“Who are you?”
Lin Xuan was momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the little boy. She subtly raised her lantern, temporarily switching off her live stream.
The boy seemed rather shy; his small face twitched slightly. The lizard on his shoulder instantly scurried into his clothes, as if another second outside would mean being devoured by the being before him.
“Y-you… hello, my name is Asmodeus.”
The boy’s response was stiff, his expression timid, and his body trembled faintly as he spoke.
“You live here?”
“N-no, not really…”
The boy shivered again, his face paling slightly as he replied with a tremor in his voice.
“I was merely ordered by His Highness Beliar to guard this place and expel outsiders!”
“So, you’re responsible for all the strange occurrences here?”
“Y-yes, yes.”
“Beliar? Your companion?”
“Y-yes, that’s right…”
“Where is he now?”
“He went out on an errand. I-I don’t know…”
Lin Xuan ceased her questioning at this point. For one, the boy before her appeared on the verge of collapse, his face terrifyingly pale.
Moreover, the answers she had gleaned thus far provided most of the information she sought.
This blond, blue-eyed boy was clearly not native to Huaxia. Coupled with the recent wars and epidemics plaguing foreign lands, it was highly probable he was among the foreigners who had fled to Huaxia with their families.
Due to the overwhelming number of refugees, and the strict virus checks, many departments within Huaxia had diverted personnel to assist. This meant that while many foreigners passed inspections, they were only issued temporary Huaxia passes.
These temporary passes allowed entry into Huaxia but granted no other citizen rights, such as renting accommodation or staying in hotels. Those caught violating these rules were immediately expelled.
While the government had established some temporary shelters, they couldn’t accommodate everyone. Many failed to register in time and became street vagrants, often hiding in remote areas beyond city management’s reach, hoping to find a place to sleep each night until their passes were made permanent.
This abandoned town, vacant due to special circumstances, was clearly an ideal choice for such individuals. Furthermore, by playing into the town’s existing ghost stories, the chances of detection were even slimmer.
Judging by the boy’s demeanor, he might even be involved in a pyramid scheme, with “His Highness” sounding exactly like the kind of term such organizations would use.
“Come with me. I’ll take you to the police station!”
Regardless, she couldn’t leave the boy here any longer. Seizing the opportunity while his companions, likely part of a pyramid scheme, were absent, she decided to take him to the police station first.
“Don’t worry, they’ll help you find your family!”
Lin Xuan sighed inwardly, looking at the boy trembling like a sieve. ‘Poor child,’ she thought.
Then, a sudden thought struck her. She took a few steps forward, and to the boy’s terrified gaze, she settled onto the grand armchair, pulling out her phone to snap two selfies.
‘This should at least satisfy the fans whose live stream was interrupted,’ she mused.
Glancing at her phone, which showed less than 10% battery, Lin Xuan extinguished the screen and rose from the armchair. She then smiled, approaching the “shy” boy before her.
“Come, I’ll take you out of here!”
“Y-your will… shall be obeyed!”
****
The Heavenly Mirror blurred when Lin Xuan first entered the mayor’s office.
When the image sharpened again, the Honorary Vice Alliance Leader felt his eyes must be playing tricks on him. What was he seeing?
A monster with demonic horns on its head, dark wings on its back, and three faces, radiating terrifying demonic flames. Behind the monster, a hideous hellish dragon accompanied it.
Dark Duke Asmodeus, a demigod-level powerhouse from the Western Hells, known in myths as the King of Demons.
That arrogant, bloodthirsty, and extraordinarily terrifying Asmodeus, who commanded 72 legions of evil spirits!
He was now trembling before her. With the microphone off, they couldn’t hear what was being said.
However, each time she spoke, the Dark Duke’s body would uncontrollably contort, as if an invisible hand were tearing at him. His demonic flames dimmed, and countless worm-like things seemed to writhe beneath the surface of his flesh.
It was an unimaginable torment!
Just witnessing it sent shivers down everyone’s spines!
Yet, despite this, the great demon showed no sign of resistance. Instead, he humbly endured each torment, answering her questions with utmost seriousness.
The hellish dragon that had been trailing him had, at her first utterance, instantly transformed into a streak of light and fled into Asmodeus’s arms, where it now vibrated like a phone on silent.
Just as the great demon appeared on the verge of complete collapse, she finally ceased his torment. She then walked towards the grand armchair, which was surrounded by a near-tangible curse, in the center of the room.
In a daze, countless chain-like entities seemed to emerge from the void. Nine tail-like appendages stretched between heaven and earth. Then, the Heavenly Mirror’s feed suddenly cut out, like a network disconnection, plunging into chaos.
The few individuals present simultaneously felt a chill run down their spines. For a fleeting moment, they felt as though something within that chaos had seen through their very essence, inside and out. The sensation of their lives no longer being their own sent a chill from head to toe.
