Are you kidding me?

This is a coffee shop, with soothing music and a rich coffee aroma, weaving a lazy sense of comfort.

Xiao Xiao followed Yang Yi to a window seat, where the greenery in the corner effectively blocked others' line of sight.

It was a good place to talk.

"The coffee here is quite good. What do you want to drink?" Yang Yi asked with a smile, his demeanor seemingly friendly but his eyes not matching his smile. There was a hint of condescending superiority and unrestrained wildness in his words and actions.

This feeling of someone of high status condescending to interact with him made Xiao Xiao's eyebrows twitch unnaturally.

Heh, which mental hospital did this guy escape from?

Xiao Xiao pressed his forehead, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "Whatever. We're not really here for coffee."

"Alright." Yang Yi shrugged with feigned regret, a charming smile on his face as he placed an order with a beautiful waitress.

Only after the waitress's shapely figure disappeared around the corner did Yang Yi turn back, clasping his hands together in a steeple on the table. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Xiao Xiao raised an eyebrow. Fortunately, he hadn't expected the other person to be some sunny, upright sports youth from the start. He had a deep impression of those Blood Pupils, and the Gu diao in front of him now was also staring at him with ill intent.

However, it was clear that the other person's personality was even more difficult to deal with than he had anticipated.

Moreover, it seemed like he and the Gu carving got along swimmingly. This made things even more troublesome.

One-sided coercion was much easier to handle than a mutual agreement.

Xiao Xiao looked up at Yang Yi's face, his gaze scanning the other man's features.

Yang Yi maintained a faint smile, unconcerned by Xiao Xiao's scrutiny or his silence in response to his question. In fact, a hint of dismissive amusement flickered in his eyes.

This was a confident and self-centered person. He was resolute and never changed his views for others. He was ambitious because he had both the ability and the desire.

Once such a person set his mind on something, it was extremely difficult to change it. Stubborn and obstinate were insufficient words to describe him. People often said they wouldn't turn back until they hit a brick wall, but he would hit the brick wall and still not turn back, unhesitatingly persisting in what he believed to be the truth.

Such people were often outstanding in their abilities, but also more dangerous. They could easily fall into extreme pursuits of their own fantasies and would stop at nothing to achieve them.

In his eyes, the result was more important than the process.

Xiao Xiao clearly saw a faint ring of bloodstains around the other man's pupils. Although they weren't obvious yet, they definitely hadn't been there during the last basketball game. Therefore, Xiao Xiao could deduce that this ring of bloodstains would continue to expand until Yang Yi's eyeballs turned as scarlet as the Gu雕 beside him.

Xiao Xiao frowned, then turned his head to look at the carved jade. What exactly does it want to do?

"This is the Scythe." Seeing Xiao Xiao's gaze shift to his side, Yang Yi's expression was somewhat strange, a mix of surprise, anger, and excitement. The corners of his mouth split uncontrollably, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes. The color of the bloodstains around his pupils seemed to deepen slightly, but what he said was an introduction.

"I didn't expect anyone else could see it."

"Shouldn't it be that only I can see it?" Yang Yi said this softly, but Xiao Xiao heard it clearly, along with the unwillingness, anger, obsession, and madness revealed in his voice.

Xiao Xiao was silent for a moment, then asked a question that was somewhat unexpected.

"It's called the Scythe?"

Yang Yi seemed surprised, then appeared to think Xiao Xiao had asked a good question, breaking into a hearty laugh. However, this made Xiao Xiao, who had just seen his sinister expression, break out in goosebumps. The mood shift was too abrupt, and he felt a bit overwhelmed.

"Yes, it is the Scythe."

"And I... am the Grim Reaper."

The Grim Reaper's Scythe... huh?

What a cliché name. But is it really okay to tell me so directly?

Is this blatant, crude hint because he's confident and fearless, or is he just ridiculously arrogant and thinks I can't do anything?

Since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush either.

"Did you go to the alley behind the west gate of Yan University yesterday?"

"Yes."

Yang Yi's candidness surprised Xiao Xiao, yet it was also somewhat expected. After all, Yang Yi had maintained such an open attitude since they met, without any concealment or ambiguity in his words.

At this moment, their coffee arrived. Yang Yi gestured for Xiao Xiao to begin.

Xiao Xiao raised his white porcelain cup. The rich, mellow coffee aroma wafted into his nostrils with the rising steam, spreading through his limbs and bones, filling him with a lazy warmth.

Xiao Xiao took a symbolic sip.

More than the taste of the coffee, Xiao Xiao preferred to enjoy its aroma.

It always gave him a feeling of a leisurely, intoxicating afternoon.

Xiao Xiao put down his coffee cup, but his hand didn't leave the handle. His fingers lightly caressed the smooth, warm porcelain.

"For what?"

It was a question out of nowhere, but Xiao Xiao knew Yang Yi would understand. Yang Yi, in fact, didn't even show initial confusion and answered naturally, "Feeding it."

"The Scythe is hungry."

Yang Yi explained with a smile.

The truth was becoming clear.

But Xiao Xiao still asked, "What does it eat?"

"What does it eat?" Yang Yi repeated with a hint of playfulness, as if amused or perhaps puzzled.

"Monsters naturally eat people."

The tone was so natural, so matter-of-fact, that his eyes held a simple confusion, as if he were surprised Xiao Xiao even had to ask something so obvious.

Xiao Xiao's hand suddenly tightened around the handle of the coffee cup, veins bulging along his knuckles, his fingertips bleached white.

"Eat people?"

"You took it to eat people?"

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"Do you know what you're doing?"

Xiao Xiao suppressed his voice, each word heavier than the last, his eyes fixed on Yang Yi, trying to find any trace of a joke on his face.

But Yang Yi's face held the same faint smile as always. He even reached out and stroked the back feathers of the Gu雕 beside him, his movements gentle and slow, as if everything he was doing was as normal as eating and drinking, not cruelly taking a person's most precious life.

Xiao Xiao's heart churned. He looked at Yang Yi's completely normal expression – no guilt, no fear, no helplessness, and likewise, no excitement, no elation, no madness. It was as if killing someone was as simple to him as killing a chicken.

How could a person be moved by the death of a chicken?

It was merely the law of nature, survival of the fittest, the strong preying on the weak.

"This is murder, it's a crime!" Xiao Xiao simply couldn't understand what the other person was thinking.

"No, I didn't kill anyone. The Scythe needed to eat."

"Besides, those wastes, those dregs, they're useless and live a hard life. They might as well feed the Scythe."

"Are you kidding me?"