[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-becoming-a-god-through-horror":3,"chapter-becoming-a-god-through-horror-becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-138":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Becoming a God Through Horror",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2273681,4441,"Chapter 138: New Straw Man, Mo God Apartment, Menstrual Incident","becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-138",138,"\u003Cp>Because it was already late, Louis didn’t go home, but went directly to the base.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the New Year, along with the family’s transformation, the prison had already opened, and now over a hundred criminals had moved in—yes, in just one or two months, over a hundred criminals had been housed here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It must be said, the prison industry is truly profitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For every inmate admitted, the government provides a subsidy; every service inside the prison costs money—phone calls cost money, smoking costs money, even the bed requires rent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, depending on how much you pay, the living conditions differ—wooden boards, beds with bedding, velvet mattresses—can they possibly be the same?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inmates must work daily inside the prison—operating sewing machines, cleaning, making furniture, metalworking, agricultural labor—all heavy physical tasks; sometimes they’re temporarily assigned to government departments to transport corpses or maintain roads—essentially exploiting cheap labor, with a striking resemblance to the old slave system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One prisoner means the prison collects multiple payments: one from the government subsidy, one from the prisoner himself, one from the value of his labor…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder it was so difficult to sign the prison contract with the government back then—Grandfather must have exerted tremendous effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riding in the car, each lookout lamp shone over, then quickly shifted away upon recognizing the license plate; at the prison gate, the armed guards immediately smiled and opened the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the vehicle entered, the gate slammed shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entering the elevator, they descended to the underground base, where human activity had increased—dozens of people patrolling everywhere, all chosen by Louis from his family, plus some recruited from society: volunteers who signed contracts, received the new Blood Demon, and underwent pre-job training, including retired soldiers and other civilians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although America offers good benefits to active-duty military personnel, those benefits end upon discharge, with no proper resettlement measures; many veterans, for this reason, have turned to crime, and numerous such individuals populate criminal gangs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For them, as long as they’re paid well and provided for, and their families are fed, what does it matter if they consume this Eastern witchcraft called Blood Demon? They’d even sign contracts with demons!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing Louis, everyone snapped to rigid attention; after Louis passed, they fell silent, facing the Blood Demon and the short, straw-haired man trailing behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most important rule here is to keep your mouth shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis sent the driver off to his own room to sleep, then found a steel room, tapped on the steel plate; moments later, strands of straw extended toward him, and the straw man guarding the farmland descended through a gap no larger than a box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment it landed, it turned toward Louis’s side, raising its curved blade; simultaneously, the cane straw man beside Louis reacted, instantly swelling in size, branches spreading outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two instantly entered a state of opposition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis, seeing this, laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He brought the cane straw man here precisely to observe whether any strange reaction would occur between the two straw men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it seemed he’d come at the right time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis stepped out of the steel room with his cane, watching quietly through the window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason they hadn’t fought immediately was because he was there; now that he was gone, they instantly began battling!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guardian straw man struck first, slashing with its curved blade—but it only severed a few branches of the cane straw man; in contrast, the branch straw man extended both arms, and dozens of branches shot out, coiling around in an instant, completely covering and sealing the entire room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two thick, knobby branches like tumors pierced clean through the guardian straw man!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With another surge of force, they split it cleanly in half!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the room, Louis shook his head; there was a clear power gap—the cane straw man’s raw strength was clearly superior, while the guardian straw man’s speed advantage in the farmland was useless here, so naturally the cane straw man held the upper hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the final outcome was still uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, an unexpected turn occurred: the cane straw man had already dismembered it, yet the next second, the guardian straw man reassembled itself, and a white shadow appeared behind the cane straw man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Little White Rabbit, the little girl killed and controlled by the guardian straw man; she slammed the cane straw man’s tall hat down with all her strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guardian straw man immediately drove its curved blade deep into the cane straw man’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, branches and straw flooded the entire room, blocking Louis’s view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was why Louis said the outcome was uncertain: though confined by the environment, the guardian straw man was hard to kill, easily reassembling itself, and possessed a spirit-summoning ability similar to the Mountain Lord’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Added to that, the cane straw man’s weakness was glaringly obvious—its core exposed plainly, impossible to miss!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, let’s see which one holds the higher hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis leaned on his cane, watching silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Louis’s feet, Fenli poked its head out, stroking its chin in a thinker’s pose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All these monsters must obediently obey this fire man—will I ever have a chance to escape? Am I really doomed to work as a slave for life? No!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Louis glanced over. “Go, handle a shipment. I’ll need it soon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Make sure the corpse stays intact. Don’t waste the blood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fenli froze, then beamed with joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nodding, it scurried off happily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By nature evil, it loved killing; though bound by its strange moral rules preventing harm to good people, that didn’t mean it didn’t want to harm them—so in a sense, working for Louis suited its needs perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kill people—kill anyone, with 100% success rate!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fenli waddled to the storage area for “shipments,” where each compartment held drug addicts, gamblers, serial killers, human traffickers, robbers, rapists, fraudsters…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anything you could imagine was here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Fenli, the guards didn’t stop it, letting it into one of the prison cells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Less than twenty seconds later, a scream echoed as a human trafficker was strangled to death on the floor; yet the moment the trafficker died, Fenli, who had just strangled him with bare hands, could no longer drag the corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Helplessly, it ran out and dragged a guard inside to do the job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the guard’s unguarded back as he dragged the corpse, Fenli couldn’t resist—somehow, a banana peel appeared beneath its feet…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard dragged the corpse over, pulling Fenli along—apparently, Fenli had fallen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis glanced once and knew the puppet had been up to no good; a flame shot from his fingertip, instantly engulfing one of Fenli’s arms, stubbornly burning despite its frantic slapping and beating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, it could only squeeze out a few tears, then, like a gecko shedding its tail, severed its own arm, watching helplessly as it burned to ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No next time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis said, without turning from the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fenli clutched its severed arm, heartbroken, already calculating how to make a new one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the outcome inside the room was decided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Branches began to fall, and the straw in the gaps retracted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What emerged before Louis was a refined, far more human-like straw man, about two meters tall, wearing a black tall hat and black clothing, its torso packed densely with intertwined branches and straw, limbs constructed of branches as bones and skin, straw as flesh, holding a curved blade, its face a mask of animal bone—fierce and terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A heavy, chilling aura radiated from it; compared to the previous two straw men, it was like evolving from 1970s–80s art to post-millennium design.