Chapter 226: Dark Council

“Living… Hell Creatures!”

Liu Weiqian’s voice was trembling.

After the initial shock, a fire ignited in the depths of his eyes.

His gaze toward the eight “patients” had transformed, as if he were staring at eight bars of solid gold.

He eagerly walked forward, his hand reaching out, trembling, to touch one of the “patient’s” faces.

His gaunt fingers slid down the man’s cheekbone, his touch as gentle as if caressing a lover’s skin.

“Th… Thank you, Sir!”

He abruptly looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, his voice filled with a near-insane eagerness.

“Can I start the experiments now?”

Jiang Chaosheng glanced at him.

“A reminder,” he said, “these Hell Creatures possessing human bodies are bound by my…”

He had originally intended to say “power.”

But the word died on his lips, and he swallowed it back.

‘I’m honestly afraid this madman Liu Weiqian will try to study the snakes. What if he accidentally lets these Hellish Demons escape?’

‘Eight Hell Creatures. I can’t afford to lose a single one.’

‘Besides, calling this a “power” feels a bit… underwhelming. It lacks a certain gravitas.’

He glanced down at the black snakes coiled around the “patients,” paused, and chose a different word.

“Familiars.”

Liu Weiqian froze.

“Familiars…”

He mumbled the word, a sudden tingling sensation crawling up his scalp.

‘These black snakes are Sir’s… familiars?’

Familiars—the attendants of Deities, followers who have received a god’s blessing.

Legend said that the lamb was the familiar of the Western Emperor, the seventy-two Yin Gods were the familiars of Yama, and the trees and the White Tiger were the familiars of the Ancient Greek Goddess of Life.

‘These snakes… are Sir’s familiars?’

‘Is Sir truly… a Deity?’

Liu Weiqian’s pupils trembled slightly. His gaze shifted from the black snakes back to Jiang Chaosheng’s face before quickly dropping, not daring to look for long.

Jiang Chaosheng wasn’t wrong to call these black snakes his “familiars.”

These black snakes were a method of Lucifer’s. By the definition of “familiar,” they could indeed be considered Lucifer’s familiars.

“Their bindings are the only reason these Hell Creatures cannot abandon their corpses and escape back to Hell.”

Jiang Chaosheng continued, his tone as flat as if he were discussing a mundane chore:

“Be careful with your research. There are only eight of them. Finding even one more in the Human World is extremely difficult.”

Liu Weiqian bowed fearfully, his voice tight.

“Of course, of course. I will be sure not to harm your familiars, and I will absolutely not fail to live up to your gift!”

Jiang Chaosheng turned to look at Xia Li.

He took a map and a notebook from his coat and handed them to her.

Xia Li quickly accepted them with both hands, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She knew—her mission had arrived.

Xia Li wasn’t afraid of a challenge.

She was only afraid that Jiang Chaosheng wouldn’t have a use for her.

She first opened the map, frowning as she scanned it.

It was just an ordinary map.

There was nothing special about it.

She carefully glanced up at Jiang Chaosheng again. Seeing his expression was unchanged, she lowered her head and opened the notebook.

After reading for about ten seconds, her pupils contracted sharply.

She snapped her head up, looking at Jiang Chaosheng in disbelief.

“This is…”

Jiang Chaosheng gave a slight nod.

“The locations marked on the map are the closest points to the Gate of Eternal Hell.”

He looked into Xia Li’s eyes and said, word by word:

“I want you to find the Gate of Eternal Hell.”

Xia Li’s heart pounded in her chest.

It wasn’t panic or fear—it was excitement.

‘Hell. At the place in the Human World closest to Hell, might there be some strange things?’

‘Some kind of ore? A particular type of soil? A plant that has never been documented?’

‘If I find those things, it would mean unprecedented growth for the World Dream Group.’

‘Supernatural technology—it might just become a reality in my hands.’

Most importantly, finding the Gate of Hell would not only allow the World Dream Group to develop at lightning speed, but she could also obtain a Taboo Item.

Xia Li took a deep breath, her gaze firming with resolve.

“Rest assured, Sir. I will immediately organize a scientific expedition team to investigate these locations.”

Before her voice had even faded—

“AHAHAHA!!! I’m back and better than ever!”

A burst of cackling, so hearty it bordered on arrogant, erupted from down the corridor, shaking the fluorescent lights in the ceiling.

