher Xiaoyuan covered her face in despair.
—Yeah, looks like I’ll be sleeping somewhere else tonight.