Before Xia Lun had finished speaking, the wineglass hit the floor with a crack!
The owner of the Golden Arena looked down. Dark purple wine flowed along the grooves in the floor, mingling with shattered glass and glittering ice that reflected the scorching sunlight.
Then a tiny piece of ice wriggled. He looked closer and realized, to his horror, that it was no ice at all. It was a translucent insect egg!
His throat tightened, and his stomach churned.
Crunch. A bloodstained black leather boot came down. Its heel ground the egg and the glass beneath it to pieces.
"It's all right," Xia Lun reassured him. "You didn't drink the wine."
The arena owner was so terrified that his mind went blank. He asked instinctively, "What would've happened if I had?"
"You'd have ended up like that." Xia Lun pointed to the still-burning remains on the floor.
The arena owner shuddered. It took several deep breaths before he could pull himself together. Through the distant ringing in his ears, he once again heard the spectators shouting outside the window.
"What was that thing? What happened to Herman?" He pressed his lips together and looked at Xia Lun with a troubled expression.
"An Evil Spirit that came out of the desert. It's spreading through the city now," Xia Lun explained, raising an eyebrow. "It came to you because it probably wanted to parasitize you. It would slowly hollow out your flesh, prop up your skin with its insect body, and take your place."
"..." The arena owner's expression shifted. After a long while, he drew a deep breath, as though he had made up his mind.
He was about to speak when the private room's door opened. Only now had his guards finally arrived.
"Are you all—"
"Get out!" the arena