Little Pink Starfish

In the pitch-black night, within a pitch-black scene, there stood a tall figure shrouded in mist. He held a hazy brush in his hand, sketching bloody lines in the night.

The crimson lines formed strange patterns in midair, and soon, even the air was filled with the scent of blood.

The one holding the brush suddenly tilted his face upward and smiled gently—droplets of fresh blood dripped from the brush, falling with an eerie sound.

This. Is. Literally. A. Horror. Movie! Gu Bai mentally cursed a thousand times over.

What was even more baffling was that, even though the scene before him was unfamiliar, he instantly recognized what it was!

This was clearly a blood sacrifice!

Just moments ago, Gu Bai had been worrying about whether he was past his prime, but now, his concerns shifted entirely to Qi Guanrui’s mental health.

—Yes, this guy was indeed a lunatic, but why the hell was he suddenly doing something like this? Gu Bai didn’t get it at all!

Could it be that he was triggered by something…?

No, no, no! There were so many possibilities, and none of them were ones Gu Bai wanted to come true!

Perhaps because his internal reaction was too intense, Gu Bai accidentally leaked a trace of his presence.

And then, that damned lunatic detected him with precision.

Qi Guanrui paused for a moment and turned his head. Then, he looked toward his own shadow.

Gu Bai, expressionless, squatted in the shadow, still in shock.

Qi Guanrui’s expression changed.

He had deliberately snuck out in the middle of the night just so Ziche Shubai wouldn’t see this side of him, so why had he never been caught before, yet this time he was?

Even though he was always a full-fledged psycho in front of others, at this moment, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

If Ziche Shubai couldn’t accept this…

Then I will have to…

#100 Reasons to Imprison Ziche Shubai#
#On the Completion of a World-Class Black Room#
#How to Keep You Trapped, My Love#
#Never Letting Go of Your Hand#

As his mind spun with crazed thoughts, Qi Guanrui gently reached into the shadows.

Then, as if lifting a paper doll, he pulled out a breathtakingly beautiful young man dressed in black robes, whose pale skin appeared almost translucent. Qi Guanrui casually tossed the brush aside and instead firmly wrapped his arm around the young man’s waist.

“…Gege, why are you here?”

Gu Bai snapped out of his daze and stared at him, his face blank: “What are you doing?”

Explain! Explain yourself! Are you seriously trying to destroy the world?! Think about your current power level! Even if you destroy the world, do you think you can shatter the void and ascend? Don’t even think about it! You’re not at that stage yet! Don’t just fast-forward the plot like this!

Gu Bai really wanted to grab this lunatic by the collar and shake him violently while roaring: What the hell do you find unsatisfying about me?! Speak! Speak up! This is too cold, too heartless, and too unreasonable!

Qi Guanrui tightened his grip around Gu Bai. How should he put it… the thing he was doing now.

It was something he had to do. In fact, he had planned to do this long ago.

But could Ziche Shubai tolerate it?

He was so aloof, so pure, so… untouchable, as if even the slightest stain would defile him. If… if the answer was no…

The noble, cold, and untouchable Gu Bai: Just spit it out already! What the hell are you trying to do?!

Qi Guanrui sighed, “Gege, just watch.” He still didn’t want to say it himself. He still hoped that Ziche Shubai could accept it…

Gu Bai sighed too. He had a bad feeling, like something completely unexpected was about to happen… He’d been a bit worked up earlier, but this guy wasn’t actually planning to destroy the world, right?

Forget it, let’s just see how things play out ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Then, Qi Guanrui let go of Gu Bai and resumed his unfinished work.

Fortunately, he had already drawn the formation before Gu Bai arrived, so tossing the brush aside hadn’t caused any mistakes.

Next, he patted his spatial weapon, and immediately, five objects flew out. Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—five types of heavenly treasures, radiating brilliance in midair!

The crimson lines suddenly flowed again, swiftly guiding these treasures into motion at a specific rhythm before embedding them into five positions within the massive formation.

But these positions weren’t in the standard Five Elements arrangement—they were reversed. Going against the natural order, defying logic, and at the same time, granting the formation its power to seize the heavens…

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The above was just some overly mystical nonsense Gu Bai had written in the original novel that actually made no sense at all.

But as long as it confused readers into thinking it was profound, he won.

Only now that he was seeing it in person…

Even though this should have been a tense moment, he suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

I mean, sure, heavenly treasures were badass, but when they looked like radishes, green vegetables, earthworms, and leaves, could they really still carry any sense of solemnity?

Nope!

Gu Bai couldn’t help but feel secondhand embarrassment and stopped looking at the formation. Instead, his gaze fell on Qi Guanrui’s back.

Qi Guanrui’s spine stiffened instantly, a clear sign of tension. Ziche Shubai… Qi Guanrui quickened his movements again.

