Chapter 58—Questioning the Bizarre Creature
Chapter 58: Chapter 58—Questioning the Bizarre Creature
Chapter 58—Questioning the Bizarre Creature
Lei Cheng’s entire body ignited with white-gold flames.
’What is a Bizarre Creature doing inside the constabulary?’
He stood up. The pressure released from his body turned into a physical shockwave, sending chairs and the table skidding aside. The shockwave hurled both the fat constable and the maid backward, slamming them into opposite sides of the room. The entire room trembled as though unable to withstand the force radiating from him.
Constable Zhu Lin staggered back to his feet, wincing. "What’s going on?"
Lei Cheng, still wrapped in flame, watched the maid rise.
She grinned manically. "To think you’d actually find me out."
Lei Cheng studied her closely. On the surface, she was an entirely ordinary woman—average-looking, nothing distinguishing her from any regular citizen. But through his senses, she was saturated with Bizarre Qi.
’My senses have sharpened.’ He thought. ’Especially for detecting Bizarre Qi. It makes sense—I comprehended the Dao of Bizarre itself. This level of perception should be beyond anyone else.’
Even the slightest trace of Bizarre Qi now stood out to him like a blazing torch in the darkness.
The maid kept laughing. "You’re strong... I wonder how someone like you tastes?" She sighed. "Since I was found out, that shadow won’t scold me for eating you all."
"I don’t have time for this." Lei Cheng snapped his fingers.
Boom! Bang!
Two massive green vines tore up from the floor beneath the maid, coiling around her body and lifting her into the air, almost to the ceiling.
"What—what are you doing?!" She struggled against the binds, but they didn’t budge.
"Life Explosion," Lei Cheng said quietly.
The vines flared with green light, pumping massive amounts of Life Intent into her body. A sound like acid dissolving metal filled the room as she screamed, "Aahhh!" and began to transform.
Zzz! Crack!
Her body shifted into that of a wolf—blue soft fur, a long tail, retaining only her human head, with her long black hair still tied neatly with a female hairpin. Her clothes tore apart as the transformation completed. She was over two meters tall, densely muscled, a humanoid wolf with two prominent fangs jutting from her human jaw.
But she couldn’t make the vines move at all. They simply extended on their own to adjust to her body.
The disguise had disappeared completely. What remained was a predator that no human could mistake for anything else.
"How?" the wolf screamed. "You don’t seem like a human Bizarre Cultivator."
"So, a wolf Bizarre Creature," Lei Cheng said, nodding to himself.
"Ah—ah! Don’t kill me!" The fat constable had fallen onto his back, covering his face with both hands.
Lei Cheng narrowed his eyes.
’Fear.’
He himself had never felt afraid of any Bizarre Creature—his Intent and Dao Heart shielded him from that instinctive terror. But an ordinary human, lacking any comparable Dao Heart, would freeze completely in the presence of one. He recalled what people said about Bizarre Creatures—even if they weren’t just physically powerful, they could project fear itself into the minds of living beings.
’No wonder... Humans cannot fight back.’ He exhaled. ’Before the battle even began, most had already lost the will to fight.’
He waved a finger. A vine rose beside the fat constable and poured Life Intent gently into him, letting him breathe easier before he lost consciousness entirely.
"Now," Lei Cheng said, raising his voice, "would you care to tell me what you’re doing in the constabulary?"
The wolf shrieked. "Why would I tell you anything? Let me go, human!"
Lei Cheng glanced around, running a hand through his hair. "You Bizarre Creatures never talk until someone tortures it out of you."
Before she could respond, another thick vine rose and coiled around her right arm.
Crack! Splash!
"Ah!" The wolf’s scream shook the room as her arm tore open. Blood splashed across the walls and floor like rain.
Lei Cheng’s expression never changed, as though he were merely conducting another experiment.
Outside, the sound reached the constables gathered in the hall.
"What was that? What’s happening?" A muscular, neatly groomed constable tried to approach the meeting room, only to be stopped by a servant standing guard at the door.
"Sir Lei Cheng has found a Bizarre Creature hiding within the constabulary," the servant said calmly, though his legs were trembling and he looked ready to collapse at any moment.
The constables froze and immediately backed away without another word.
Inside, Lei Cheng looked at the wolf, still writhing in pain.
"What do you want?!" she hissed.
"Just tell me what you’re doing here. I’ll let you go."
She nodded, breathing hard. "I’m gathering information for the Shadow."
"Shadow." Lei Cheng repeated. ’Looks like it’s time to begin the real questioning.’ His voice turned sharp and cold as he continued, "From the beginning. When did you enter Azure Cloud City, and how many came with you?"
"I don’t know," she said. "I’m a solitary hunter. I came alone." She hesitated, glancing at the ceiling. "When your flames vanished in the sky, I—along with many others—entered the city hoping to feed on human flesh."
Lei Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly at that, but he let her continue.
"We were unlucky, though. A Shadow entered the city with us." Her pupils trembled as she answered, her heartbeat visibly spiking under Lei Cheng’s hearing. "It was far too powerful. Right as we prepared to hunt, it invoked the Bizarre Rule and beat every single one of us into submission." Even recalling the memory caused her voice to tremble.
’So that’s confirmed.’ Lei Cheng mused. ’The Bizarre Rule. That’s why the city hasn’t fallen entirely yet.’
