“Bo Xiaoxing, we just set up and got to Brother.”
“Yeah.”
Faced with Li Zhiyan’s sudden question, Zhi Chen’s hand holding the teacup trembled.
How did she know? How could she have known so soon?
They only learned there was a guest after Li Zhiya arrived, and then, after Bolin’s short introduction, Wei Youlan came rushing out of the bathroom.
Originally, the plan was to get rid of Li Zhiyan, but after she came, they saw how this woman changed so much in just one day, looking neither like a person nor a ghost. At a glance, anyone could see her current state was extremely abnormal.
Luo Yao didn’t know what had happened. After secretly discussing the situation with Ah Yun on her phone, the two quickly settled on a battle plan.
Luo Yao stayed and continued chatting about home life with Li Zhiya, creating more time for Chen Yun to notify all the Manor’s servants to evacuate. Of course, they still needed to inform the Police Station and the Operations Department.
The whole plan was progressing smoothly, but deep inside, Luo Yao was still a bit anxious. Once Lu Yunze returned, they’d wait until the reinforcements arrived and then resolve this current crisis together.
But if nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was bound to happen.
Li Zhiya, who’d been talking to herself this whole time, suddenly raised a question, making Luo Yao’s mind go completely blank for a moment.
She hadn’t been listening to Li Zhiya at all; her mind was full of thoughts about when Lu Yunze would come, and when support would arrive.
“What, you mean you didn’t hear a single word of that long speech I just gave?”
Li Zhiya’s eyes bulged, bloodshot, her pale face deepening in color.
Her hair was almost gone, and with a casual shake of her head, large clumps fell off.
Seeing the change in the woman’s expression, Zhi Chen quickly steadied her own, forced a smile, and said,
“Sorry, maybe my mind wandered a bit. But I really was listening just now. You were saying something about your fourth date with Quan Feng.”
“Yeah, the fourth date… That’s right…”
Li Zhiya’s face softened noticeably, and Luo Yao let out a sigh of relief.
The current Li Zhiya’s mental state was already on the edge. If not for that, getting past her would’ve been almost impossible.
“The fourth date… the fourth date…”
Li Zhiya, holding her sore head, suddenly raised it, her face blank.
“So you really weren’t listening to anything I said.”
Zhi Chen froze in place.
Li Zhiya gripped her own shoulders, her voice growing high-pitched:
“I never even mentioned any dates… I remember now, I know why I ended up here…”
“Oh.”
“The moment is here?”
What is she talking about…?
“The King in Black Robes’ Sacrificial Offering is in me!”
Hearing this term for the first time, Zhi Chen was dumbfounded—King in Black Robes? Sacrificial Offering? She really didn’t know any of this.
Li Zhiya pointed at her own belly, twisting her body in a bizarre way, letting out a chilling wail.
Those memories that had been blurred out due to trauma suddenly flooded back.
Because she tried to turn things around on her own, Li Zhiya offered the Black Box in her hand to the King in Black Robes, begging for greater power.
After that, all she remembered was the King in Black Robes responding, taking what was in her hand… and then—
“I swallowed it and became the host of the King in Black Robes!”
As soon as she finished, Li Zhiya let out a scream sharp enough to tear her own vocal cords, her whole body leaping up like a spring, lunging directly at Luo Yao.
Already prepared, the young lady swiftly retreated, wind energy gathering beneath her feet, making her float in midair and dodge the attack, then landing lightly behind her opponent.
Collapsed onto the sofa, Li Zhiyan was now silent, no longer screaming, only producing guttural, bestial groans.
“If I can’t return that thing, the King in Black Robes will abandon me!”
Her shiny bald head began to regrow hair, and its length was no longer limited—once she stood up, it could even reach from her chest to the floor.
Thick locks of hair, like robes, covered most of Li Zhiya’s body. Only her distended belly and a single glowing, menacing eye could be seen peeking through.
Luo Yao usually prided herself on her hair care, but this scene still made her scalp tingle.
There was no turning back now. Luo Yao drew a deep breath—this was the most powerful foe she had ever faced.
Can Lu-ge and I really handle this on our own?
For a moment, Luo Yao couldn’t calm her nerves. After standing upright, Li Zhiya immediately made her next move.
Some of those long hairs lifted up, curling into sharp, drill-like spikes, aimed directly at Luo Yao.
Without hesitation, Luo Yao raised a wall of wind in front of her. All the potted plants and leaves in the room were swept up, and when they touched the wind wall, they were instantly shredded to pieces.
Li Zhiyan’s neck twisted at an impossible angle, but she still stared dead at Luo Yao.
The spike-shaped hair drilled forward, firing straight at Luo Yao.
Let her get close, then push her away and use the wind to bind her.
That was Luo Yao’s plan, but there was something she’d overlooked.
The new hair regrown by Li Zhiya, empowered by this evil energy, was now an extraordinary weapon.