As the five heavenly treasures liquefied and flowed into the bloodlines, a faint luminescence coated them.

The bloodlines instantly spread like a web, and in the blink of an eye, they enveloped the entire building!

Countless strange forces rose from within the building, and as soon as they emerged, they were seized by the bloodlines, flowing rapidly along them.

Finally, they converged at a single point.

Qi Guanrui reached out and grasped the front end of the blood web. A look of pleasure—even intoxication—appeared on his face.

Gu Bai immediately understood. This bastard was extracting the martial qi from the people inside the building! I should have known! It was basically a form of “feeding.”

Just not as grotesque as literally devouring people… though whether this or the original novel’s scene of a giant serpent eating people was scarier was debatable.

At least he wasn’t eating people. Wait, no, at least he wasn’t destroying the world.

Qi Guanrui continued absorbing the energy from the web, his abdomen heating up, a pleasure almost like addiction spreading through him.

Yet, even in this intoxicated state, he remained clear-headed—but still, he instinctively displayed his most primal posture: tilting his head back, his face filled with an odd expression, looking every bit like a madman—just so Gu Bai could see his true self more clearly.

Yes, he had decided to reveal more of his real self.

Though he knew Gu Bai was already aware of his true nature, knowing and seeing were two different things, weren’t they?

This was a gamble.

As the energy available for absorption dwindled, Qi Guanrui’s feverish heart gradually cooled.

And the bold urge to “let Ziche Shubai see my true self” from moments ago was instantly replaced by nervousness.

#The IQ of People in Love#
#Shit, My Boyfriend Might Break Up With Me, What Do I Do?#
#If Only Time Could Be Reversed#

Thus, Qi Guanrui carefully and anxiously turned to look at Gu Bai.

Gu Bai: “Let’s go back.”

Let’s go back…

Go back…

Back…

Qi Guanrui: “…” That’s it?

He felt both relieved and slightly annoyed. He was glad he wasn’t rejected, but… it also didn’t seem like Gu Bai cared that much either…

Gu Bai let out a deep sigh of relief.

Qi Guanrui quickly caught up, still unwilling to let it go: “Gege, don’t you want to go inside and take a look?”

Gu Bai paused. He turned his head. “Alright.”

Qi Guanrui instantly regretted it. But at this point, there was no turning back.

As for Gu Bai, he genuinely wanted to see what exactly this lunatic had done. He also wanted to see who the people used in the blood sacrifice were… and confirm a suspicion forming in his mind.

Qi Guanrui effortlessly grasped the blood web and, just like pulling up a fishing net, he peeled it off in one swift motion. Then, as if crumpling a piece of paper, he balled it up, squeezed it twice, and made it vanish completely into his palm.

In an instant, the entire place returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened. It became just another ordinary night.

Then, the two of them walked into the building.

A faint but distinct scent of blood greeted them—not the thick, fresh scent from before but a lingering trace, as if it were fading away.

Clearly, this wasn’t from the blood sacrifice.

Gu Bai remained expressionless as he glanced around.

It was an ordinary nightlife venue—there were beautiful women, handsome men, and various other people whose looks didn’t quite meet the “beautiful” standard. All of them had sweet smiles on their faces as they lay sprawled across the cold floor.

They were still alive.

Gu Bai blinked.

They were… still alive?

He took a closer look. These people were all ordinary—there wasn’t a trace of martial qi in them… and suddenly, he understood something.

Of course, this was only the first floor.

The two of them quickly ascended to the second floor, where the scent of blood thickened. And then, right in front of them, was a corpse.

The entire body was shrivelled, the skin wrinkled, the face aged beyond recognition, like someone about to be buried. The dantian was completely hollow—devoid of even the smallest trace of life force. Then came the second, the third… a total of twenty to thirty corpses, all the same—withered, aged, lifeless.

Regardless of whether they were men or women, even among them, four or five had distinctively non-human physiques—there was no mistaking it, they were demons.

Gu Bai could picture the scene.

The young heirs of noble families were still indulging in their pleasures late into the night when suddenly, a group of black-clad figures broke in, engaging them in a fierce battle. Some of them even managed to kill several attackers.

But just as the fight was at its peak, a strange scent filled the air, and they all lost consciousness…

The crimson web, with its keen perception, swiftly drained their bodies of all energy. And without their martial qi, their bodies rapidly withered, aging instantly until death.

This was Qi Guanrui’s true purpose.

He had indeed used a blood sacrifice, but in the original novel, it had been to break through the world’s barrier. Here, however, he had altered the formation slightly to turn it into a tool for his own “feeding.”

The war between demons and martial artists—whether in the original novel or in reality—was nothing more than a grand feast for him!

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Pinky says: End? Who’s she?