Chapter Thirty-Three: Monster

“What’s going on!” Duan Lingqi stared in astonishment at the prison cell, illuminated by a ring of eerie blue ghost fire, where two hulking, chilling monsters had suddenly appeared.

One beast was so massive its body curled into nine coils. Its spine was thick and fleshy, and the black, sharp horn swaying atop its head resembled a blade forged from absolute darkness, gleaming with a deep, cold light. Its fingers were stained with fresh blood from some unknown creature.

The other monster was built like an ox, but its entire body was covered in shaggy yellow fur. Its head was that of a tiger, with three eyes gleaming fiercely, and its open mouth revealed two razor-sharp fangs, with a haze of yellowish gas swirling about their tips.

“Hey, wake up!” Duan Lingqi, seeing Xi Chunxue lying seemingly unconscious beneath the tiger-headed, ox-bodied beast, hurriedly called out. In Duan Lingqi’s memory, this human woman was always knowledgeable—only she could answer his doubts. But at such a critical moment, how could she be asleep?!

“Is it you?” The monster cloaked in blue ghost fire casually snatched a ghost that failed to dodge in time, stuffing it into its bloodied palm and then into its mouth, chewing slowly as it regarded Qu Hanchen, who held his breath and dared not speak.

The screams and chewing from the ghost in the monster’s mouth made Qu Hanchen tremble, unable to respond, only shaking his head frantically.

The creature glanced at the intricate black markings blooming over Qu Hanchen’s body—at first, its bloodstained hand reached toward him, but then it withdrew, its head twisting around.

“So it’s her.” The monster extended its bloodied hand toward the unconscious Xi Chunxue. Unless something unexpected happened, she would be snatched and tossed into its lantern-sized mouth.

Meanwhile, the other beast stood atop Duan Lingqi, pinning him firmly with its four limbs. Its mouth opened slightly, the yellowish soul gas around its fangs growing thicker.

Duan Lingqi’s soul was becoming more tenuous, wavering between solidity and mist. Two wounds on his lower back were streaming yellow soul energy directly into the monster’s mouth.

“Damn!” Duan Lingqi cursed, struggling to crawl out from under the monster’s feet, but some strange force from the creature kept him utterly immobile.

“There’s a jailbreak!” Both monsters turned toward the source of the shout—only to see Qu Hanchen, hand covering his mouth, his eyes darting nervously. Clearly, he was the one who cried out.

But the monsters ignored him, intent on their grim task.

Yet Qu Hanchen’s desperate shout seemed to have an effect—a squad of purple-clad ghost guards finally appeared in the corridor, led by the infamous Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

To Qu Hanchen’s despair, the leaders merely glanced at the cell’s chaos and then fled at lightning speed down the hallway.

The purple-clad guards, once in formation, now scattered in panic, desperate to escape as if they feared missing their chance to cross the Bridge of Helplessness.

What in the world were these monsters? Even Ox-Head and Horse-Face, even the ghost guards, were terrified of them!

Qu Hanchen watched the monster before him—it raised its head, opening its bloody maw, and already had Xi Chunxue clutched in its filthy hand.

On the ground, Duan Lingqi was still cursing, his fury now barely audible.

What now…

Qu Hanchen widened his eyes, searching desperately for anything that could change their fate. All he spotted was the glowing green rope on Duan Lingqi, and the spectral chain of blue light wrapped around Xi Chunxue’s wrist.

He found nothing else.

A sense of helplessness crept back into Qu Hanchen’s heart.

It was just like that day outside the gambling den in Weiqi Prefecture, North Youzhou—even if he could beat three of the den’s thugs, what about the seven more who followed? And when the proprietor produced the debt note left by his father, the gambler who hanged himself, Qu Hanchen felt utterly powerless.

A son must pay his father’s debts.

Worse still, the debt was so enormous that, even if he sold everything his family owned, it would never be enough. And he had a younger sister to protect.

If not for Lord Sun in Weiqi Prefecture lending a hand, introducing him to the job as a warden in Bizen Prison and advancing him some silver, his sister would have been dragged off to the brothel to pay their debts.

But that time, Lord Sun intervened. Now, who could help him?

Qu Hanchen looked around the cell, illuminated by the ghostly blue fire. Aside from the ghosts cowering in the corners, there was no one to help him.

And the ghosts would never help.

Damn!

Qu Hanchen clenched his fists, his eyes bulging so much that black, bizarre blood vessels webbed across the whites.

Wait.

The spectral chain was still here—she shouldn’t be able to summon these two monsters. So who had called them forth?

Suddenly, Qu Hanchen looked up, his mind racing as he watched Xi Chunxue about to be shoved into the monster’s maw, his heart pounding. Then a name flashed before him.

“Tuber!” he shouted.

At Qu Hanchen’s cry, the black veins in his eye whites surged into his brown irises, darkening them until they were pitch black. In the center of each iris, a tiny black flower blossomed, its petals identical to the intricate markings on Qu Hanchen’s body.

Both monsters turned simultaneously toward him, their actions freezing. The sensation of being fixed upon by those emerald eyes and three tiger eyes was unbearable.

Qu Hanchen felt a tinge of fear in his heart.

“You are summoning me,” said the monster cloaked in blue ghost fire, turning its head once more to stare at Qu Hanchen.

This time, Qu Hanchen did not shake his head—he nodded.

“What is your command?”

The monster’s emerald eyes gazed calmly at Qu Hanchen—more precisely, at the lifelike, intricate black markings covering his body.

“Let them go.”

Qu Hanchen took a deep breath, adopting Xi Chunxue’s habit and finding it helped calm his nerves, steadying his trembling voice.

“Obeying your command.”

The monster released its grip, and the sleeping Xi Chunxue dropped straight to the floor with a painful thud.

The tiger-headed, ox-bodied beast also stepped off Duan Lingqi, though the yellow soul gas in its mouth did not return to him.

Qu Hanchen exhaled in relief; it seemed he truly could command them.

Yet the monster suddenly approached him, its emerald eyes vast enough to engulf his entire being, reflecting his body covered in those intricate black markings.

“Now, it is time for our demands.”