The hair-formed spikes easily punctured her prized wind wall, and in Luo Yao’s astonished gaze, pierced her shoulder and chest.
Damn it!
Luo Yao’s body slammed into the back wall, making a dull thud.
The piercing, bone-deep pain left her momentarily dazed.
But Luo Yao quickly recovered, trying to pull out the spike lodged in her body, but Li Zhiya’s next attack had already begun.
Several hair spikes shot directly at her vital spots!
At that instant, a solid table suddenly came flying in from the side, crashing onto Li Zhiya.
The hair spikes lost their aim and missed Luo Yao, giving her time to save herself.
When her first wind blade couldn’t cut all the way through the hair spike, Luo Yao realized she’d underestimated its strength. Luckily, it wasn’t truly indestructible—a few more tries should do the trick.
Feeling her feet firmly on the ground gave Luo Yao some peace of mind, but what really reassured her was the timely arrival of Lu Yunze.
Before Li Zhiya could turn around, Lu Yunze, propelled by wind energy, charged right at her.
Bang!
His punch landed on Li Zhiya’s hair, and it sounded just like hitting steel.
What the hell, is this really hair?
Lu Yunze’s hand nearly went numb, but before he could pull back, strands of hair coiled around his arm.
Immediately, Lu Yunze raised his left hand, grabbed the chef’s knife from the kitchen, channeled wind energy into the blade, and slashed at Li Zhiya.
When the blade touched the hair, a sharp, shrill sound forced everyone to cover their ears.
The force of the blow even made Chen Yun feel like his whole chest was about to split open. But the attack wasn’t useless.
Part of Li Zhiya’s hair was severed, and Lu Yunze kicked her, sending her flying.
“Good job, Luo Yao, catch up!”
Lu Yunze glanced at the ruined kitchen knife in his hand and tossed it aside.
“Can you keep fighting?”
“It’s just a scratch.”
“That’s good. I went to make some preparations.”
As he spoke, Lu Yunze placed the bag he’d carried on the ground, opened it up, and revealed several more knives gleaming with cold light.
“Stole these from the kitchen, hope the chef doesn’t mind.”
Lu Yunze picked out the two largest blades, testing their grip.
For some reason, he remembered a saying from childhood: “No matter how good your kung fu is, you’re still afraid of kitchen knives!”
But still, he felt a little ridiculous, like a clown. If only they had some better weapons.
Shaking off the thought, Lu Yunze focused on Li Zhiya again. The hair that had been cut was already starting to regrow.
“What should we do now?” Luo Yao asked.
“How about we drive her out of the house?”
There was plenty of space outside, and the fiercer the fight, the more of a nightmare it would be to rebuild later.
“Okay, I’ll help you, Yun-ge.”
Luo Yao moved behind Lu Yunze, wind energy swirling in her hands.
Lu Yunze braced himself, ready.
With a gust of wind, Lu Yunze’s body was propelled forward. He adjusted himself midair, soared high, and brought both blades slashing down!
Bang!
The force of the attack sent Li Zhiya flying, shattering the Manor’s wall, and threw her out into the open yard.
Lu Yunze and Luo Yao didn’t let up; with the wind’s help, they quickly caught up to the new battlefield.
Li Zhiya lay twitching on the ground. That blow had destroyed most of her newly grown hair.
Is it finally over?
But Lu Yunze still felt a deep sense of unease.
As expected, Li Zhiya stood up again, her hair still growing.
Her chest made a crackling sound, then her whole torso twisted and stretched, extending several meters, and her mouth in the sky gaped open, letting out an ear-piercing wail.
Luo Yao immediately raised a wind barrier to shield herself and Lu Yunze, but the soundwave shattered her defenses instantly.
Even plugging their ears, Lu Yunze still felt that the noise almost robbed him of consciousness, as if his very soul was being torn away.
Lu Yunze was suffering, but wounded Luo Yao was even worse.
When the sound finally faded, Luo Yao coughed up blood, her face deathly pale.
She was lucky not to lose consciousness on the spot, but her eyes, nose, lips, and ears all began to bleed red.
She stood there dazed for a moment, then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the ground.
Lu Yunze didn’t even have time to check on her before Li Zhiya, now a strange beast, opened her mouth again, this time sending several broken, howling soundwaves straight at Lu Yunze.
The sonic blast struck the ground, carving out a deep pit, and Lu Yunze was sent flying by the shockwave even though he had raised both hands to guard himself.
He was still alive, but his ears were bleeding, and he heard nothing but a relentless buzzing.
If this were a game, the gap between level one and the boss would be way too big, right?
Do I really have no chance of winning at all?
Through his blurred vision, he saw Li Zhiya’s jaw stretching longer, her mouth opening wider in the sky.
It’s over.
Just as Lu Yunze’s heart was about to sink into despair, his vision suddenly went dark.