Chapter 28: Suspicion
The matches continued one after another, each lasting about half an hour on average. Yu Xian and Zhang Shou were thoroughly enjoying themselves, mostly because every beast-fighting warrior who stepped into the arena was formidable. Although their strength and speed could not necessarily be measured up to Yu Xian's, their combat experience was on an entirely different level.
Their footwork, positioning, control of the flow of the battle, and judgment were simply incredible. Watching the matches live was a completely different experience from watching videos online, especially regarding the finer details of how they generated and applied force. Without seeing it in person, it was almost impossible to catch those subtleties.
The host appeared before the audience one more time. "Ladies and gentlemen, were those battles exciting? Hahaha, I think our beast-fighting warriors have put on a spectacular performance, enough to get everyone's blood pumping! Up next is tonight's grand finale! Our hunting team captured this supernatural creature just today. It is a White Ape with human-level intelligence!"
A cage slowly rose into view. Inside stood a three-meter-tall, massive, muscular White Ape. The White Ape kept its head lowered, its eyes hidden beneath the shadows. Its back alone radiated an overwhelming sense of pressure. Despite being only a relatively low-ranked supernatural creature, it gave off the impression that it could not be underestimated.
The host continued, "And our challenger is the undefeated king of a thousand battles, the Iron God, Bai Jinlong!"
On the other side of the arena, a burly man standing near 1.9 meters tall stepped forward. He glanced at the surrounding spectators, a faint smile appearing on his face. Raising his hand, he waved toward the various seating sections. The arena erupted with cheers for the "Iron God."
Yu Xian read Bai Jinlong's profile. The beast-fighting provided this information to guests, who could easily browse it on a tablet connected to the seat.
Bai Jinlong, 32 years old, was a Bee-rank supernatural being. His ability enabled him to transform his body into black alloy. Not only did he have rich combat experience, but he also possessed immense physical strength. He could even fight opponents above his rank if he countered their abilities.
Yu Xian glanced at his profile again. "This guy is strong!"
He estimated that even if he used all the tricks up his sleeve, he would probably be unable to break Bai Jinlong's defense. Of course, Bai Jinlong would not be able to kill him either.
The match soon began. The electric cage was powered down, its door slowly opened, and the giant White Ape raised its head to look at Bai Jinlong.
Zhou Tai, one of whose personalities was inside the White Ape, could never have imagined he would be in this situation. Just the day before, he had been dreaming of conquering the world. A day later, a supernatural being hunting team had captured him effortlessly. To cover the escape of his main body, his other bodies had thrown themselves into danger and been killed easily.
His nine personalities were currently residing in weak animals such as rats, rabbits, and sparrows, as well as his original body. Ironically, his strongest body had become a prisoner of humans and was forced to perform like a clown.
Bai Jinlong gestured for Zhou Tai to come to him and smiled. "Come on, big guy!"
Zhou Tai felt a surge of fury rising from his chest. He wanted nothing more than to tear every single human before him to shreds. Among all of his personalities, the third one was the most domineering. His dream was to conquer the world, unlike the others, who only wanted to kill or play around.
The third personality knew that only by conquering the world could he do whatever he pleased. Whether it was skinning people alive, murder, arson, or anything else, once that day came, no living creature would dare stand in his way.
With a furious roar, Zhou Tai immediately threw a punch toward Bai Jinlong. However, the moment he leaped forward, Bai Jinlong had already anticipated the attack and easily sidestepped it. Moreover, to showcase his skill, he did not even use his supernatural abilities while dodging.
Zhou Tai's punch struck the ring and shook the arena. The spectators instantly erupted into cheers, but to Zhou Tai, it sounded like mockery.
Bai Jinlong smiled at Zhou Tai. "Again!"
Notably, what Zhou Tai controlled was not an Aberrant Parasite, but a Brain-Clinging Neural Parasite. The White Ape was still alive, but Zhou Tai controlled its every action.
Glaring at Bai Jinlong, Zhou Tai growled in a distorted, unnatural voice, "Human, you have truly enraged me!"
Bai Jinlong froze for a moment. The next instant, Zhou Tai's arm swept across, sending him flying. Bai Jinlong slammed heavily into the special-alloy cage, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Zhou Tai seized the opportunity to rush forward, unleashing a flurry of punches with the intent to kill Bai Jinlong while he was down. "Die!"
However, he quickly noticed something was wrong. Taking a step back, he saw that Bai Jinlong's body had turned pitch-black. The flurry of punches he had just delivered wasn't even enough to scratch an itch.
Bai Jinlong had been caught off guard by the White Ape speaking in a human tongue, which had allowed the creature to land a sneak attack on him. Now that he was prepared, the White Ape posed no threat to him whatsoever.
He got back to his feet and looked at the White Ape's massive frame before turning to the spectators. "It can actually talk? That totally took me by surprise!"
Quite a few supernatural creatures were capable of speaking human languages. Certain parrots, for example, could speak remarkably fluently. Yellow weasels who sought recognition from humans were another example. They, too, could speak human languages. [1]
Within their private box, Yu Xian and the others were equally shocked when the White Ape spoke. Yu Xian, in particular, felt that something was amiss. For some reason, he found the White Ape's voice familiar.
But there were some peculiarities. It was like hearing the voice of an older brother after only ever knowing the younger one. They sounded familiar, yet they were not quite the same.
He frowned, carefully trying to recall where he had heard that voice before. However, the White Ape's voice was too rough and unusual, and he couldn't match it with anything in his memory. It felt more like a sudden flash of intuition. No matter how deeply he dredged up his memories, he couldn't pinpoint the source.
Nora frowned as she stared at the White Ape. "Yu Xian, did you feel it? That voice... doesn't it sound like we've heard it somewhere before?"
Yu Xian froze. "You feel it too?"
Nora nodded. "Yeah, but I just can't figure out where I’ve heard it."
Yu Xian looked at the White Ape and threw a wild guess. "Zhou Tai?"
He and Nora had crossed paths with many people, but only one of them was truly suspicious. Consequently, Zhou Tai was the very first person who came to mind.
Nora was uncertain. "Zhou Tai? The voice doesn't match, but the feeling... does seem a little similar."
Yu Xian continued watching the fight. Now that suspicion had taken root, the more he looked, the more the White Ape resembled Zhou Tai. In particular, its combat style focused heavily on sneak attacks and catching opponents off guard.
If Bai Jinlong hadn't transformed his body into black alloy, he probably would not have been able to handle the White Ape at all.
Yu Xian's expression gradually turned serious. That's definitely Zhou Tai. Could this White Ape be under the control of a Brain-Clinging Neural Parasite?
Silver light flickered deep in his pupils, and he confirmed that there were no tentacles beneath the White Ape's skin. There had never been any recorded cases of Aberrant Parasites infecting supernatural creatures before. If this White Ape really was Zhou Tai, then the situation was far more serious than expected.
Yu Xian decided that once the match was over, he would examine the White Ape's corpse. If it were confirmed to be Zhou Tai, he would immediately report it to Qilin's headquarters.
1. 讨封 (tǎo fēng) is a concept from Chinese folklore in which a demon that has cultivated seeks recognition from a human. The demon typically asks a question such as, "Do I look human?" If the human affirms it, the demon may gain the opportunity to assume human form or advance its cultivation. Depending on the legend, the process can involve transferring fate, vitality, or karmic burden to the respondent, making such encounters both feared and taboo. ☜