Slaying

Dancing? Ou Xiangrong froze, unable to process what he had just heard.

This supernatural item was actually inviting him to dance.

Ou Xiangrong let out a cold laugh. There was no way he would dance with an enemy's shoes in the middle of a fight. He immediately bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the gleaming edge of the Willow Blade.

As an experienced Spirit Realm Walker and an Evil Profession, he had fought Night Wanderers plenty of times and knew the characteristics of their skills.

Supernatural items were known for their eerie qualities. Ou Xiangrong had once been hounded by one for several days; it had been extremely difficult to deal with.

But their weakness was obvious, too: they tended to lack raw killing power.

What's more, supernatural items generally feared anything brimming with yang energy. An item like this, seemingly inhabited by a vengeful spirit, could be suppressed with a single mouthful of blood from the tip of his tongue.

No problem.

The Red Dancing Shoes bounced up and down as they waited a few seconds. When the person before them refused to dance, they seemed to grow angry. A dim red glow appeared on the shoes, and with a rapid patter of taps, they charged at Ou Xiangrong.

Ou Xiangrong stood motionless, waiting for the Red Dancing Shoes to draw near. As they leaped toward the front of the car to attack him, he calmly swung the Willow Blade, hoping to deal a heavy blow to the vengeful spirit inhabiting the shoes.

But the blade swept through the shoes without the feel of striking anything solid. The eerie Red Dancing Shoes seemed to exist in another space, absent from reality.

Thud! Thud!

A moment later, Ou Xiangrong was kicked hard in the chest and face.

He felt the same pain Zhang Yuanqing had just experienced, so intense his heart seemed to stop and he could barely breathe. At the same time, his face stung, and warm liquid trickled from his nostrils.

"This—this isn't a Night Wanderer item." Ou Xiangrong stared in stunned bewilderment, his voice uncertain. "Void?"

The item's properties looked a little like those of a profession from overseas. How could a Level 1 Night Wanderer possess an item belonging to a foreign profession?

There was no time to think. In Ou Xiangrong's sight, the eerie dancing shoes turned around and came stomping at him again.

He had no time to wipe away his nosebleed. He crossed his arms over his chest and, with two thuds, the Bewitching Demon was kicked off the car roof and sent tumbling down.

Ou Xiangrong lunged forward, sprinted, rolled, and used cars for cover, darting back and forth across the spacious underground parking garage. He dodged most of the Red Dancing Shoes' stomps.

Still, he was unlucky enough to get hit several times. Every stomp brought excruciating pain, and the injuries from last night's battle flared up, blood seeping from his organs.

S-so strong. Zhang Yuanqing, the useless owner, watched the Red Dancing Shoes fight, his eyes wide with shock.

Once again, he realized just how terrifying rule-based items were.

Their pursuit couldn't be disrupted or stopped. The target could only endure it passively unless they solved the item's rule—which meant dancing.

But that wasn't realistic. Even if Ou Xiangrong gave in and swallowed his shame to dance a tap routine, Zhang Yuanqing would interfere and make him mess up.

And if he made a mistake in his steps, it would all be for nothing.

Still, Zhang Yuanqing now had a clear sense of how powerful a Bewitching Demon was. Ou Xiangrong was enduring the force of the Red Dancing Shoes' stomps.

His body was terrifyingly tough.

"Ou Xiangrong won't wait around to die. Once he realizes he can only take hits and can't fight back, he'll try to escape."

Zhang Yuanqing remained clear-headed. He had to ambush Ou Xiangrong before he could get away.

He didn't need to kill him, but he had to keep this murderer from escaping.

Thud! Thud!

Ou Xiangrong failed to dodge once more and took two kicks to the face. He staggered backward, his vision going black as dizziness washed over him.

Now!

Zhang Yuanqing sprang out like a leopard and raced forward, gripping the Demon Subduing Pestle. He ran in a curved arc, circling behind Ou Xiangrong.

He thrust the Demon Subduing Pestle viciously at Ou Xiangrong's back.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a dense white light, as thick as mist, blocked the pestle's three-sided spike.

The power came from the Bronze Waist Token clenched in Ou Xiangrong's left hand, an ancient waist token covered in cracks and bloodstains, like something once owned by a battle-hardened veteran.

It was Zhao Yingjun's defensive item.

"A defensive item?"

Zhang Yuanqing's heart tightened at the failed ambush. He shifted his steps and darted around Ou Xiangrong, repeatedly driving the Demon Subduing Pestle into the white barrier. Each strike sent ripples of light through it.

This time, with the Red Dancing Shoes providing cover, the Bewitching Demon couldn't "kill him in an instant." Zhang Yuanqing narrowly dodged several attacks from the blade and fists.

Crack!

At last, under the relentless blows of the Demon Subduing Pestle and the Red Dancing Shoes, the Bronze Waist Token shattered into pieces, and the white light dispersed into flecks.

By then, Zhang Yuanqing's Night Roaming time had run out, and his body reappeared.

Ou Xiangrong seemed to have been waiting for this moment. Scarlet flooded his eyes, and twisted, sinister runes surfaced in them.

