Night fell, and all the guests at Hongyun Restaurant had dispersed. The restaurant was also beginning to close for the night.
"Master Chu, Master Li, we're heading off first, okay?"
Chu Feng and Li Zhenshan nodded. They still had some work to finish up, so they would be going back a little later.
After saying their farewells,
Chen Shi Tou dragged his exhausted body along and took the waiter Afu home with him.
Afu lived on the same street as him and had been his good friend since childhood. However, his family was poor, and he often could not even afford a meal, leaving him thin and undersized.
Chen Shi Tou had specially begged his maternal uncle for a long time before finally getting Afu into the restaurant to take over his job.
"Brother Shi Tou, you practiced martial arts today. How did it feel?"
Afu gazed at Chen Shi Tou with envy.
Chen Shi Tou had intended to complain, but when he saw the longing in Afu's eyes, he instantly straightened his back. The weariness vanished from his face, and he declared energetically,
"Practicing martial arts is absolutely amazing!"
Chen Shi Tou knew perfectly well that being able to take a martial artist as his master was an incredible stroke of luck—his ancestors' graves had practically started smoking, and were just about to catch fire.
If he did not take it seriously, his ancestors might crawl out of the ground to find him!
"Really? B-but I want to practice martial arts too. Brother Shi Tou, could you ask Master Chu to teach me as well?"
Afu asked with a face full of anticipation.
"Uh..."
Chen Shi Tou was stumped. He wanted to show off in front of Afu, but if Afu became a disciple too, how could he show off anymore?
Fortunately, his mind worked quickly, and he immediately said,
"My master is the number-one expert in Yong'an City. He's busier every day than even the County Magistrate. Teaching me alone has already taken up a great deal of his time. How could he possibly have time to take on another disciple like you?"
"Oh, is that so?"
Afu immediately drooped his head in disappointment.
Chen Shi Tou was childlike by nature. Although he did not want Afu to become his fellow disciple and leave him without anyone to show off to, seeing Afu's sadness made him unable to bear it.
Deep down, Chen Shi Tou was still a loyal fellow. Otherwise, he would never have begged his maternal uncle to let Afu work at the restaurant.
Becoming Chu Feng's disciple was Chen Shi Tou's greatest opportunity, and of course he did not want to share it with anyone else.
At heart, his attitude was: I can eat the ribs while letting my brother drink the soup and gnaw the bones. But if he wants to eat ribs just like me, then sorry—I'll feel terribly, terribly sour inside.
Seeing Afu's spirits sink, he consoled him. "My master is busy, but I can teach you! Tomorrow, I'll ask my master for permission. Once he teaches me, I'll teach you afterward. Wouldn't that let you practice martial arts too?"
"B-but will Master Chu agree?"
"I'm my master's first disciple. Of course he'll agree to what I say."
Chen Shi Tou thumped his chest as he spoke.
"Great! Great... I can practice martial arts too..." Afu jumped up excitedly.
Suddenly, Chen Shi Tou's eyes caught a flash of red in the distance.
"Miss Xing'er!"
Chen Shi Tou caught only a fleeting glimpse, but although the sky was dim, he recognized the figure as Miss Xing'er at once.
Chen Shi Tou immediately wanted to chase after her, but remembering his master's warning, he hesitated.
"Miss Xing'er is so kind. How could she not be human? Maybe Master was mistaken."
"It's already so late, and the curfew is about to begin. Miss Xing'er must have some urgent business to be out here. I can't just ignore her."
After thinking it through, Chen Shi Tou shook off Afu and chased after her.
After chasing for a street, Chen Shi Tou saw a red figure standing at the end of the road. Moonlight shone upon the bright-red hem of her dress, making her look bewitchingly beautiful.
"Miss Xing'er, what a coincidence..."
Chen Shi Tou summoned his courage to greet her, his heart pounding.
"So it's Young Master Chen. What did you chase after me for?"
Xing'er smiled coquettishly, like a moon fairy from the heavens, leaving Chen Shi Tou utterly intoxicated.
"I... I just wanted to see you."
Chen Shi Tou's gaze grew hazy, and even his speech became stammering.
"What an adorable little brother. Where's that young master who was following you that day?"
