“We still have ten minutes left before midnight,” Liang Kaifeng glanced at the clock on the wall and said. “And isn’t Uncle Xu the first line of our defense? If something happens, he’ll let us know ASAP.”

I was still a little hesitant, but the way Liang Kaifeng looked at his father really made me feel for him. He was right, even if Mr. Xu missed something, Zhu Xuan would inform us if anything happened.

Finally, I nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll be outside. Call me when you’re done.”

Upon saying that, I stood up and walked towards the door. However, just before I walked out of the door, Liang Kaifeng stopped me again.

“Gu Yu, sometimes I think you’re really pathetic.”

“Ah?” I looked back confusedly but was stunned by the scene in front of me.

Liang Kaifeng smiled coldly——yes, that was indeed a sneer, while standing next to his father’s bed, one hand tightly choking Liang Youhua’s feeble neck. He stood there, looking like the incarnation of Death itself.

“Liang Kaifeng, what are you doing?!” I shouted.

“No, not just you,” Liang Kaifeng thought for a moment and then said with a sneer. “Humans in general, you’re always like this. So sentimental, so indecisive, it’s so easy for you to let unimportant things like your feelings hinder your judgment. I haven’t even done anything yet, and you let your guard down like a fool.”

I stared at him with my eyes wide open. I was terrified and I gradually understood what he meant. “You..you’re not Liang Kaifeng! Who are you?!”

‘Liang Kaifeng’ giggled. “Look at you, what a lovely boy. Lovely and weak human, why are you asking me this question when you already know the answer? You know who I am, you just don’t want to believe it. You humans would rather believe your sad and stupid dreams than to face reality. I simply fooled you by mimicking this child. It seems like the legendary person who killed the nine-tailed fox is not that great.”

What’s happening?

I did not know why he said that I was the one who killed the nine-tailed fox, but there were more urgent things for now.

“You’re the Jade Ruyi,” I murmured. “When did you disguise yourself as Liang Kaifeng? Where is the real Liang Kaifeng now?! Tell me!”

“Seriously?” Jade Ruyi loosened his hand on Liang Youhua’s neck. He walked towards me with his eyes full of amusement. “Do you really think your hapless classmate is still alive? Oh, God, I knew you were naive, but I didn’t expect you to be as naive as this.”

I swallowed a little and involuntarily took a step back as he closed on to me.

It was necessary for me to stall him for now. I did not know whether Liang Kaifeng was still alive or not, but if I stalled him until Zhu Xuan came, then maybe we would be able to save Liang Youhua’s life!

“Is that so?” I raised my voice and forced myself to calm down. “Can you really kill people? I don’t believe you. Maybe you’re a coward. Otherwise, since you’ve been here from the beginning, why would you use this kind of cheap tricks to win against us? Since you’re forced to use tricks, it just means you’re too weak to fight us!”

Liang Kaifeng’s face contorted; it was hard to tell whether he was angry or ridiculing me.

“Hah? what did you say?” He moved nearer towards me again and laughed. “Hahahaha! This is so ridiculous! Are you kidding me? Do you think I’ve played with you because I’m not able to kill? It’s so funny, hahaha..!”

His laughter sent chills down my spine. I instinctively wanted to run away but my legs refused to move.

Then, the Jade Ruyi snapped its fingers, and I heard a strange bone cracking sound coming from behind him. I looked back in horror. Liang Youhua’s body had been twisted into a bloody paste. Disgusting blackish-red blood instantly soaked the whole bed.

“Well, your friend here, I think he is still in his body.” The Jade Ruyi held his chin with his finger as if he was thinking about it. “But after careful thinking, I don’t believe he needs to stay alive. So——”

Yu Ruyi smiled as he spoke. Then under a strange force, his head suddenly twisted back. With a crack, his neck tilted backward, and then like the zombies in horror movies, it rotated 360 degrees.

Blood flew from the corners of his mouth as the Jade Ruyi giggled and twisted the broken neck back to the front.

“Well, that should be enough. Though the body should decay soon, I won’t use this vessel for long.”

The image was so horrific that I stepped back and sat on the ground, gasping with terror.

He really can kill me in an instant!

At that moment, my mind was blank, and all I felt was the pure fear of death.

“Why should I play with you all this way?” The Jade Ruyi crossed his arms and slowly approached me like an arrogant winner. “The answer is very simple. Because you’re so interesting! Honestly, the most interesting thing in the world is watching ‘hope’ slowly and gradually vanishing from human eyes. Yeah, just like what’s happening to you right now!”