Bewitch!

Zhang Yuanqing's mind roared. He lost the ability to think, as if he had forgotten he was in the middle of a fight. At the same time, a voice echoed in his mind:

Put down your weapon. Don't resist. Put down your weapon. Don't resist.

Ou Xiangrong grinned savagely and slashed the Willow Blade toward the young Night Wanderer's neck.

He had been willing to endure the terrifying shoes' attacks without using his defensive item because he was waiting for the Night Wanderer to attack him.

The item, which came from the Scout profession, had already been damaged. If he used it too soon, it would only withstand the shoes for a moment before breaking completely.

So he had simply endured the pain and deliberately left an opening, luring his opponent into attacking.

Just as he'd expected, the young Night Wanderer was inexperienced and impatient. He had fallen for the trap.

But just before the blade could cut across the young Night Wanderer's neck, Ou Xiangrong saw his body suddenly fold downward. The Willow Blade swept past his scalp, slicing off a few strands of hair.

The Red Dancing Shoes that had been relentlessly pursuing Ou Xiangrong had somehow appeared on the Night Wanderer's feet. They forced him into a full split, allowing him to avoid the attempt on his throat.

At the same time, brilliant golden light surged in the eyes of the Night Wanderer who should have been under Bewitch. He instantly broke free of the dazed state, then sprang off both legs and hurled himself at Ou Xiangrong.

Ou Xiangrong had never expected this. He hadn't thought that a mere Level 1 Night Wanderer could break free of his Bewitch.

And now, he was still in the middle of a sword swing and couldn't pull back. All he could do was watch as the Brass Pestle stabbed toward his chest.

Pfft!

Flesh tore. A brilliant golden light erupted from the tip of the Demon Subduing Pestle, burning away the life force in Ou Xiangrong's chest.

Ou Xiangrong's vision went black. The pain nearly knocked him unconscious, but he was a battle-hardened Bewitching Demon. In the throes of death, he forced himself to summon his remaining strength, pulling back his right arm and dragging the Willow Blade toward the Night Wanderer's throat.

At the same time, he tensed the muscles in his left arm and snapped his elbow, turning his fist into a powerful spear that shot toward his enemy's shoulder.

Zhang Yuanqing jerked his head back, dodging the blade aimed at his throat, but Ou Xiangrong's fist struck his shoulder and sent him flying like a broken sandbag.

Crash!

Zhang Yuanqing slammed into a business car, spiderweb cracks spreading across its window. Before his falling body could hit the ground, it faded away bit by bit, vanishing from Ou Xiangrong's sight.

He had entered the Night Roaming state once more.

Ou Xiangrong ignored him and staggered toward Xu Yingying.

His heart had been destroyed. The only thing that could save him now was the vital essence of the living. He needed to kill someone and enter a Berserk state.

Then he could escape the underground parking garage and massacre the campus. With the bloodthirsty nature of a Bewitching Demon, he could heal his injuries and cheat death.

But if he did that, his Moral Value would certainly fall below 60. The Spirit Realm would put him on its wanted list, and Spirit Realm Walkers from across the city would hunt him down. But he couldn't afford to care about that now.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Two streaks of dim red light appeared out of nowhere, forming a brand-new pair of red dancing shoes. They cut off Ou Xiangrong's path.

To Ou Xiangrong, the footsteps sounded like a funeral bell, the sigh of the Death God, the verdict of the King of Hell.

Thud! Thud!

The shoes trampled Ou Xiangrong's face, crushing his nose and splitting his lips. His eyeballs burst from their sockets.

He fell backward, unable to control himself, but at the last moment, Ou Xiangrong flung the Willow Blade from his hand.

The forty-centimeter blade became a streak of silver as it flew toward Xu Yingying in the distance.

Ou Xiangrong stared fixedly at the blade.

Clang!

Suddenly, sparks flew as a Brass Pestle emerged from the Void and knocked the Willow Blade away. A figure appeared beside Xu Yingying.

It was Zhang Yuanqing.

The hope in Ou Xiangrong's eyes turned to despair and resentment.

Then the Red Dancing Shoes descended from above and stomped on his face, crushing his nose, splitting his lips, and sending his two eyeballs flying from their sockets.

Ou Xiangrong's hands and feet twitched a few times, then his life ended for good.

Zhang Yuanqing dropped down beside Xu Yingying and let out a long breath, as if he'd been utterly drained.

Violent fury churned in his chest, and his limbs wouldn't stop trembling.

It wasn't fear. It was the mental high brought on by a surge of adrenaline. When people were in danger and desperately needed to save themselves, their bodies secreted adrenaline in a frenzy. In that state, they could literally kill without batting an eye.

In other words, they were riding the high!

The battle plan had worked.

Before the fight, he'd already thought everything through. The only thing he had to guard against was Ou Xiangrong's Bewitch skill, so he had offered a sacrifice to the Demon Subduing Pestle before deciding to launch his ambush.

One of the Demon Subduing Pestle's functions was purification.