"You mean my master? Why are you asking about my master?"
Remembering Chu Feng's warning, Chen Shi Tou's eyes regained a trace of clarity, and he suddenly became wary.
A flicker of surprise passed through Xing'er's eyes. A lowly blood offering like him actually managed to break free of my bewitchment. It seems his master is someone important.
With that thought, she hurriedly soothed him. "After parting with your master that day, I became deeply impressed by him. I wanted to find out where he lived so I could pay him a visit..."
"Oh, I see. My master really is amazing. He's the number-one expert in Yong'an City!"
Chen Shi Tou failed to notice her ill intentions. Instead, hearing her praise his master made him proudly boast.
"Wow, how impressive. Can you take me to meet your master?" Xing'er asked with a coquettish giggle.
"My master really dislikes you. He probably won't see you..." Chen Shi Tou answered honestly.
"Uh..."
A trace of anger flashed through Xing'er's eyes. She discovered that although the boy was bewitched by her, his master still held the most important place in his heart. She could not get any useful information out of him at all.
Seeing this, she lost her patience and simply changed to another smile. "Call me Sister Xing'er, and I'll give you a piece of candy."
"Okay." Chen Shi Tou agreed without hesitation.
Seeing him agree, Xing'er took a blood-red pill from her bosom and personally fed it into Chen Shi Tou's mouth with her slender jade fingers.
Her fingertip brushed across his lips. Chen Shi Tou's face flushed red, and his heart began pounding violently.
When Xing'er saw Chen Shi Tou's foolish expression, an eerie smile appeared on her face.
This Plague Qi Pill was a pill painstakingly cultivated by the Heaven Demon Alliance. It contained tens of millions of worm eggs, which would hatch and multiply upon entering the human body, giving it an extremely high rate of contagion.
Hongyun Restaurant was one of the most densely populated areas in Yong'an City. Within three days, more than half of the entire county would be infected.
These Gu Worms would not harm the human body. Instead, they would stop reproducing after seven days and gradually die.
The body would then digest them, stimulating the host's potential, making their blood and qi boil and their spirits brim with energy, while causing a strange medicinal fragrance to radiate from them—as if they were a great medicine!
Without strength above the Tempered Flesh stage, a person's entire body would stiffen and grow numb for two days, leaving them unable to move!
By then, every citizen in the city would be blood offerings on their chopping blocks!
A trace of longing appeared in Xing'er's eyes as she thought, Perhaps I can use this to advance to become a Fifth Realm great demon and stand on equal footing with the Bat Demon!
While the two of them were talking, a coquettish woman who looked similar to Xing'er, though slightly younger, appeared on the eaves.
She looked down at Chen Shi Tou and Xing'er, her eyes full of displeasure.
"Bad sister, eating secretly without bringing me along..."
Just as she was growing angry, she spotted Afu running over from not far away.
The coquettish woman rolled her eyes and said with a giggle, "Haha, since you're eating this one, I'll eat that one. One each for the two of us sisters..."
As she spoke, she vanished from the rooftop in the blink of an eye.
"So tasty. Thank you, Miss Xing'er."
Chen Shi Tou failed to detect Xing'er's ill intentions. Instead, he licked his lips, finding the taste sweet.
"All right, we'll meet again another day..." Xing'er said meaningfully.
By then, who knows whether this boy will still be so happy?
She loved seeing the terror on the faces of these blood offerings when they discovered her true identity.
"See you another day..."
Chen Shi Tou was somewhat reluctant to part, and he did not look away until the red-clad figure disappeared into the night.
Only then did he remember that Afu was still behind him.
He immediately turned back to look for him.
Chen Shi Tou had only taken a few steps when he suddenly found that Miss Xing'er, who had just left, had appeared again. She was squatting by the corner of the wall, and he had no idea what she was doing.
"Miss Xing'er, why did you come back?"
Chen Shi Tou walked over and patted her shoulder, asking curiously.
"Who are you? Why are you disturbing me while I eat?"
The red-clad figure turned her head, revealing a stunningly beautiful face smeared with blood.
A pair of bright, wide eyes blinked at Chen Shi Tou, looking both coquettish and adorable.
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