Such a Beast

Shan Meirong had still been feeling bewildered when a sudden, knife-like pain seized her stomach. Forgetting all decorum, she rushed into the restroom.

It was over half an hour before she emerged, her face deathly pale. Naturally, she had seen the worms she had expelled into the toilet.

Now she had no choice but to believe it. Could something so miraculous and terrifying really exist in this world?

Yun Zimo looked at her and said, "Auntie, you believe me now, don't you? Xiang Yu was behind all of this. He joined something called the Night God Church, and it's full of evil people.

"But I never imagined he could be so vicious as to target his own mother. He's worse than an animal!"

Shan Meirong said nothing, her expression stern. After a moment's hesitation, she had the two of them hide in the inner room, then told her secretary to fetch her son.

Xiang Yu swaggered in and said to his mother, "I just saw Yun Zimo's car downstairs. Did that woman come here to beg you to go easy on her?

"You absolutely can't agree. She's just like those models—all sluts. All they think about is men, instead of doing any honest work!"

Listening from the inner room, Yun Zimo clenched her teeth. That damned spoiled brat dared to slander me behind my back. He ought to take a good look at his own sorry self first.

Meng Huai took her hand and gently shook his head. This was no time to act on impulse. A moment's impatience could ruin the whole plan.

Shan Meirong ignored her son's remarks. Tapping the desk, she said, "I recently spoke to the finance department. You've been taking money out repeatedly without explaining what it's for!

"I don't mind you spending money, but I need to know where it's going. You can't just squander it. After all, you'll be the heir someday."

Xiang Yu replied carelessly, "I've spent it on the right things. You don't need to ask what exactly. You said it yourself—I'm the heir. Since it's all my money anyway, how I spend it is my business."

Shan Meirong's expression shifted slightly. She had never expected the damned brat to say something like that. He really was a completely different person from before.

Furious, she said, "I'm not dead yet! You have no right to say that. Starting tomorrow, I'm freezing your cards, and you won't be allowed to withdraw any money from the finance department!"

Xiang Yu glared viciously at his mother and snapped, "Have you gone senile? How could you treat me like this? That little bitch must have said something to you!

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'll tell you the truth: I joined the Night God Church. I'm a believer now, and there's no limit to what I'll achieve!

"So you'd better hand the company over to me right away and let me take it to a whole new level. Otherwise, don't blame your son for showing you no mercy!"

Unexpectedly, Shan Meirong did not become angry. Instead, waves of heartache washed over her. She had never imagined that the son she had loved and pampered since childhood would turn out like this.

She sighed softly. "What has happened to you? How did you become like this? How could I possibly hand the company over to someone like you? You've disappointed me terribly.

"From now on, stay out of the company's affairs. I'll make the necessary arrangements myself. In a while, I'll send you abroad. I hope you'll straighten yourself out while you're away."

Xiang Yu abruptly stood, planted both hands on the desk, and glared at his mother. "Have you lost your mind? How can you even say that?

"Let me tell you the truth. God has already worked his power on you. I wasn't going to use it—after all, you're my own mother. I was going to let you spend your remaining days in peace!

"But now that you're trying to do this, you can't blame me. I'll activate his divine power in a moment, and your guts will rupture and rot until you die. I've even thought up the diagnosis for you: acute appendicitis with perforation!

"What a shame. You just had to defy God's will. You won't get to see me lead our group to soaring success, but I'll burn offerings of paper money for you when the time comes."

Xiang Yu took a small drum from his pocket and began beating it. When he saw that his mother showed no reaction whatsoever, his expression changed at once.

He kept muttering, "How is this possible? God wouldn't lie to me. Why isn't it working at all?"

Watching her son's frenzy, Shan Meirong's eyes filled with tears. She truly did not know how things had come to this. She had failed her son.

Keeping her expression calm, she said, "You must mean those worms. I really can't believe that the son I love most would let outsiders plant gu worms in me!"

Xiang Yu seemed to snap out of a dream. He immediately shouted, "It must have been you, you little bitch, and that man you're sleeping with! Get the hell out here!"

Unable to hold back any longer, Yun Zimo flung open the door and rushed out. Pointing at him, she said, "You damned bastard! You're worse than an animal!

"Even crows know to feed their parents in return, yet you used gu poison to harm your own mother. Without her, what do you think you'd be?"

Xiang Yu ignored her and glared viciously at Meng Huai instead. "I know this was all your doing. What grudge do you have against me?

"First you stole my woman, and now you're ruining my plans. You son of a bitch! God will never let you get away with this!"

Meng Huai looked at him coldly. "Your so-called god is nothing more than an evil man. A true god would teach respect for one's parents. Your parents are the ones you should revere as gods.

"If you can harm even your own mother, you've already fallen onto an evil path. Heaven itself cannot tolerate you. You'll get what you deserve!"

Xiang Yu's face twisted viciously. "Keep dreaming! Don't think you can rest easy just because you forced the gu worms out of that old hag!

"Before God's power, you're nothing but a mantis trying to stop a chariot. I'll send you to your grave right now, you bastard. But you won't be lonely on the way—these two women will be joining you."

He took up the little drum again and beat it incessantly. The drumming had a distinct rhythm, as though it were transmitting some special signal.

Meng Huai's gaze sharpened. Xiang Yu had shown no fluctuations of magical power before and had clearly been an ordinary person. But as the drumbeats grew more rapid, something began to change.

Xiang Yu's eyes turned blood-red. A black threadworm emerged from every pore, and the worms slowly gathered together, eventually forming a large worm a foot long.

Only then did Meng Huai seem to snap out of a dream, letting out a startled cry.