Chapter 194
Chapter 194
Of course Loki knew what Yang Nanqing desired.
He approached, tipped up Yang Nanqing’s chin, and squeezed hard enough to redden the skin. No matter how Yang struggled, he could not break free.
“I’ll grant your wish, and you’ll help me with something in return. How does that sound?”
He smiled. “I’ve discovered that simple slaughter has grown boring. I want to watch a play–a tragedy that repeats forever.”
Loki released his chin and shouted to the heavens, “From this day forward, anyone who refuses to acknowledge you as a woman shall die!”
That day, dense fog spread across the sky, rapidly swallowing the entire town.
At first, people merely assumed rain was approaching. Some families even went outside to gather their laundry.
But Loki’s laughter and voice permeated the fog.
“From this day forward, the Yang Residence has only one young lady. Whoever denies it shall be executed.”
People stared in bewilderment, thinking they had misheard. One murmured, “The Young Lady of the Yang Residence? I’ve never heard of her. Hasn’t the Yang family always had only one boy? And wasn’t there that scandal a few days–”
Before he could finish, his head fell to the ground.
Blood sprayed with a wet hiss.
“Aaaaah!”
Terrified, people screamed and fled in every direction. “The fog is killing people! The fog is killing people!”
No matter where they ran, Loki’s voice echoed inside their minds.
Worse, the fog seeped through the cracks beneath every door. The vision of everyone who touched it began to blur, their eyes gradually whitening.
In the end… they went blind.
The last thing they heard before losing their sight was “the Young Lady of the Yang Residence.”
Thus, the roots of hatred took hold.
Those who insisted that the Yang Residence had no young lady all died.
The residents of the Yang Residence suffered the same fate. In fact, even more of them died.
In a single night, blood washed half the sky.
Yang Nanqing could no longer see. The roars and screams of townspeople filled his ears.
They fled in despair, shouting that they had gone blind and could see nothing.
They cursed and reviled Yang Nanqing, damning his name.
But everyone who finished cursing him ultimately lost their head.
As though it were all a joke, a light rain suddenly began to fall, splattering against the ground and washing at the blood. Yet the more it tried to cleanse, the more blood appeared, and nothing could ever wash it away.
Loki stood in the center of the Yang Residence’s courtyard, savoring the screams as though listening to the most sublime symphony.
He raised his arms like its conductor.
Near collapse, Yang Nanqing covered his ears, unwilling to hear another sound.
Loki chuckled and walked over. “Now that they’re all blind, who can tell whether you’re a man or a woman? And I even thoughtfully cleared away everyone who refused to acknowledge you.”
He looked up at the sky. How could an ordinary world withstand a god’s power? The world began to be absorbed into the horror game.
The earliest form of the game was born, all because of one little prank.
“Next, Miss Yang, why don’t you wait with me for his return? How would you like me to grant the two of you the grandest wedding banquet of all?”
Until the moment Huo Lanxu died, he never knew that the town had completely changed in his absence.
His parents would never have acknowledged Yang Nanqing, so the fog killed them.
Everyone in town had gone blind.
Nanqing could no longer see either.
Huo Lanxu gave everything he had on the battlefield. He survived, earned military honors, and returned in triumph, only to lose the road home.
The way was hidden by fog. No matter how far he walked, he could not reach his destination.
The fog had severed the road home.
At that moment, he remembered Loki’s words.
“Keep this with you. It will guide you home.”
He found the clown mask and carried it on his person.
Miraculously, he passed through the fog. The town was eerily deserted, with no one on the streets and many doors shut tight.
No one welcomed his triumphant return. Numerous military medals adorned his uniform, and he longed to share his joy.
He would tell his parents, but first, he wanted to tell someone else.
He wanted Nanqing to know that he had succeeded and returned. Nanqing no longer needed to wait.
When Huo Lanxu reached the Yang Residence, he found the place strange. No one guarded the gate, and the entire residence was decorated in brilliant red.
Red paper cutouts of the Double Happiness character covered the entrance, as though someone were about to be married there.
His heart clenched. Had Nanqing already fallen in love with another woman?
Then he heard Loki’s voice. “Oh my, someone has returned.”
Loki emerged from the Yang Residence. “Come. Go and see the person you love most.”
He pointed ahead. Huo Lanxu had already started running before Loki finished, too many things burning within him to say to Nanqing.
The instant he passed Loki, the god seized him.
Loki’s smile grew mad and absurd as he mocked Huo Lanxu.
“I want to watch an entertaining play, and you are part of it. The more I think about it, the more amusing it seems if one of you is alive and the other dead.”
Overwhelming power enveloped Huo Lanxu. How could an ordinary mortal stop an evil god from tampering with his body?
His mouth was pried open, and his tongue was ripped out by force. Agony erupted as though ten thousand needles had pierced it at once.
Pain surged over him like a tide, and a hoarse scream tore from his throat.
Every wrench felt as if it would rip apart his soul. Blood poured from the corners of his mouth, mingling with his tears as both streamed down his face.
“You’re trying to hold back your screams? Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Loki roared with laughter, Huo Lanxu’s tongue in his hand.
A gu worm burrowed into Huo Lanxu’s neck.
Loki stared at him. “Even at the very end, you’re worried that Yang Nanqing will hear your pain and suffer? Ha-ha-ha! How entertaining. But don’t worry. He can’t hear you. He’s asleep.”
Huo Lanxu’s brows knotted. His eyes squeezed shut as tears continued to roll down his face.
The pain nearly robbed him of consciousness.
With a gesture, Loki took the clown mask hanging from his waist. “This will remain in this world. After all, this place needs my power.”
“He’s inside that room. If you want one last look before you die, you’d better hurry.”
Huo Lanxu would not survive the day.
Loki had also planted a gu worm inside him.
Before Huo Lanxu reached the door, it opened.
Yang Nanqing slowly emerged in a thin coat. He smelled blood. “Who’s there?”
When they met again, everything had changed.
Yang Nanqing could not see him, and Huo Lanxu could not speak.
This despicable prank had offered its human victims no choice at all. Tragedy had descended from the moment Loki entered the world.
Loki chuckled. “Someone? Or perhaps no one at all? Ha-ha.”
He quietly moved behind Huo Lanxu and whispered for him alone to hear,
“Will you leave him hope enough to go on living, or let him die here with you? Choose.”