"You’re hiding in the constabulary for information about kids?" he continued. "But you’re clearly strong enough on your own. Why do you need intelligence?"
"Not to find children, but under Shadow’s orders," she explained. "He needs to know whether the other Bizarre Creatures are actually obeying his orders."
Her tail slammed against the coils, flaring with blue energy, but it was useless. The green energy erupted and wiped out the blue energy of the tail.
"I see," Lei Cheng nodded. "You wanted to keep watch on your own kind—Shadow wanted to check whether anyone was disobeying his words." He raised a palm. "So—are they?"
"No." She shook her head, lips twitching. "A few creatures are skilled at hiding their presence. They still occasionally prey and hide. Even Shadow cannot find them."
’If even the strongest creature couldn’t fully control the others, then the city’s situation was even more dangerous.’ Lei Cheng scowled.
’Still better than an all-out slaughter.’ He looked on the bright side. "Then why haven’t you and others invoked the Bizarre Rule?"
The wolf laughed bitterly. "We can’t even hunt a single human without drawing attention from him. You want us to complete Bizarre Rule?" She gave him an idiotic glance.
’This Shadow creature would just keep killing them if they invoked the Bizarre Rule.’ Lei Cheng sighed, knitting his brows. ’That confirms it—if none of them can even feed without permission, then this Shadow is the one behind the child kidnappings.’
He set her down gently, loosening the binds slightly.
Her eyes gleamed with hope.
"What does this Shadow look like? Where does it hide?" he asked, as her wolf feet almost touched the ground.
"I don’t know where it hides," she said. "And I wouldn’t dare follow it even if I could."
"Of course you wouldn’t," Lei Cheng spat. "You’d be killed."
She didn’t retort, moving instead back to his earlier question. "It looks like a shadow." She pointed at her own shadow on the floor. "Just darkness, slightly denser. It floats and moves wherever it wishes."
’A shadow-type existence.’ Lei Cheng thought. ’This is going to be a difficult fight if it’s a pure elemental being and of a higher level.’
He clenched his fists, and the wolf, noticing the motion, roared, "No! I told you everything you asked!"
The vines tightened around her.
"Life Explosion," Lei Cheng said.
Dark green light flashed. Even the servant kneeling outside had to close his eyes.
Bang!
A moment later, the vines retracted into the floor, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of black dust drifting through the room, carried out the open window by the breeze.
Lei Cheng glanced toward Zhu Lin, still curled in fear even while unconscious.
’What a weak heart.’
He snapped his fingers. The vine near the constable’s face released more Life Intent, and the man woke immediately.
"That creature—where is it?" he stammered, looking around now that the vine had vanished. "Did you kill it?" he asked, spotting Lei Cheng.
"I did."
Lei Cheng exhaled. "Now, take me to the outer city—to where the children are currently protected with security."
The fat constable nodded and led the way.
A few minutes later, Lei Cheng entered the outer city.
’It’s been years since I entered the outer city.’ He looked over the surroundings.
The buildings and pavilions here were noticeably poorer, shorter, and more crowded together—a courtyard spanning two hundred meters would have been considered impressive here.
Even the highest pavilion he spotted was three stories tall. He noticed many streets had no security, while the inner city had city guards. The outer city had constables, but they skipped many streets, resulting in a lack of security.
However, noticing the constable and his luxurious robe, no one came forward to disturb them.
Just after a few minutes, turning a few streets—
"New face?" A bald, muscular middle-aged man came forward, glancing at Lei Cheng. He waved his hand. "Protection money."
"What?" Zhu Lin glared at him from behind. The thug swallowed when he spotted him and shook his head. "Nothing... Nothing." He cursed internally, ’Damnit, I didn’t spot the constable.’
Lei Cheng pulled out a silver coin, noticing the thug take a few steps back.
"No, young master, I don’t need it." The thug waved his hands.
The fat constable also added, "Yes, Young Master Lei, you don’t need to pay."
"Collect it..." Lei Cheng flicked the coin with his thumb.
Whoosh!
The coin turned into a beam and entered the bald man’s forehead, appearing out the back with blood falling like water. "With your life," Lei Cheng added slowly. ’Even with children disappearing, some people still preyed upon the weak.’
Zhu Lin sighed and kicked the bald man’s dead body.
Many people on the street cheered, "Good riddance!"
"Thank you, young master."
Most of them were street vendors behind their stalls. A few were actually living on the street.
They reached the residential district of the outer city.
"This is Luminous Street 191," the fat constable said, pointing ahead.
Lei Cheng studied the street. Small courtyards lined it, none larger than a hundred meters, each with no more than five rooms.
At the far end, he spotted a cluster of young children, all around five years old or younger, playing under the watch of several constables and a handful of parents. Some fought playfully, some played hide-and-seek, and some shared snacks between themselves.
’Good, they’ve tightened security,’ Lei Cheng thought, praising them. ’Even after knowing it’s no use against Bizarre Creatures.’
Then he noticed a middle-aged man in a plain cotton robe walking into the street. As the man passed Lei Cheng and headed straight for a thin five-year-old boy—
Lei Cheng’s eyes narrowed.
’Bizarre Qi...’
The boy ran toward the man, calling out, "Dad! Dad!"
Lei Cheng studied them both carefully.
One was fully human.
The other carried the unmistakable trace of Bizarre Qi. Yet father and son... Surely there was a problem.