Demon Appears

Ye Qingxian wore a look of utter calm and detachment, so aloof that even Zhu Ping'an began to doubt whether the scene of Ye Qingxian kneeling to him earlier had been an illusion.

Ye Qingxian reached out and patted Yan Shubing on the head.

"Don't worry. From today on, that Zhu Ping'an won't dare target me in the slightest!"

"Qingxian Ge is amazing." Yan Shubing gazed up at Ye Qingxian with admiration.

Zhu Ping'an couldn't be bothered to pay these two lovebirds any mind. As long as Ye Qingxian obediently played his part as a tool, everything would be fine.

Fortunately, though Ye Qingxian liked to show off, he hadn't forgotten who was really in charge. Their group naturally continued on together.

"Did he secretly threaten you?" Leng Tianjiao couldn't help asking.

"Relax, he can't even beat me in a fight, so how could he possibly threaten me? We've simply buried the hatchet." Zhu Ping'an winked at Leng Tianjiao.

With Ye Qingxian's cooperation, exploring Secret Realm Number Thirteen became extremely smooth.

Inside the secret realm, crumbling walls and broken pillars stretched everywhere, the magnetic field was chaotic, and arcs of lightning crackled through the air, giving the place an air of mystery. Yet it was as if the opportunities within the realm had eyes, seeking them out specifically—every so often, various heavenly treasures and rare herbs would deliver themselves right to their doorstep.

Zhu Ping'an's eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Was this the Protagonist Halo? That bastard Ye Qingxian's luck was far too good.

Still, it didn't matter—all of it was his now!

Ye Qingxian didn't pull any tricks. Everything they obtained was split seventy-thirty, with the larger share going to Zhu Ping'an.

Yan Shubing was a bit puzzled by this, but Ye Qingxian explained:

"Give a big stick, then offer a sweet date. I just taught Zhu Ping'an a lesson, so naturally I have to throw him some benefits. That way, he'll follow me with total loyalty."

Yan Shubing believed this without a doubt, nodding repeatedly, her gaze toward Ye Qingxian even more worshipful.

The entire Secret Realm Number Thirteen seemed to be shaped like a giant funnel. As they went deeper, they encountered more and more people, and the surrounding space began to narrow.

When those people saw their group, they quickly backed away in wariness—after all, in a secret realm, you could never be sure who was friend and who was foe.

The crumbling ruins gradually gave way to intact buildings, which put Zhu Ping'an and his party on high alert.

Intact buildings meant there might be living creatures nearby.

"Everyone, be careful." Zhu Ping'an warned the Leng Family martial artists, then continued pressing forward.

As they advanced, the number of intact buildings grew. Suddenly, a dark shadow shot out from one of the structures at incredible speed.

But Zhu Ping'an and the others had been keeping watch, dodging aside in an instant. The shadow slammed heavily into the ground, sending a chill down everyone's spine!

Because the shadow was a human corpse!

The corpse was male, his entire body twisted into a spiral, his head wrenched clean off his shoulders. It was hard to imagine what kind of torment he had suffered before death.

Zhu Ping'an's heart raced. He cautiously poked the body lying on the ground.

"Hey buddy, you okay?"

The corpse didn't answer.

"Damn, he's dead."

The corpse still didn't answer.

The body was still warm, clearly someone who had entered Secret Realm Number Thirteen at the same time as them.

Zhu Ping'an began examining the corpse. He patted down its pockets and found a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, a wad of cash, and a baby's pacifier. Nothing that could identify the body, but it was obvious the guy had recently been planning to dig a hole.

He tossed the pacifier aside—too small for his use—pocketed the lighter and cash, and returned the cigarettes to the corpse.

"Rest in peace, buddy."

Then he checked the injuries again. The body was twisted into a spiral, as if some massive creature had grabbed him by the head and feet with both hands and wrung him out like a towel.

Zhu Ping'an roughly estimated that the creature that had killed this man had to be at least five meters tall.

"Watch out—there might be an extremely large humanoid Mutant Beast nearby!" Zhu Ping'an warned Leng Tianjiao and the others.

To his surprise, Leng Tianjiao and Ye Qingxian were now staring at him with strange expressions, tinged with wariness and even fear.

Zhu Ping'an was puzzled. Was looting a corpse really that shocking?

"Zhu Ping'an, look behind you." Leng Tianjiao couldn't help speaking up.

Zhu Ping'an turned around in confusion, and the moment he saw what was there, he froze in place.

Not far behind him, a terrifying monster as tall as a two-story building had appeared without warning. It looked like a hairless gorilla covered in spines, its two blood-red eyes like lanterns fixed on them.

No doubt about it—the corpse on the ground had died at this monster's hands.

"What is this thing?"

Normally, school lessons taught students to identify various types of Mutant Beasts. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'd never be defeated—the more you understood a Mutant Beast, the higher your chances of overcoming it.

But Zhu Ping'an racked his memory and couldn't recall what kind of Mutant Beast this spiny hairless gorilla was.

"Could it be a Demon?!" Zhu Ping'an's expression turned grim.

Demon—a terrifying word.

Though Demons were few in number, each one possessed frightening intelligence and was utterly cunning.

Better to kill a hundred Mutant Beasts than provoke a single Demon—that was a saying passed down among martial artists, and it showed just how fearsome Demons truly were.

"Zhu Ping'an, this Demon doesn't seem to have any intention of attacking us. Try backing this way!" Leng Tianjiao said.

Zhu Ping'an nodded. Not knowing how powerful this Demon was, he had no desire to provoke it either.

He kept his eyes fixed on the Demon, lifting his foot to slowly retreat backward.

Ye Qingxian's eyes flickered with a strange light. He was pondering—could this be the best chance to eliminate Zhu Ping'an?

If he struck at the Demon now, in its fury, it would surely turn its wrath on Zhu Ping'an, who was closest to it.

If he could use the Demon's hand to kill Zhu Ping'an...

But Ye Qingxian quickly dismissed the thought. If he failed to finish Zhu Ping'an, he wouldn't end up well himself. The terrifying sensation of his tongue turning into Cauliflower still made his heart shudder at the memory.

Unless he had a hundred percent certainty of killing Zhu Ping'an, he would never act rashly.

Just as Zhu Ping'an retreated to Leng Tianjiao's side, the Spiny Hairless Gorilla moved!

But it wasn't coming for Zhu Ping'an and the others. Instead, it reached its massive hand toward the corpse lying on the ground.

It grabbed the body by one leg, lifting it like a frog, then opened its mouth and tossed it in.

Crunch!

Crunch!

Crunch!

The bone-chilling sound of chewing echoed—the noise of human bones being crushed under the Demon's hard teeth.