Chapter 112: Roasted Chicken Feast

In the room full of blood and corpses, only Xi Renjie remained standing.

He stood there in a daze for a long time, then endured the pain and quickly ran outside. In the hazy mist, the red-clad figure had already gone so far that he was barely visible, and a few shadow centipedes were crawling rapidly behind him, also turning into small black dots that disappeared without a trace.

Who was he?

At this moment, Xi Renjie's heart was filled with this question.

That was a face he had never seen before—indifferent, cold, and he seemed even younger than him... Judging by his attire and that remark, "Enforcers are nothing special," he definitely wasn't someone sent from Aurora City.

Could it be that he came from outside the Aurora Domain?

But why did he save him? And how did he lure those centipedes away?

Just as Xi Renjie was wondering, several more black blurs swept rapidly from the surrounding eaves. One, two, three... eleven, twelve... a full thirteen shadow centipedes ignored Xi Renjie on the ground and chased after the red-clad figure from all directions.

……

Chen Ling looked around to ensure no one was there and stabbed himself in the abdomen three times.

The injury and pain were converted into power, causing Chen Ling's speed to soar again, which allowed him to barely maintain distance from the shadow centipedes swarming around him. Fortunately, the blood from his wounds was almost the same color as the bright red opera robe; if one didn't look closely, it was impossible to tell.

To ensure he could lure away all the shadow centipedes nearby while avoiding being caught, Chen Ling had pushed his speed to the limit.

As that scarlet figure swept across the rooftops, a whistling gale blew across the edge of the street.

Several figures fleeing in panic stopped in their tracks.

"Did you guys see something pass by just now?"

"I think so, was it red?"

"How come I didn't see anything... Are you guys seeing things?"

"Forget it, let's just run for our lives!!"

As they spoke, they were about to continue moving when the thick fog ahead suddenly churned, and dense black shadows crawled out rapidly!

Seeing the shadow centipedes charging toward them, the group was so terrified they almost fainted. Their legs went weak and they all knelt on the ground. Just as they closed their eyes and screamed, preparing to meet death, those black shadows simply swept past them and headed toward the rear.

The group opened their eyes, still shaken, not yet realizing what had happened, when the shadows beside them twisted violently!

Several centipedes crawled out from the shadows, almost brushing against their faces, screeching as they chased after the others in the distance. In their panic to flee, they hadn't even realized when these things had been hiding right beside them.

The same scene played out on several surrounding streets. The light from the burning torch was enough for shadow centipedes on three streets near Chen Ling's path to see him simultaneously. By the time he finished this run, he conservatively estimated he had attracted over thirty Calamities.

As for whether any Calamities survived on other streets, Chen Ling couldn't care. He wasn't a god, nor was he a savior; saving this many people was already the limit of his capabilities.

The red blur sprinted toward the edge of the district. Chen Ling followed the path he had already rehearsed in his memory, and soon his gaze locked onto a three- or four-story warehouse in the wilderness.

Chen Ling rushed to the warehouse door, opened it with the key, and flickered inside.

After a brief silence, the dense swarm of shadow centipedes followed him into the wilderness. They circled the warehouse for a moment before swarming in through the main gate.

There were no lights inside the warehouse; it was dim and dark. These shadows crawled into every corner searching for traces of Chen Ling, but found nothing. Just as they were about to leave, the heavy door slowly closed...

Whoosh,

Whoosh,

Whoosh—!

In the darkness, a faint light ignited, illuminating half of Chen Ling's smiling face.

All the shadow centipedes crawling in the warehouse turned their heads to look at the same time!

The firelight illuminated Chen Ling's face and also cast a grain-like reflection in the gasoline and wine flowing at his feet. Dense swarms of meat chickens roared as they charged at him, but Chen Ling took his time taking the cooking wine out of the plastic bag, unscrewed the cap, and poured it onto the ground with a glug-glug sound...

"No one can see us here, and no one will come to disturb us..."

In the flickering firelight, Chen Ling's smile grew brighter. He licked his lips,

"Let's see if you get roasted first... or if I get burned to death first?"

The lighter in his hand spun and landed on the ground.

[Audience Expectation +5]

Boom—!!

The raging flames instantly spread across the warehouse like a red carpet. The firelight illuminated every corner of the place. Dozens of meat chickens screeched sharply under the roasting heat, as if they were going to blow the roof off!

Chen Ling's body was also licked by the flames, his skin visibly charred, but he seemed completely unaware of the pain. With ginger and garlic in one hand and green onions in the other, he charged into the group of meat chickens, who were running around like headless flies!

The entire warehouse seemed to have turned into a deep fryer. The rich aroma of meat began to spread throughout the warehouse. In this living hell, numerous Calamities screeched in agony, but only the red-clad figure became increasingly excited!

Fragrant...

So fragrant!!

Chen Ling rushed to a meat chicken that was roasted most evenly, tore off its leg, first bit into a piece of green onion that had been charred by the fire, and then took a fierce bite of the chicken meat. The intoxicating aroma washed over his body!

[Audience Expectation +1]

[Current Expectation: 68%]

Chen Ling's hands were burned beyond recognition, but that didn't affect his eating at all. With the vigorous vitality brought by [Blood Robe], he braved the high temperature to weave through the group of roasted chickens, like an elegant diner attending a fiery feast.

[Audience Expectation +1]

[Audience Expectation +1]

[Audience Expectation...]

Pairs of scarlet eyes emerged again behind Chen Ling. They were shadows sitting on the void, very similar to the shadow centipedes frantically fleeing throughout the warehouse... The only difference was that the shadows behind Chen Ling were human, while the others were insects.

The moment the audience's gaze appeared, the frantically writhing shadow centipedes shuddered. They looked toward this direction in terror, their bodies, licked by the flames, no longer moving an inch.

They gave up resistance, gave up struggling, and quietly curled up amidst the raging fire, letting their bodies be scorched into fragrant, cooked meat...

"So fragrant... so fragrant!!"

Chen Ling, weaving through the group of roasted chickens, had that eerie red light surge in his eyes again. He laughed as he tore into the quiet chicken meat, his body surface completely charred by the flames...

With his black body and scarlet eyes, from a distance, he seemed to have become one of the audience.

In the fire-lit warehouse,

Countless eerie, grating sounds came from the holes in these roasted chickens. They overlapped, as if chanting the true name of some existence.

"The Scarlet Sovereign of the Ghost-Mocking Abyss;"

"The Faceless King who mocks fate."

"The Scarlet Sovereign of the Ghost-Mocking Abyss... The Faceless King who mocks fate... The Ghost-Mocking Abyss..."