Chapter 172: Devil's Den
Xiao Ye opened it. Inside was a set of black clothes and—a hideous mask!
Not a ghastly demon, but the likeness of King Yama!
Xiao Ye chuckled softly and put on the mask. "Let's go. First, we find the man who said I got what I deserved."
"Yes, sir!"
The engine started, and the car sped away!
Outside a high-end villa.
The middle-aged man, having just attended the funeral, got into his car. "Let's go. To the Devil's Lair."
"The man's finally dead. I can finally relax a little."
Xiao Ye had been so hard to kill that he'd nearly worried himself bald lately.
Thankfully, things had turned out well in the end.
Still, he needed to blow off all the steam that had built up during this time, or it would fester.
The moment the car pulled away, a discreet black sedan fell in behind it.
「Imperial Capital Suburbs.」
In front of a seemingly ordinary residential house.
The car came to a slow stop.
The middle-aged man stepped out, a bloodthirsty, expectant smile on his face.
He hurried through the main gate, then took a winding path to a dry well behind the house.
The rim of the well was raised with red bricks, complete with a rope and bucket. The disguise was perfect.
Moreover, if you looked down, you could even see water and the reflection of the full moon.
No one would ever suspect there was anything wrong with this well.
The man placed his hand on one side. With a BEEP...
...the red bricks on the right side slid inward, revealing an entrance large enough for an adult to pass through.
The man walked in and followed a staircase straight down.
After nearly five minutes of walking, he finally saw another door.
He pushed open the door to find what looked like a lavishly decorated club.
"Third Brother, you're here. How did it go with that target?"
The man sat on a nearby sofa, took a glass of red wine, and leaned back comfortably. "He's dead."
"As dead as can be."
"Congratulations, Third Brother, on completing such a difficult mission. This will surely lead to a promotion!"
The man laughed and drank his wine. "You have no idea how much this worried me. That guy was a real pain to kill."
"Alright, enough talk. I'm going in to blow off some steam."
"Third Brother, I'll go with you!"
The two of them headed deeper inside.
Passing through door after door, they finally arrived at a large hall in the very back.
A large crowd had gathered there, all of them letting out excited screams.
And up above, inside a massive cage enclosed by steel bars...
...a woman cowered in the corner, her face filled with terror.
Across from her was a ravenous gray wolf.
"No..."
The woman, sobbing, beat against the cage. "Please, let me go! I don't want to die!"
The people below showed no pity, instead hurling curses at her.
"Fuck, you're a goddamn waste! Go on!"
"If you don't want to die, go kill the wolf!"
"Where did they find such a useless woman? Get on with it!"
The gray wolf was starving. It didn't care about any of that and lunged straight for the woman.
"AH!" A scream rang out.
It was followed by the woman's cries of excruciating pain.
The gray wolf was on top of her, taking bite after bite!
Its sharp fangs viciously tore the flesh from her arm!
In just a moment, blood was dripping from the high platform, and the woman's voice gradually faded away.
"Tch, how boring. Just a piece of trash waiting to die."
"Well, it wasn't a total loss. At least we got to see her get eaten."
"I still prefer an even match, not a one-sided slaughter like this."
No one noticed that another person had walked in through the door.
He wore the mask of King Yama, hideous and terrifying.
Xiao Ye looked at the blood on the platform. Even without knowing exactly what had happened, he could guess.
This wasn't a place for relaxation at all; it was a slaughterhouse!
Looking at the bloodthirsty or, worse, indifferent faces of the crowd, rage surged within Xiao Ye.
'What a bunch of animals!'
He slowly backed out of the crowd. Just as he reached the doorway, he ran into patrolling guards.
They were dressed in black and also wore masks, but theirs were completely different from Xiao Ye's.
One of them immediately blocked his path. "Which unit are you with? Who told you you could change your mask!"
"Change it back right now!"
Xiao Ye looked at him. Beneath the mask, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He then nodded and walked toward a dark corner.
The guard sensed something was wrong and immediately followed.
"Hey, who the hell are you—"
Before he could finish, the guard's world went black.
Xiao Ye took the guard's mask and put it on his own face.
This time, he went back out without any fear of being discovered.
In fact, he strode brazenly right back into the main hall.
Atop the high platform, inside the cage.
Things had now been cleaned up.
The gray wolf and the woman had both been dragged away.
"Let go of me!"
Another woman was dragged out.
She was beautiful, with delicate, somewhat mixed-race features.
The woman was wearing a bikini that revealed large areas of healthy, wheat-colored skin.
From her bearing, it was clear she had once been a pampered little princess, cherished by her family. Now, she was just a toy who could lose her life at any moment.
CLICK.
The woman was shoved into the cage.
The cage door slammed shut.
Xiao Ye had assumed another carnivore would be sent in next.
But to his surprise, this time it was a person.
It was the same man from the funeral, the one who said Xiao Ye had gotten what he deserved!
He held a very long leather whip in his hand. The moment he entered the cage, he swung it at the woman!
The woman tried to dodge, but she was already at the edge of the cage. She barely avoided a fatal blow, and a bloody welt instantly appeared on her arm!
The man was ecstatic. He licked his lips. "Go to hell!"
The crowd below screamed even more wildly!
"Whip her clothes off!"
"I want to see her covered in wounds!"
"Don't hit her face, it'll look better that way!"
Xiao Ye pushed through the crowd and flicked a finger.
SWISH!
A silver needle shot out!
With a THUD, the man in the cage dropped to one knee.
The intense pain made it impossible for him to keep his balance, and he collapsed completely.
The woman across from him, though terrified, was still rational.
The moment she saw him fall, she immediately lunged for the long whip.
She remembered what the people who captured her had said: if she could defeat her opponent, she would be free again!
The woman's eyes lit up as she viciously lashed the man with the whip!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The woman had no technique; she just swung wildly, desperate to survive.
Several new welts appeared on the man's body in an instant, and the pain made him curse loudly!
"Hurry up and let me out!"
"What are you all paid for? How could you let her hit me!"
The person in charge quickly opened the cage and pulled the man out.
The man was twitching in pain but didn't forget to make threats. "Lock her up!"
"When I've recovered, I'll deal with her myself!"
"I'm going to skin her alive!"