For some reason, the Jade Ruyi suddenly got excited. “How do you feel now? Betrayed by your friend, you must feel very desperate! It must be frustrating to see a friend killed in front of you, isn’t it? No, no, this is nothing, the most fearful thing is that while it’s happening, there’s nothing you can do except lie on the ground like a toad croaking in despair! But..”

The Jade Ruyi suddenly softened his tone. “It doesn’t matter now, because you’re going to.. DIE!”

Upon saying that, he raised his hand; he was going to kill me the same way he killed Liang Youhua.

It’s over, looks like I’m going to die here!

However, at this moment, I heard someone shouting.

“Gu Yu, move!”

That voice is——!

I subconsciously moved aside. Then I heard a sharp sound next to my ear as if it could pierce air itself. The Jade Ruyi let out a scream, and then I felt some warm liquid splash onto my face.

“Zhu Xuan!” I was surprised and excited to see him.

The edge of his clothes was floating in the air. He held a sword in his hand and his eyes were as sharp as a wild beast. As I was speaking, he leaped into the air again with his sword pointed at the Jade Ruyi, and he flew towards it so fast that I could not even clearly see his movements!

“You——!” However, the Jade Ruyi was not afraid at all. After being hit by Zhu Xuan’s sword, it jumped aside to dodge his second attack.

“Ha, Bai Ze! In the end, you won’t be able to see me murder your pet.” The Jade Ruyi stood up steadily, and it calmly dusted his clothes even though they were clearly still clean. It mockingly looked at Zhu Xuan. “Long time no see, my former owner who violated our contract.”

“Former owner?” I glanced at Zhu Xuan in disbelief, but Zhu Xuan ignored me, his eyes fixated on the Jade Ruyi.

“I underestimated your intelligence. I didn’t think that a low-level creature like you would come up with the idea of disguising yourself,” Zhu Xuan said coldly with his eyebrows knitted and his sword gripped tightly in his hand. “I sealed you! How did you escape? Who helped you? Or——”

The Jade Ruyi snorted. “Help me? Bai Ze, why are you still so arrogant even after all this time? Me? Do I need someone to help me? No! I escaped from your nasty and shitty barrier by myself!”

Upon saying that, the Jade Ruyi got emotional; it even moved a few steps closer. “Look at you, Bai Ze, you look like a hypocrite. Pretending to be some righteous good guy who saves people. Did you forget how you made a contract with me because you couldn’t bear the temptation in your heart, and then you suddenly regretted it and sealed me? Well done, divine beast Bai Ze! I’ll never forget the shame you brought on me!”

The Jade Ruyi suddenly rushed towards Zhu Xuan. I shouted hurriedly, “Zhu Xuan, watch out!”

With a loud clunk, the dagger in the Jade Ruyi’s hand and Zhu Xuan’s sword clashed. Neither side was willing to back off and murderous intent filled the room.

“Stop being so cocky, inanimate objects should always be inanimate! Stay down!” Zhu Xuan yelled. He pushed his sword forward and bounced off the attack of the Jade Ruyi.

“You’re still so arrogant!” The Jade Ruyi smiled grimly with Liang Kaifeng’s face. I could hardly look at him. “Do you think you’re stronger than me just because you have a human form? This time, I won’t be as careless as last time! I’m going to smash you so you won’t ruin my plan ever again!”

“By the way, Jade Ruyi, have you ever listened to rock music?” All of sudden, Zhu Xuan asked.

What?

The Jade Ruyi’s expression and reaction were similar to mine. “What?”

“Rock music.” Zhu Xuan’s expression was normal, and he even asked with a serious tone. “No? Never? You’ve been here for a long time, but you’ve never heard about rock music?”

The Jade Ruyi glared at him. His wide opened eyes were filled with astonishment and murderous intent altogether, which made it look a little funny.

“If you haven’t heard it, I suggest you give it a try. There is a singer named Wang Feng, who is quite a hit nowadays,” Zhu Xuan went on. “But if you want to listen to real rock music, I think you should listen to the British rock band called Queen, but their lead singer died long ago, which is a pity. Human life is so short. ”

“What are you doing?!” Clearly, the Jade Ruyi could not understand what Zhu Xuan was doing and roared angrily.