Energetic Young Men in Pairs

Night fell.

A graveyard.

A campfire.

A row of souped-up scooters.

A ghost story.

"So my Biological Father drives a big rig. One year on Tomb-Sweeping Day, he went alone to pay respects to that Old Undead. It was raining, and the ground was all rutted from the trucks—hard going, step by step."

An Energetic Young Woman was telling the tale with vivid flair, the flickering flames casting her heavy makeup in shifting light and shadow.

"That Stingy Old Man was so cheap he wouldn't even fork over bus fare, just trudged step by step toward my house."

"As he walked, he started feeling something was off. It was too quiet—not a single bug chirp or bird call, just gusts of cold wind, like someone breathing on the back of his neck..."

The Energetic Young Woman wasn't well-educated, but she turned out to be a masterful ghost storyteller.

Add in the graveyard itself, already creepy enough, and the atmosphere was downright terrifying.

"Maybe we should stop,"

an Energetic Young Man said, rubbing his goosebumps, looking uneasy. "I heard there are demons around here. We should head back."

His words drew immediate mockery from the group.

"Scaredy-cat like you wants to ride a ghost flame?"

"Scared of nothing! Your bro here's born with a backbone of steel—demons don't dare act tough!"

"A mountain tiger taking on a wolf pack, a real man's nature wilder than the sky—cowards don't deserve to be my Buddies!"

After getting roasted by his good Buddies, the Energetic Young Man's face fell a bit, and he sat back down grumbling, "Who the hell's scared? A real man doesn't blink at demons!"

The ghost story went on. Under the Energetic Young Woman's lively narration, her poor old dad felt someone behind him, so he ran for his life. He barely made it out of the graveyard, turned back with a shudder of relief, and then—

"Hey."

"AHHH!!!"

The sudden voice sent the Energetic Young Men scrambling in terror, one unlucky guy dodging straight toward the fire and yelping as he got singed.

Xu Fang: "..."

Am I that scary?

Raising his voice a bit, Xu Fang asked, "What are you guys doing out here this late?"

Only then did the Energetic Young Men realize he was a living person. They scrambled up, cursing, "Damn! You crazy? I'll be wherever I want—who the hell are you to tell me?"

"Yeah, all bundled up in the dead of night, think you're some big star?"

Xu Fang couldn't be bothered to argue with Muggles—beneath him.

"The Hunter's Alliance has issued a Light Alert. There are demonic creatures active in this area, and civilians aren't allowed in. You need to leave now."

One Energetic Young Man blustered, "Demons? Big deal. The internet says all you need is one slide tackle, and dinner's served."

Xu Fang was speechless.

Were there idiots like this in every dimension?

"So you're saying you're a mage?" The Energetic Young Woman who'd told the story sidled up. "Drop me your contact info—we can hang out sometime."

When she said "hang out," she put extra emphasis on it. After years of running wild, she'd never tasted a mage before.

Wondered if they were smooth.

She pulled out her phone to add Xu Fang. The moment the screen lit up, Xu Fang's face changed drastically. "Turn off your phone!"

"Squeak—!"

A sharp, urgent screech rang out. A nearby grave mound burst open, and a massive Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat charged out.

Demons had a special sensitivity to human electronics. This Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat had probably been sleeping and got woken up for a midnight snack.

"Radiance!"

Xu Fang raised a hand and fired off a Purify, halting the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat's charge, then shouted over his shoulder, "Idiots, run!"

The Energetic Young Men were frozen stiff, rooted to the spot in shock.

Their country had sheltered them too well. Terrifying demons only ever existed behind a screen—they'd never seen the real thing.

The Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat's massive body, razor-sharp teeth, and that retractable, sanity-draining head left an indelible psychological scar.

"The demon only eats the slowest one!"

Xu Fang yelled again, and that shout snapped everyone awake.

The same guys who'd been shouting "brothers over everything" scrambled onto their ghost flames and peeled out, terrified of being one step too late and ending up as rat droppings by morning.

"Vroom-vroom-vroom-vroom..."

As the ghost flames faded into the distance, Xu Fang could finally focus on the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat in front of him.

"Time to test my new skill on you!" In Xu Fang's Spiritual World, the Golden Star Seed and the red Star Ring lit up at the same time.

Infuse magic energy!

The star path appears!

A crimson-gold star path spiraled around Xu Fang, making him stand like a Heavenly God in the night. Unfortunately, the only audience was the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat; the others were desperately fleeing toward the city.

"Go!"

The crimson-gold light replaced the previous Radiance, enveloping the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat.

Unlike the soft-handed method of killing demons before, the moment it touched the light, the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat let out a scream of utter rodent agony. In the glow, clusters of flames could faintly be seen searing its body.

Two and a half seconds.

It only took two and a half seconds for this Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat to meet its end, not even a scrap left behind.

"Damn! No way?"

Xu Fang was speechless. The Hunter's Alliance had only one criterion for judging a mission complete: the demon's corpse.

After all, words were empty—without a corpse, how could you prove you killed the demon?

Besides, every part of a demon's corpse was valuable, and mages were happy to let the Hunter's Alliance handle it, earning some extra income on the side.

Pop! All the joy vanished in an instant.

"This trip was a total waste... Wait!" Xu Fang froze, because he sensed that around his seven stars, a layer of scarlet light had somehow coiled.

With a flicker of golden light, the scarlet turned gold and merged into the stars.

"This is... the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rat's Remnant Soul!"

That was the only explanation that made sense. Xu Fang never expected that his fusion skill could devour remnant souls.

"At this rate, I've hit the jackpot."

"I'll call this move Crimson Fire Light Array."

Whether a skill is strong is a temporary thing; whether the name is cool is for life. He couldn't just call it something monkish like "Supernatural Light" just to be accurate.

If Radiance was like regularly collecting eggs from a chicken coop, Crimson Fire Light Array was like stewing the chicken that laid them—brutal and nutritious.

Xu Fang was satisfied and was about to hop on his bike to go home and sleep when the puttering sound of a Ghost Fire scooter reached his ears.

The Energetic Young Men were back, throttles wide open, their mufflers removed making the Ghost Fire roar like a plane taking off, heading straight for Xu Fang.

What the hell?

Xu Fang frowned. Did these guys have a death wish?

He was about to blast a flame to scare them off and make them scram, but the Energetic Young Men spotted him and let out miserable screams.

"Oi! Oi! Oi!"

"Master Mage, help us!"

"There's a wolf! A wolf in the west district! A one-eyed wolf!"

"Qiangzi is dead, his brains splattered everywhere!"

"Save me, I don't want to die!"

The campfire hadn't burned out yet, and their faces were splattered with fresh blood!