Death of Taotie

Taotie?

Feng Jiu had suddenly turned into a monster, giving Dug quite a fright. What the hell was that?

An advanced skill could actually produce a divine beast? Almost everyone fighting in the courtyard stopped moving. Whether they had been affected by Yandere's Fear or not, they all stared at the Taotie that had appeared with horror on their faces.

This time, no further proof was needed. Everyone believed that Feng Qi and the others truly were Heavenly Demons. Since when could humans turn into monsters? The instant he saw Taotie, Wang San turned and ran, darting into the crowd like a gust of wind.

Taotie followed close behind.

Ranked second in the Simulation Arena, Wang San's attributes were no slouch either. He ran as fast as the wind.

But after turning into Taotie, Feng Jiu was only faster than Wang San, not slower. And unlike Wang San, who avoided the crowd, he charged straight through it. Anyone he struck suffered shattered muscles and broken bones, as though he truly were the ferocious beast Taotie.

In the blink of an eye, he was behind Wang San, opening his massive jaws to bite down on his head.

Seeing Wang San in danger, Dug reacted as well. He aimed his longsword at Taotie's rear and unleashed a Backstab.

Pfft! In an instant.

Dug appeared directly behind Taotie, and his three-foot sword plunged entirely into Taotie's rear passage.

Everyone who saw it involuntarily shuddered.

Dug was helpless too. It was not that he did not want to stab somewhere else, but Taotie was different from a human. Its entire back was covered in scales, leaving only that one weakness. His combat instincts guided him naturally toward that opening.

Eek! Taotie threw back its head and let out a baby-like scream of agony. Abandoning Wang San, who had nearly been in its jaws, it whipped around and swung a claw at Dug.

Dug leaped back, pulling the sword from its rear passage.

Eek! Another scream of agony.

Taotie had completely forgotten its previous prey. Its eyes burned with fury as it lunged at Dug, clawing and biting. Behind it, drops of blood fell in a trail.

After dodging several times, Dug seized an opening and swept his sword at its neck.

Clang!

Sparks flew. A notch was chipped into the longsword, but Taotie remained completely unharmed.

When the sword struck it, Taotie panicked at first, then delight flashed in its eyes. It roared and slammed a claw down at Dug.

Dug dodged aside and tried to circle behind it to attack its weakness again. Having suffered once already, Taotie naturally refused to allow it. It spun after Dug at top speed, always keeping its head facing him.

After transforming into Taotie, Feng Jiu could more or less keep up with Dug's speed. Man and beast spun so quickly through the courtyard that they left behind two circles of afterimages.

Seeing that he could not break through Taotie's defense, Dug could not help shouting, "Wang San."

Wang San snapped out of his daze and touched his head with lingering fear. He hurriedly said, "My most, most beloved Taotie, didn't you want to eat me? Come on, eat me. You were clearly chasing me just now, so why are you spinning around with someone else now..."

Yandere's Fear could affect any living creature.

The moment Wang San spoke, Taotie jolted violently. It actually abandoned Dug, turned, and charged toward the courtyard gate.

The ferocious beast's instincts made it want only to flee from the monster that frightened it.

Backstab!

Once it turned around, it no longer had any chance against Dug.

Pfft! The longsword struck its flower once more.

This time, because of Yandere's Fear, even though Taotie was in pain, it did not dare turn back and fight Dug. It screamed as it ran forward at full speed.

Dug followed close behind, stabbing it again and again.

Seeing Taotie flee, Wang San quickly chased after it. He had to make sure he stayed nearby.

Otherwise, Yandere's Fear would lose its effect.

Seeing the two of them give chase, Feng Zhong, now alone, immediately raised his longsword and followed.

Although his attributes had improved, he had manipulated too few major events. Even though he ranked ninth in the Simulation Arena, he was no match for these martial artists, not to mention that he had no offensive skills.

If those fellows coerced by Feng Qi turned against them, he would be the first one slaughtered.

A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Ever since his identity and Keyword had been exposed, the only road left to him was to cling tightly to Dug's thick leg.

In the blink of an eye.

Three men and one beast rushed out of the courtyard and onto the main street.

Without Wang San's suppression, the remaining group all regained their senses.

The sudden appearance of a ferocious beast overturned everything they knew about the world.

Han Zuo looked at Gao Yong, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Daoist Gao, will you spare us?"

"Stop running. Submit to Feng Qi!" Gao Yong glanced at Han Zuo and the others. Suddenly listless, he sheathed his sword and advised them, "You are no match for him. Oppose him, and there is only death. Surrender, and perhaps you may still have a way to live. Taotie has appeared in this world. The times truly have changed."

After saying that.

Gao Yong ignored Han Zuo and the others. He leaped onto the courtyard wall and looked outside. Compared with the Iron Palm Gang, he was more concerned with the fate of that ferocious beast Taotie.

Ding Wanjie, Nie Nong, and Xia Mingliang followed him onto the wall.

Han Zuo and the others exchanged looks, yet they truly did not take the opportunity to flee.

Taotie rampaged through the streets, and the townsfolk scattered with cries of alarm.

Behind it, Dug flickered in and out as he stabbed it.