And the Red Dancing Shoes' second form was what had given him the confidence to fight at close quarters. They had indeed helped him avoid the fatal slash to his throat.

Mark, Bewitch, Berserk, close-quarters combat. He had carefully accounted for all of Ou Xiangrong's abilities and prepared countermeasures. If he still couldn't win after all that, Zhang Yuanqing figured he might as well give up.

After a few minutes of catching his breath, Zhang Yuanqing calmed his roiling emotions. Then he heard the Spirit Realm's notification:

[ Ding, you have killed a Level 3 Bewitching Demon. You have gained 30 Moral Value and 15 Reputation. Reputation has been unlocked. ]

Zhang Yuanqing froze and quickly opened the Character Attribute Panel. He saw that a Reputation entry had appeared.

Reputation? Did killing Spirit Realm Walkers from an opposing faction reward you with Reputation? As a longtime gamer, he was familiar with the concept, but he didn't know what Reputation did in the Spirit Realm.

After giving it some thought, Zhang Yuanqing decided not to worry about it for now. He could log in to the official forums and look it up later.

He was more interested in the spoils he'd won in the real world than in the Reputation the Spirit Realm had awarded him.

He got up and walked over to Ou Xiangrong's corpse, kicked the eyeballs under a car, then dragged the body into a shadowy corner.

He searched the corpse carefully and found a phone and a wallet.

The phone was an old-fashioned model that could only make calls, while the wallet was bulging. He opened it and found a stack of hundred-yuan bills and a fake ID.

Zhang Yuanqing counted the money carefully. "A wanted criminal who only carries a little over fifteen hundred yuan? Does that make any sense?"

I'll take that! He pulled out the money and stuffed it into his pocket.

Then he walked farther away and picked up the sharp Willow Blade.

The moment he touched the weapon, a message appeared in his field of vision:

[Name: Bloodthirsty Blade]

[Type: Weapon]

[Functions: Bleeding, Bloodthirst, Armor Piercing]

[Description: A powerful Bewitching Demon fed this blade with his own vital essence. Over time, it became extremely bloodthirsty. Its edge can cut through hard steel, and wounds inflicted by it are difficult to heal. It absorbs its prey's vital essence and feeds it back to its owner, making him more powerful.]

[Remark: A blade that doesn't want to stab its owner isn't a good blade.]

"This blade looks pretty damn powerful. If it had killed Xu Yingying just now, Ou Xiangrong would've benefited from the weapon's feedback. Good thing I kept my guard up and stayed beside Xu Yingying."

Zhang Yuanqing hurried back to Ou Xiangrong's corpse, removed the scabbard from the small of his back, and strapped it on. Then he slid the Bloodthirsty Blade into it.

The blade was currently unclaimed. Getting it to acknowledge him as its owner would be simple: he just had to put it in his Inventory.

But Zhang Yuanqing didn't want to do that just yet. The [Remark] in the item information made him uneasy.

The Bloodthirsty Blade was probably a price-type item, and that remark described the price of using it.

Based on the blade's description, Zhang Yuanqing could guess what the price might be. There were two possibilities. First, anyone who got the blade would be cursed and eventually die a horrible death.

Second, the blade required its owner to feed it vital essence regularly. That seemed more likely.

Another item that needed to be fed vital essence. The Demon Subduing Pestle had already made me anemic. How am I supposed to manage if I add the Bloodthirsty Blade to the mix?

Just then, Zhang Yuanqing saw the Red Dancing Shoes patter over to him. They bounced up and down, and a message appeared:

[Would you like to dance with me? If you agree, please march in place.]

Only then did he remember that he hadn't put the item back in his Inventory. He was about to refuse and put it away when he suddenly heard a notification from the Spirit Realm:

[Attention: Each use of this item requires you to dance once. If you refuse, the Red Dancing Shoes will no longer favor you and will hunt you down.]

Zhang Yuanqing's mouth gradually fell open in surprise. This was his first time using the item in the real world after taming the Red Dancing Shoes. He hadn't expected that using this rule-based item would come with such a price.

You'll kill me if I don't dance with you? What a rip-off. Zhang Yuanqing got up with a beaming smile. "I'd be delighted."

Soon, the clear sounds of tapping echoed through the vast, quiet parking garage.

This time, he didn't trigger his old injury. Instead, he completed the dance through sheer superhuman stamina, though he missed his steps again and again.

Fortunately, as the owner, he wasn't attacked by the Red Dancing Shoes.

When the dance was over, the Red Dancing Shoes stepped back with their right foot, rose onto their toes, and performed a curtsey.

He had just put the Red Dancing Shoes back into his Inventory when his ears twitched. He heard hurried footsteps coming from the ramp.

Looking in that direction, he saw Li Dongze leading Guan Ya and seven or eight unfamiliar Spirit Realm Walkers as they charged into the underground parking garage.

Some carried guns, some held knives, and some were carrying a cat. They were all fully armed.

Thank goodness, thank goodness I've already danced. Zhang Yuanqing felt overwhelmingly relieved.

P.S. I'll edit after posting first.