You're a Good Child, Right?

"I..."

The little girl lowered her head. Mist welled in her untainted eyes, and her tiny skyward pigtail swayed back and forth, as if Chu He had broken her toy and made her terribly sad.

"Come a little closer. Tell me what you want to do."

Chu He tossed the sack aside and slowly approached the little girl, the temperature over his body rising steadily like a volcano.

"You broke my toy... I'll turn you into my toy!" The little girl abruptly raised her head. Her pupils turned pitch-black, like swirling vortexes.

Chu He's movements halted, and the air around them seemed to freeze solid.

Three seconds later.

Smack!

The stalemate shattered. A massive golden hand shot out and seized a scarlet tongue stretching from behind him. His surging blood and qi scorched the tongue, giving off a rancid, burnt stench.

"Old bastard, what are you sneaking around behind me for?"

Chu He whirled around. The golden light in his eyes stretched into thin lines, his pupils brimming with fury on the verge of exploding at any moment.

Screech—

Peach blossoms and fallen leaves flew everywhere. The muscles in his arms swelled explosively as he flung backward with all his strength. Grabbing the scarlet tongue, Chu He yanked a cockroach-like figure down from the peach tree and smashed it viciously into the ground.

The pebbles on the ground trembled. Before the fallen figure could get up, a huge foot descended like a falling meteor and stomped brutally onto its spine.

Crack! Snap!

The sound of flesh and bones bursting echoed through the peach grove, horrifying beyond measure.

Chu He looked down. This strange figure had four legs and four arms. Its mouth covered the entire outline of its head; whenever it opened its mouth, it was like a watermelon split into two halves, with sharp, vicious teeth densely packed throughout its maw.

"Stand there and don't move, or Big Brother will get angry!"

Chu He suddenly looked up at the vacant-eyed little girl.

Then he smiled, revealing rows of chilling white teeth.

"Didn't you want a toy?" Chu He lifted the long tongue and shook the spider-man in his hand. "Big Brother will make you a toy, all right?"

"I... I don't want it..."

The little girl spoke as softly as a mosquito, her figure rapidly fading away.

"Hm? You dare not want it? Are you looking down on me?"

Chu He glared, then drew the long blade from his waist. Turning into a golden afterimage, he instantly pierced the little girl's shoulder and nailed her to the tree behind her.

Just as the girl was about to scream, a huge shadow blotted out the moonlight and enveloped her. Looking up, she saw two pupils like golden suns, and a terrifying, searing pressure swept across her entire body.

"Don't be so nervous."

Chu He crouched down, one large hand gripping the hilt. "You called me Big Brother, so naturally I won't hurt you, my little sister."

The next instant, blazing golden blood and qi wrapped around the blade once more.

Sizzle—

The scalding blood and qi seared the wound in the little girl's shoulder.

"..."

The little girl's body trembled slightly, yet she did not dare let out even the faintest cry.

"Here, this is the toy Big Brother is giving you. It's fresh and alive."

Chu He dragged the spider-man over to the little girl.

But as it drew near, the half-dead spider-man seemed to awaken. It struggled frantically, its writhing tongue lashing wildly about.

Chu He frowned. With a tap of his toe, his foot came down like a battle-axe, crushing half its head outright. The spider-man's body twitched a few times before its head drooped, its limbs fell limp, and it died completely.

"Ding-dong, absorbing eerie qi. Energy +2!"

"Ahem... Even though it's dead, it's still a toy, isn't it?"

Chu He stuffed the spider-man, mangled into a lump, into the little girl's arms and rubbed her head. "Tell me, what's your name?"

The little girl's body stiffened with terror. She let Chu He knead her hair into a chicken's nest, her skyward pigtail coiling atop her head like a pile of shit.

Chu He had only asked casually and had not expected an answer, but to his surprise, a halting voice drifted softly over.

"Miao... Miaomiao..."

"Your name is Miaomiao?" Chu He brightened and affectionately wrapped an arm around Miaomiao's shoulders. "Miaomiao, do you like the toy Big Brother gave you?"

Miaomiao looked at the grotesque head, half smashed to pulp. She desperately wanted to show disgust, but her instinct for survival had taught her the ways of human society.

"I like it..."

"Hehe, good that you like it..." Chu He abruptly changed the subject. "Then Big Brother has a question for you. Are you a good child?"

The little girl stared blankly at Chu He, not knowing what he meant.

"Are you a good child?"

Chu He smiled and asked again, his hand once more gripping the hilt.

Miaomiao hurriedly nodded.

Seeing this, Chu He smiled. His gleaming white teeth were almost dazzling, and like a wolf in sheep's clothing, he revealed the fangs hidden in his mouth.

"Then as a good child, shouldn't you share the toys you like with your good friends?"

Chu He's voice was gentle, yet it carried the allure of temptation.

Miaomiao looked at Chu He in confusion, not quite understanding.

Why should good things be shared?

Shouldn't they be hidden away and enjoyed alone?

"All right. It's time to share your toy with your good friends."

Chu He patted her head and deliberately pushed the iron blade another inch deeper. A soft sizzle sounded, and Miaomiao's little face puckered into a miserable knot as if she had bitten into a lemon.

"Remember, don't call too many friends. One at a time."

Chu He stood up with a beaming smile and said meaningfully, "That way, you can get even more toys..."

Miaomiao was instinctively afraid, but the word "toys" stirred her interest. Looking at the blade embedded in her shoulder, she could only yield under duress.

Her little mouth opened slightly, and her plump hands came together. Waves of bone-piercing yin qi spread out as the chilly wind seemed to whisper quietly to something.

Chu He stood beside the tree behind Miaomiao, his entire body blending into the darkness.

His gaze was deep and dim, like a bottomless frozen pool.

Just moments ago, when he realized Miaomiao could communicate, he had suddenly abandoned the thought of fleeing. Perhaps it was unwillingness gnawing at him, or perhaps he wanted to beat Han Zhong, that sanctimonious little man, to a pulp.

Perhaps it was all of it...

All worry and fear came from insufficient strength!

So he would break through to the third layer of the Golden Bell Shield here!

"Running away is what cowards do..." Chu He lightly swept aside the hair before his forehead, revealing a chilling killing intent. "Sure enough, running away just doesn't suit me!"

"Hiss, hiss!"

At that moment, a corpse staggered out of the thin mist.

With a crack, it twisted its head toward Miaomiao.

It hopped toward them step by step. When it saw the spider-man's corpse in Miaomiao's hands, saliva and slime streamed from its mouth, and it moved even faster.

One step...

Two steps...

Three steps...

But just as it reached the peach tree where Miaomiao stood, it noticed the long blade in her shoulder. Its steps halted as it instinctively sensed something was wrong.

The next second, a black shadow suddenly charged out from behind the peach tree.

A savage smile curled across its lips. Both fists glowed red, the muscles in its arms coiling like dragons. Boundless force erupted as it crashed into the corpse's head like a red meteor.

In an instant, mud and water splashed everywhere, bones cracking in rapid succession. As the corpse flew backward, its head could no longer withstand the force and exploded first.

"Ding-dong! Absorbing eerie qi. Energy +2!"

Chu He let out a long breath and silently tossed the headless corpse before Miaomiao.

Leaving behind two words, he turned and hid behind the tree once again.

"Continue."