If he let such a thick-skinned creature escape, he would not be able to sleep soundly.

Taotie screamed all the way, bleeding all the way.

Wang San trailed far behind them, shouting at the top of his lungs to suppress Taotie with his voice. "...You disgusting beast, are you enjoying him stabbing you with his sword? Screaming so wantonly in front of all these people..."

Fuck! Dug, chasing Taotie, had black lines all over his face. You dead pervert, did you really not have a single decent thing to say?

Watching the bizarre group rush past, the onlooking townsfolk were utterly amazed. For a time, the entire street fell silent.

Welcome Spring Brothel.

A petite maid stood on the second floor, watching through the window as the pitiful Taotie fled down the street, with the savage Feng Qi behind it. She instinctively covered her own rear, swallowed, and suddenly decided she would not fight for any Simulation Arena ranking.

Honestly staying in the Simulation Arena until it ended was not so bad.

No, she should also switch to a city without Feng Qi.

Maintenance could never produce such a savage offensive skill. Feng Qi's Keyword was probably something like lewdness or brutality. Even with that sort of Keyword, for such an evil skill to develop, he must have done something similar before.

She absolutely could not stay in the same city as that dead pervert.

The commotion lasted only two minutes.

After its vital spot suffered devastating damage, the crazily fleeing Taotie's body suddenly shrank, gradually returning to Feng Jiu's form.

Feng Jiu's clothes had burst apart when he transformed into Taotie. Once he returned to human form, his naked body was covered in black Taotie markings. Blood gushed from behind him in spurts, and his running steps were staggered and unsteady.

Dug stopped chasing him. Attacking Taotie's weakness was one thing, but stabbing a man's chrysanthemum with a sword in the middle of the street seemed somewhat inhumane.

Out of habit, he had already forgotten that Backstab could strike other places too.

When the Taotie markings grew fainter and fainter before vanishing from Feng Jiu's body, he finally could not hold on any longer. With a thud, he collapsed to the ground.

Dug held his sword and watched the barely breathing Feng Jiu warily. He did not dare approach, afraid that Feng Jiu might unleash another ultimate move.

But he had overthought it. Feng Jiu only struggled to reach behind himself and wiped at it. Seeing the blood on his hand, he was first stunned, then overcome with humiliation and rage. He struggled to raise his head and shrieked hysterically, "Feng Qi, you and I are irreconcilable! Don't let me find out who you are in reality..."

"So what if you do? Would you dare tell anyone in reality how you died?" Dug mocked him out of habit.

Feng Jiu's voice came to an Abrupt Stop. Pointing at Dug, he stammered, "You... you..."

Pfft! A mouthful of blood sprayed from Feng Jiu's lips. He convulsed a few times, then lay on the ground with his eyes wide open, utterly motionless. His face was frozen with humiliation, anger, resentment, hatred, relief, and all manner of other emotions.

Dug froze. Looking at Feng Jiu's pie-chart face, he could not tell whether Feng Jiu had been angered to death by him or humiliated to death.

However.

At the instant Feng Jiu died, Dug could clearly feel his attributes surge upward by a considerable amount.

He did not know the Simulation Arena's rules. He was unsure whether the increase came from repeatedly Backstabbing Taotie and protecting the lives of Luyang City's residents, or from killing a player and receiving the Simulation Arena's reward...

But Dug guessed it was probably more the latter.

In battle royale games, after killing an enemy, you could usually loot their body. Since looting was impossible in the Simulation Arena, it was normal to receive some reward instead. Otherwise, there would be no motivation to compete.

Looking at Feng Jiu's corpse before him, Dug knew he had only been eliminated, yet he still felt a strange sense of loss, as though he had truly taken a life with his own hands. It felt completely different from killing NPCs in the Simulation Arena.

He curled his lip and thought, Why make a Simulation Arena this realistic?

Wouldn't eliminating opponents this way cause psychological problems for the players?

What kind of world was it outside, anyway?

As Dug sighed inwardly, Wang San caught up. Looking at the dead Feng Jiu, he cautiously asked, "Seventh Brother, is he dead?"

"Yes." Dug nodded.

Wang San did not have so many sentiments. He heaved a long sigh of relief, his face filled with lingering fear. "Damn, that was close. How could there be such an absurd advanced skill as transforming into Taotie? How did that guy trigger it? He nearly killed me."

Sure enough.

Advanced skills were random.

A skill like Taotie Mark was probably uncommon.

Dug glanced at Wang San but said nothing.

Feng Zhong stood beside them as well. Looking at the dead Feng Jiu, he shook his head and analyzed, "It was probably one-use only. The duration of the Taotie transformation should have been related to his attributes. The higher his attributes, the stronger the transformed Taotie should have been. Otherwise, Taotie would not have been only two meters tall. That guy was unlucky. If not, he could have hidden until the end, waited for his attributes to grow, then suddenly transformed into a huge Taotie immune to blades and weapons. He might have wiped out everyone."

"Yeah, ridiculously unlucky! After he gets out, he probably won't dare tell anyone how he died in the Simulation Arena..." Wang San glanced at the bloodstained longsword in Dug's hand and quietly edged away.