Are You Kidding Me?

It was a café, where soothing music and the rich aroma of coffee mingled to create a languid, pleasant atmosphere.

Xiao Xiao followed Yang Yi to a window seat, where a potted plant in the corner blocked them from other customers' view.

It was a good place to talk.

"The coffee here is pretty good. See what you'd like?" Yang Yi smiled warmly, but the smile never reached his eyes. His manner seemed affable, yet there was an air of superiority and reckless arrogance in his every word and gesture.

The almost condescending feeling of being granted an audience made Xiao Xiao's brows twitch.

Heh. What mental institution did this guy escape from?

Xiao Xiao pressed his temple and forced a smile. "Anything's fine. We're not here to drink coffee."

"All right." Yang Yi shrugged regretfully, then flashed a charming smile at the pretty waitress and placed their order.

Only after the waitress's curvaceous figure disappeared around the corner did Yang Yi turn back. He interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on the table, forming a steeple. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Xiao Xiao raised an eyebrow. At least he'd never expected Yang Yi to really be some sunny, athletic young man. Those Blood Pupils had left a deep impression on him, and the Gu Diao right beside Yang Yi was now glaring at him with open hostility.

Still, Yang Yi's personality was even harder to deal with than he'd expected.

And judging by the looks of it, Yang Yi and the Gu Diao got along very well. That made things even more troublesome.

It was much easier to handle one-sided coercion than a partnership both parties had willingly entered.

Xiao Xiao looked up at Yang Yi's face, studying him.

Yang Yi wore a faint smile, unbothered by Xiao Xiao's scrutiny or his silence. There was even a hint of dismissive amusement in his eyes.

He was confident and self-centered, a man of firm convictions who never changed his views for others. He was ambitious because he had both the ability and the desire to pursue his goals.

Once someone like that made up his mind, it was nearly impossible to change it. Stubborn and obstinate barely described him. They said that people who wouldn't turn back even after hitting a wall were determined—but Yang Yi would hit the wall and still press on, unwavering in his belief that he was right.

People like him were often exceptionally capable, but that only made them more dangerous. They could easily become consumed by some extreme pursuit of their own imagining, and stop at nothing to achieve it.

To him, the result mattered more than the process.

Xiao Xiao clearly saw the faint ring of blood around Yang Yi's pupils. It wasn't obvious yet, but it hadn't been there during the basketball game last time. Xiao Xiao could reasonably guess that the ring would keep spreading until Yang Yi's eyes turned as crimson as the Gu Diao's beside him.

Xiao Xiao frowned, then turned his head to look at the Gu Diao. What was it trying to do?

"This is Scythe." Seeing Xiao Xiao look toward the creature beside him, Yang Yi's expression turned strange—part surprise, part anger, part excitement. The corners of his mouth stretched open against his will, while a flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes. The bloody ring around his pupils seemed to deepen in color, yet the words he spoke were an introduction.

"I never thought there'd be someone else who could see it."

"Wasn't I supposed to be the only one who could see it?" Yang Yi spoke very softly, but Xiao Xiao heard every word, along with the resentment, anger, obsession, and madness behind them.

Xiao Xiao fell silent for a moment, then asked an unexpected question.

"It's called Scythe?"

Yang Yi seemed surprised. Then, as if he thought Xiao Xiao had asked a good question, he broke into a bright smile. Xiao Xiao, who had just seen his sinister expression, got goosebumps all over. The shift in mood had been so sudden that it left him reeling.

"That's right. It's Scythe."

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

The Grim Reaper's scythe...?

What a tacky name. But was it really wise to tell him so plainly?

Was he being so blunt because he had someone backing him and had nothing to fear? Or was he simply so brazen that he thought Xiao Xiao couldn't do anything about it?

If that was the case, there was no point beating around the bush.

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

"I did."

Yang Yi's candor surprised Xiao Xiao, though it was also more or less what he'd expected. Ever since they'd met, Yang Yi had been so straightforward, never once hiding anything or speaking evasively.

Their coffee arrived. Yang Yi gestured for Xiao Xiao to help himself.

Xiao Xiao lifted the white bone china cup. The rich, full-bodied aroma drifted into his nose with the rising steam, spreading through his body and filling him with a lazy warmth.

Xiao Xiao took a token sip.

More than the taste, Xiao Xiao enjoyed the aroma of coffee.

It always gave him the pleasant, hazy feeling of a leisurely afternoon.

Xiao Xiao set down the cup but kept his hand on the handle, rubbing its smooth, warm surface with his fingers.

"What were you doing?"

The question came out of nowhere, but Xiao Xiao knew Yang Yi understood. And Yang Yi did, answering without the slightest confusion. "Feeding it."

"Scythe was hungry."

Yang Yi added the explanation with a smile.

The answer was already obvious.

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

"Eat what?" Yang Yi repeated, sounding both amused and puzzled.

"Of course monsters eat people."

He said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world, with a look of simple confusion, as if he couldn't understand why Xiao Xiao would ask about something so obvious.

Xiao Xiao's hand abruptly tightened around the coffee cup handle. Raised veins spread across his knuckles, while his fingertips turned deathly pale.

"Eat people?"

"You took it to eat people?"

"Do you even know what you're saying?"

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

Xiao Xiao's voice grew heavier with every question. He stared at Yang Yi, trying to find some sign in his face that he was joking.

But Yang Yi wore the same faint smile as before. He even reached out and stroked the Gu Diao's back feathers with a gentle hand, as though what he'd done was no different from eating or drinking—not the cruel act of taking a person's most precious possession: their life.

Xiao Xiao was in turmoil. Yang Yi showed no trace of abnormality—no guilt, no fear, no uncertainty. Nor was there any excitement, agitation, or frenzy. Killing someone seemed no different to him from killing a chicken.

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

It was simply the natural law of survival of the fittest.

"You killed someone. That's a crime!" Xiao Xiao couldn't understand how Yang Yi could possibly think this way.

"No. I didn't kill anyone. Scythe just needed to feed."

"Besides, those good-for-nothing scum were useless and miserable while alive. They were better off as food for Scythe."

"Are you kidding me?"