It was then that her voice emerged from the nearby computer.
“Due to an unexpected incident, today’s live stream will end here. Next, I’ll be taking the little boy to the police station to find his family. See you all tomorrow!”
The clear voice faded, followed immediately by an uploaded digital photo.
The image depicted a graceful figure, her face shrouded in a hazy, chaotic mist, leisurely seated in the black grand armchair. The ancient killing array around her lay shattered, and even the materialized curse formed a vortex, being absorbed by her. Beside her, Dark Duke Asmodeus’s distorted face was etched with terror.
However, the next instant, the digital photo before them eerily twisted. All the supernatural elements vanished, leaving only a smiling girl seated in the grand armchair and the pale-faced, blond, blue-eyed boy beside her.
At that moment, the girl’s smile seemed to be laced with mockery. A strange emotion, accompanied by the cold sensation from their backs, gradually seeped into everyone’s bodies, causing their usually placid hearts to pound wildly after a long silence.
What did she want to do?
Why was she doing this?
To display her power?
No, if that were the sole purpose, there would be a more direct and simpler method! There was no need for such an elaborate display. She clearly had other motives!
But what those motives were, they couldn’t yet guess!
“Regardless, let us accept her good intentions for now. Everything else can be decided after the Alliance Leader and the Lord of Shadows return!”
After much deliberation, the Vice Alliance Leader offered what seemed to be the best answer for the moment. General Gongsun immediately contacted the Shadow Guard Headquarters in Yingtian Prefecture.
****
Asmodeus was on the verge of a mental breakdown. The hellish dragon in his arms was barely clinging to life, and his nearly immortal demigod body was close to collapsing.
He could distinctly feel every inch of his skin wailing, the extraordinarily potent demonic energy within him trembling, and even his demigod status teetering on the brink of ruin!
Had it not been for the divine gift of a Hell King and his formidable inherent talents, he would undoubtedly be utterly annihilated by now.
And this was merely the result of her casual, everyday words.
This terrifying torment made him experience true hell, yet he dared not, could not, resist.
His extraordinarily powerful demigod intuition explicitly warned him that the being before him was a true monster!
A monster among monsters!
Her power and ancientness far surpassed the seven Kings of Hell!
This was a true, terrifying sovereign!
Simply being by her side, he felt he could be instantly obliterated with her every breath.
Even the Underworld King of Hell, compared to her, was like a firefly next to a brilliant moon! No, it was the difference between a grain of rice and a star!
For the first time, this Great Duke of Hell felt how fragile and laughable those so-called “true kings” and “demon god kings” were! How pathetic and insignificant was the power they revered?
****
The taxi arrived with unexpected efficiency. Lin Xuan had barely placed her order when the car pulled up at the intersection.
“Driver, to the nearest police station!”
“Alrighty!”
The driver was a middle-aged man. As he started the car, he glanced in his rearview mirror, spotting the peculiar duo: a small vagrant in tattered clothes and a beautiful girl dressed in ancient cosplay attire.
‘The important figure I was told to treat with absolute caution and respect is this young girl? And the one beside her is the heinous criminal?’ he mused.
Naturally, he withdrew his gaze. This experienced Shadow Guard didn’t look or ask any further, quickly driving them to their destination as instructed.
Along the way, Lin Xuan, noticing the young boy seemed a bit withdrawn, kindly initiated various conversations with him, hoping to correct any twisted values he might have acquired. Yet, for some reason, his issues appeared more severe than anticipated.
Each time she spoke, the boy would tremble like a sieve.
‘This must be trauma from the pyramid scheme,’ Lin Xuan thought, mentally constructing the tragic experiences the child might have endured, sighing at the vicissitudes of life.
Unbeknownst to her, in the reflection of the driver’s rearview mirror, every word Lin Xuan uttered caused the boy’s face to contort in agony, as if he were enduring immense suffering. From time to time, a massive, grotesque, and twisted terrifying figure would briefly manifest around the boy.
Upon exiting the car, Asmodeus, seeing the Huaxia Shadow Guard ‘ants’ he had once despised so intensely, felt for the first time that they were incredibly kind, adorable, and beautiful.
This ferocious and terrifying Great Demon, who instilled fear in countless other demons, stumbled out of the taxi the moment it stopped. Tears streaming down his face, he lunged towards the group of Shadow Guards, startling them into retreating.
The hellish dragon scrambled out of Asmodeus’s arms and, with desperate speed, rushed to the Shadow Guards, bowing its head repeatedly as if they were saviors.
“Police uncles, I know I was wrong! I promise to turn over a new leaf!”
The infamous Great Demon cried like a six or seven-year-old child…
****
(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