Gu Diao was a little dazed. The intense pain in its body made its eyes flash red, and its already scarlet pupils darkened until they were nearly black, as layer upon layer of blood-red piled up.
Gu Diao's aura turned violent in an instant. It was clearly furious with rage.
Ling Yao flicked its long tail. Instead of letting it hang behind as it had at first, it raised it in front of itself, the tip pointed straight at Gu Diao.
Xiao Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly. There was a wound about ten centimeters long on Gu Diao's side. Judging by the steady stream of blood flowing from it, the cut was probably quite deep.
The smell of blood and demonic aura swelling through the air grew even stronger, taking on a cloying, sticky quality and a bone-chilling cold. The alley, where thin shafts of light had still been filtering in, grew darker and darker.
Xiao Xiao looked up. Layers of gloomy clouds overlapped, sealing off the sky and shrouding this whole area.
It felt as though this space had been cut off from the rest of the world.
Not a sound from outside could get in. Even the clouds blocked his view, making it impossible to see the distant horizon.
"Jie~ Jie~" Gu Diao shrieked at the sky. The piercing sound waves spread in rings, sending stone dust and fragments pattering down from the surrounding stone walls. Deep, savage gashes crisscrossed their surfaces as if they had been carved by sharp blades.
The branches and leaves poking over the walls burst apart, scattering in fragments through the air.
At some point, Yang Yi's eyes had turned completely bloodred. His eyes were so wide they looked ready to split, and the veins at his temples stood out one by one. Fine streaks of blood appeared on his cheeks, and bright red blood trickled slowly down his face, gathering at his chin before finally dripping to the ground with a "plop."
Yang Yi clenched both fists, his face twisted in a grimace. With blood smeared all over his face, he was truly painful to look at.
At first, Xiao Xiao had also been caught off guard by Gu Diao's sudden attack, leaving him in a sorry state. His headache had never fully gone away, and after Gu Diao hit him with that attack, Xiao Xiao had practically wanted to die.
The pain was so intense that Xiao Xiao bit through his lower lip at once, filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood.
His face was frighteningly pale, and large beads of sweat appeared at his temples and slid down, tracing a winding stream along his cheek.
Just as the pain made Xiao Xiao's vision go black, warmth spread through the palm of his right hand. The sudden heat made his nerves jolt instinctively, even through his pain-fogged awareness.
What was going on?
Xiao Xiao blinked hard, clearing his sweat-blurred vision a little. His gaze dropped, and his hand rose without him thinking.
It was the Monster Compendium.
Faint streams of warmth seeped into his body, following his meridians and blood vessels straight up to his brain.
The warmth entered his muddled mind and gave off a faint, cool sensation. Xiao Xiao's headache eased at once, and his heavy mind cleared. The relief was so great that he couldn't help letting out a low groan.
The sharp contrast between before and after left Xiao Xiao a little dazed.
Xiao Xiao blinked slowly and breathed carefully. His headache really was much better—not completely gone, but no longer affected by Gu Diao's sonic attack.
Compared to the agony from before, the pain now was like a gentle breeze and a light drizzle.
Xiao Xiao thought this little bit of pain was nothing.
At this rate, he figured his nerves would eventually grow as tough as steel.
Xiao Xiao squeezed the Monster Compendium in his hand, once again grateful for his foresight. Could he really have some kind of intuition or premonition?
"Bang!" A tremendous crash broke through Xiao Xiao's somewhat scattered thoughts. He looked up and saw that Gu Diao had been flung away by Ling Yao once again, slamming hard into the wall. The mottled stone wall collapsed with a roar, raising a cloud of dust.
Ling Yao perched on a high branch. The seemingly fragile branch didn't sway at all. Though Ling Yao wasn't as enormous as Gu Diao, it was still several times larger than a grown eagle.
For something that heavy to move with such effortless grace—it was practically like a martial arts master with exceptional Lightness Skill. Xiao Xiao couldn't help staring in admiration.
Ling Yao's gaze remained as haughty and disdainful as ever. Its position high above only added to its imposing air.
After their fierce struggle, Gu Diao was in a sorry state, while Ling Yao's feathers were only a little ruffled.
The difference in strength between the two demons was clear.
Perhaps the fall had really hurt this time. Gu Diao was buried beneath the rubble and remained still for a long while. It didn't burst out at once as it had before, wings spread, to strike back ferociously.
"Scythe?" Yang Yi walked up to the collapsed stone wall and called out tentatively. His bloodstained face was grim, and his eyes flickered with uncertainty. He was clearly in a very bad mood.
But if he was in a bad mood, that only improved Xiao Xiao's.
Even if it meant spending much longer afterward recovering from the severe strain on his mind, Xiao Xiao still thought it was worth it.
Whether it was Gu Diao eating people or Yang Yi feeding people to a demon, both were utterly depraved acts in Xiao Xiao's eyes.
Yang Yi was especially unforgivable.
Gu Diao was a demon. A demon eating people might be like people eating chicken, duck, and fish—it could be a matter of survival. The conflict between humans and demons had nothing to do with right or wrong; it was simply a necessary struggle for survival under the law of the jungle.
From a demon's perspective, eating people could be said to be entirely justified.
But Yang Yi wasn't a demon. He was human, one of the very people demons ate.
Not only did he fail to stop the demon from eating people, he even helped it.
For what? Xiao Xiao could more or less guess.
It all came down to one word: profit.
In Xiao Xiao's view, what Gu Diao had promised Yang Yi was most likely power that put him above ordinary people. The earlier basketball game had already offered a glimpse of that.
And Yang Yi still wasn't satisfied. Before he had even fully obtained Gu Diao's power, he had already set his sights on Ling Yao!
Greed really was humanity's greatest sin.
Xiao Xiao felt a little disappointed. It wasn't every day he met someone else who could see demons, and yet this person's values were so warped.
Wu Ya had only caught occasional glimpses of demons, but Yang Yi had clearly seen much more.
Xiao Xiao had been quite happy to meet someone who was "in the same boat." Even if they didn't know each other, even if they weren't close, just knowing there was someone else like him nearby was undoubtedly a comforting thought.
Unfortunately, the other person clearly didn't feel the same way.
When Yang Yi learned that Xiao Xiao could also see Gu Diao, the jealousy and resentment that flashed through his eyes hadn't escaped Xiao Xiao.
At that moment, Xiao Xiao understood that he wasn't welcome. He had even sensed the other man's dislike of him—and perhaps even murderous intent.
How could a student have such intense hostility?
So even now, discovering that Yang Yi had been helping Gu Diao eat people didn't seem all that unbelievable.
Xiao Xiao had looked into Yang Yi a little before. At least from what he'd found, Yang Yi seemed like a textbook example of someone who had won at life. How could he be such a dangerous person? It made no sense at all.
Could some people really be born twisted?
Xiao Xiao had no way of knowing. Perhaps Yang Yi had once gone through something unknown that had given rise to the darkness he kept hidden.
But that had nothing to do with Xiao Xiao. All he needed to do was stop Gu Diao from eating.
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