Anger

"Are you joking?"

Xiao Xiao's voice no longer carried the restraint it had before. There even seemed to be a hint of laughter in it, but under the circumstances, it felt as though he was laughing out of sheer fury.

For a moment, Xiao Xiao felt he had so much to say. But when the words reached his lips, he suddenly lost the desire to say any of it.

What was there to say? Everyone knew the difference between right and wrong. Neither of them needed to pretend the other was stupid.

Yang Yi was a mentally sound college student. He knew what he was doing.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Xiao Xiao couldn't help asking.

"Of course." Yang Yi stirred the coffee before him lightly with a spoon, his voice carrying a hint of cheer.

"You're killing people! Even if you aren't killing them directly, you're doing it indirectly! You're an accomplice!" Why could he be so unconcerned? What did human life mean to him? Xiao Xiao's usually steady voice wavered violently.

They were clearly the same age, so why did the gulf between them feel deeper than the Mariana Trench?

Xiao Xiao rubbed his temples hard and felt his headache worsen.

Yang Yi seemed surprised by Xiao Xiao's agitation, but not by his response. He didn't look at Xiao Xiao. His eyes stayed fixed on the coffee, where the spoon sent ripples spreading across the surface. He looked so focused and serious, as if he were doing something of the utmost importance.

"They were homeless, beggars, and hoodlums to begin with. They wouldn't have lived much longer even without me."

"I only helped them reach paradise sooner."

"Maybe they'll be born into a better life next time?"

Yang Yi spoke casually, and Xiao Xiao helplessly realized that he was serious. He really did think that way?!

Xiao Xiao almost felt that his own anger was a joke!

There was simply no getting through to him!

Xiao Xiao propped his forehead on one hand. His expression turned complicated for a moment, but he quickly composed himself, leaving only calm and a trace of weariness.

He refused to argue with the other man any longer. If he couldn't get through to him, why waste his breath?

"One last question. How many people have you killed?" Seeing the man across from him raise his brows slightly, Xiao Xiao understood and rephrased the question. "How many people has Gu Diao... Scythe eaten?"

Yang Yi didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked another question, keenly picking up on something. "Gu Diao? You mean Scythe?"

Xiao Xiao didn't reply.

Yang Yi's expression darkened for an instant, but soon returned to normal. The smile at the corners of his mouth deepened, and its excessive sweetness gave way to unmistakable malice and coldness. Xiao Xiao frowned in discomfort.

"I'm not sure of the exact number."

"Scythe has a healthy appetite."

"At least a dozen or twenty people."

His conversation with Yang Yi had happened yesterday.

It hadn't been pleasant—in fact, they had parted on bad terms, at least in Xiao Xiao's eyes.

Xiao Xiao had learned firsthand what it meant when people said there was no point talking when you had nothing in common, or that it was like a chicken talking to a duck.

They simply weren't on the same wavelength.

After only half an hour, Xiao Xiao had ended the meeting with Yang Yi himself.

To be honest, in a sense, he had learned quite a bit. But none of it had been of any practical use.

The problem remained entirely unsolved.

Xiao Xiao was troubled by how to deal with the Gu Diao's attacks on people, but he was completely at a loss.

He couldn't call the police. He had no evidence to prove that a Gu Diao was eating people—a claim that would sound absurd to anyone else.

But this wasn't really a matter of evidence, or at least it wasn't the most pressing issue.

The most pressing issue was that the police couldn't see the Gu Diao at all.

How could he describe the case to them? How could the police investigate?

They would only think he was babbling nonsense. No one would believe him.

In the end, he would only be treated as a psychotic patient suffering from delusions!

So, in the end, he had no choice but to handle it himself.

Back at Polytechnic University, Xiao Xiao still wasn't sure whether he should go through with it.

Actually, solving the problem of the Gu Diao eating people was simple: get rid of the Gu Diao.

But that Gu Diao was clearly no pushover, and he was only a half-trained amateur. By the end, it was anyone's guess who would get rid of whom.

Xiao Xiao had actually gone to Fragrant Hills to ask Ling Yao for advice, but when he got there, he came up empty. Ling Yao wasn't in the area where it usually stayed. Xiao Xiao searched nearly all of Fragrant Hills, but still returned disappointed.

But he couldn't afford to let this drag on. He didn't know how often a demon needed to feed.

The longer he waited, the more likely it was that one or even several more people would become victims.

So, despite all his reservations, Xiao Xiao had eventually come here.

He didn't like meddling in other people's affairs, but he couldn't simply do nothing when he knew someone might die.

Xiao Xiao went to the basketball gym he had visited last time, only to find the doors shut.

He had come at the same time as before.

He asked a student passing by and learned that the basketball team had the day off.

Now what? Where was he supposed to look for Yang Yi?

Xiao Xiao went to the boys' dormitory first. Yang Yi was a well-known figure at Polytechnic University, so Xiao Xiao found out his dorm room number with surprising ease.

Unfortunately, Yang Yi wasn't in his room. His roommates didn't know where he had gone, either.

Xiao Xiao scratched his head.

After thinking it over, he searched the library, study rooms, and other places on campus, but still couldn't find any sign of Yang Yi.

Xiao Xiao wandered aimlessly around the campus, thinking about where Yang Yi might have gone.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind: Could Yang Yi have taken the Gu Diao out to hunt?

The more Xiao Xiao thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

He decided to check the alleys and narrow lanes around the school. Maybe he would find something.

Tap, tap. In the silent alley, the sound of footsteps striking the ground rang especially clearly.

Xiao Xiao had checked several alleys in a row, but found nothing.

A vague sense of worry made him restless.

Then he thought that this wasn't the worst-case scenario. At least he hadn't smelled any blood. He was truly afraid that he might walk deeper into an alley or turn a corner and find a few drops of blood splattered on the ground, dried and covered in dust.

Was this what they meant by tempting fate? Xiao Xiao gave a self-deprecating smile, but a bone-chilling coldness gradually filled his eyes.

He smelled blood in the air, faint and intermittent, yet unmistakable.

Xiao Xiao slowly followed the direction the scent came from.

He knew he was too late again.

Xiao Xiao was absolutely furious. He didn't know how else to describe Yang Yi and the Gu Diao's behavior besides brazen and utterly reckless!

They had only spoken yesterday. He had already uncovered the evil deeds of this man and demon. Wouldn't any normal person have lain low for a while to avoid attracting attention?

But what had they done? They hadn't taken him seriously at all. To them, yesterday's meeting had been nothing but a joke!

Fine. They were really something!

Xiao Xiao had always had a mild temper.

As long as nobody crossed his bottom line, he was easy to get along with.

But he had never been a pushover!