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis scanned it, noticing the cloth on its chest had vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He narrowed his eyes, tapped his cane. “Cut off your own arm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, the straw man raised its curved blade and slashed off its other arm without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis nodded slightly—it seemed the cane straw man had dominated the fusion, but he wouldn’t let his guard down; let’s test it further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Reattach it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The straw man immediately reattached its arm, then violently tore open the door and stepped out, effortlessly—its strength had clearly increased dramatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis then subjected the new straw man to a series of tests and found its strength, speed, and intelligence had all significantly improved, and it had fused the abilities of both monsters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, after killing someone, it had a chance to turn their soul into a servant; as long as it remained on the earth, it could never truly die, and its servants could reassemble it at will; in grass, forests, wheat fields, and other vegetation, its speed increased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, it had leapt from a bottom-tier evil spirit to an upper-tier one, rivaling the Flesh-Eating Demon and the stealthy evil spirit Diana!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most crucially, the cane’s control over it had not vanished—it still existed, and Louis could even command it to kill itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis slightly modified the cane, sheathing its body in steel, polishing the grip until it gleamed silver, transforming its appearance into that of a specially crafted gentleman’s cane, designed to crush an enemy’s skull—both heavy and intimidating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the monster, Louis nodded in satisfaction. “Good. From now on, you’ll guard the prison’s exterior.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The straw man nodded, returned to the room, and slipped back through the gap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the following days, Louis frequently visited the basement of a nearby farm to cultivate the Spirit Eye Technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Louis was cultivating, strange events occurred in the new home where Jiali had moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali’s new residence was an old apartment building that advertised itself as a women’s mutual aid community, admitting only women; all twenty rooms were occupied by women of all kinds—Latinas, Black women, Asians—with diverse jobs: prostitutes, repair workers, waitresses… Most shared one trait: they were bottom-tier and poor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The building’s owner was a Mexican woman named Anbo, who led the women’s mutual aid initiative, charging very low rent and appearing kind; upon learning of Jiali’s family’s hardship, she even voluntarily reduced their rent further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for some reason, Jiali always felt Anbo had ill intentions; many parts of the apartment building felt odd—some decorations looked like they belonged to men, not women.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She even spotted faint traces of what looked like blood in a corner of Anbo’s room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This deepened her suspicions, but with limited funds, she had no choice; recently, she’d begun experiencing strange phenomena she couldn’t tell were hallucinations—objects vanishing inexplicably, dark shadows flickering past, etc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was making her mentally unsteady; she was considering getting a job, but first she’d have to convince her mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sigh.” Jiali’s eyes were bloodshot; she sighed, slapped her cheeks to snap herself awake, and turned to the blackboard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearby, several girls whispered among themselves, pointing at Jiali. “She just slapped her own face.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She looks like a maggot from a sewer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Always keeps her head down—could it be…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali’s lips moved—she heard every word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But years of being denied confidence had robbed her of the courage to fight back; her head sank lower unconsciously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since it was a boarding school, she had a dorm room; returning, she felt dizzy and nauseous, so she went to the bathroom to shower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Halfway through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She heard the door open—knew it was them: Chris Hagens, the girl who often led others in bullying her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, because of Yulunca, she’d been punished and dared not overstep; but since Yulunca transferred, she’d become the dominant girl in the class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali’s nightmare began then; lately, she’d been avoiding her at all costs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, she had to finish washing and leave quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in her panic, she suddenly saw blood flowing down her leg—looking up, it kept pouring from… from somewhere, as if she were injured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aaaah!!!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali screamed in terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stumbled out of the stall, drawing the attention of Kris and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hahahaha!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What an idiot.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So dirty.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A group gathered around, laughing loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali, filled with panic, begged, \"Please, call for help.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Save me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kris looked at the disheveled Jiali and smiled faintly. She had long disliked this creature under Yulunka’s protection, and now that the chance had come, she would make sure Jiali knew her power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jiali, look what I have.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kris pulled out a drink bottle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali, crouched on the ground, believing herself injured and near death, looked up—first stunned, then silent for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly she shrieked, \"Give it back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kris smiled and passed the bottle around; Jiali could never grab it, instead being taunted like a dog. Su, in the corner, watched this scene, unable to take a single step. She knew she should step forward to protect Jiali—but the atmosphere of the group paralyzed her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bottle fell to the ground, crushed under a foot, then kicked around on the floor. The relentless, shrill laughter circled Jiali’s ears like demonic torment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali sat motionless on the ground, bloodshot eyes thickening from lack of rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They are demons. Demons!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m already dying—why should I still fear them? I’m not afraid of them. Yes, I’m not afraid of them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiali’s expression twisted into a snarl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2182,"2026-06-19T23:34:28.869Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8732b6a8695214f89ea1232d33c05dc925f71965cbb65a2e06025dac5785d736","becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-139","becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-137",253,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbecoming-a-god-through-horror-cover.jpg"]