A slow smile formed on Jiang Chaosheng’s lips.

‘My general has returned.’

Xia Li and Liu Weiqian turned toward the sound.

They saw a young man, naked save for a white lab coat draped over his shoulders, staggering toward them from a distance.

The unbuttoned lab coat fluttered behind him like a triumphant banner.

He was twirling a Sheep Head Pendant in his hand, the chain spinning around his fingers. His posture was as sloppy as a drunkard just out of a bar.

Yang Xiao.

A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Xia Li’s face. “Yang Xiao!”

Liu Weiqian stared at the approaching Yang Xiao, his gaze as fervent as if he were looking at a peerless beauty, the corners of his mouth stretching into an ever-widening grin.

“It was a success… We’re one step closer to the goal!”

Yang Xiao strode up to Jiang Chaosheng and dropped to his knees with a THUD. The sound of his knees hitting the floor tiles was so loud it made even Xia Li frown.

“Sir, it’s been a while!”

Jiang Chaosheng looked down at him, his gaze calm, and uttered a single word:

“Good.”

What was hidden in that single word, “Good”? Was it ‘It’s good that you’ve grown stronger,’ or was it ‘It’s good that… you’re alive’?

No one knew.

Yang Xiao got to his feet and sidled over with a grin.

“Master, I’ve got a little surprise for you about Hell.”

The expressions on Liu Weiqian’s and Xia Li’s faces changed simultaneously.

‘We were just talking about Hell, and now Yang Xiao shows up saying he has information about it?’

‘What a coincidence.’

Xia Li suddenly remembered something.

“Is it that freak who followed me into the underground lab?”

The guy who could turn invisible.

‘How could an ordinary person possess a supernatural ability without a Taboo Item?’

She had handed the man over to Yang Xiao precisely because she knew no one could keep a secret under Yang Xiao’s “hospitality.”

Yang Xiao glanced at Xia Li, grinning.

“Miss Xia is as sharp as ever.”

He turned to Jiang Chaosheng and held up the Sheep Head Pendant in his hand.

“There’s a Hellish Demon parasitizing this thing. A very weak one. Every time that kid, Zou Jun, needed to turn invisible, the Devil would give him a hand. And afterward, Zou Jun had to offer up his own vital blood.”

Liu Weiqian’s eyes grew fervent again as he stared at the Sheep Head Pendant.

‘There’s a Hellish Demon in there, too?’

Yang Xiao shot him a look, then immediately clutched the pendant protectively to his chest and yelled:

“Don’t you get any ideas about my little buddy! As of ten minutes ago, it suddenly developed a deep admiration for me. It’s with me now!”

Xia Li looked at the pendant in Yang Xiao’s hand.

As a Vampire, her relationship with Hell was already ambiguous, and she had some sensitivity to Hell Creatures.

Right now, what she clearly sensed emanating from the Sheep Head Pendant was a wave of extreme terror.

The fear was almost palpable, like a little mouse trembling in a cat’s jaws.

Xia Li looked at Yang Xiao, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“Some ‘deep admiration’… You’re, uh, really something.”

Yang Xiao grinned, then turned back to Jiang Chaosheng and continued:

“There are a lot of these Sheep Head Pendants in Meiqi Country. They all come from an organization called the ‘Dark Council.'”

He spun the pendant on his fingertip, a hint of killing intent now mixed into his smile.

“Does Master like this thing? I can take a trip to Meiqi Country, snatch all these sheep head necklaces, and put them in your antique shop as part of your collection.”

Jiang Chaosheng didn’t answer immediately.

Combining Yang Xiao’s and Xia Li’s reactions, he had already pieced together the general course of events.

‘Someone snuck into the lab, Xia Li threw him to Yang Xiao, and that led to the scene I just witnessed.’

His thoughts slowly unfurled in the darkness.

The legends of Eternal Hell were most widespread in Meiqi Country.

Lucifer, the Death God, Satan—these names were all from the West. The roots of Hell also lay in the West.

And that organization called the “Dark Council”…

Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze fell on the Sheep Head Pendant in Yang Xiao’s hand, something slowly coalescing in the depths of his eyes.

Hell, as the final battlefield of that war, already held secrets intriguing enough.

‘And now, they’ve gone and created a Dark Council in the Human World?’

‘What exactly is Hell planning?’

‘What kind of scheme are they setting up?’