[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-heavenly-official-bestows-evil":3,"chapter-heavenly-official-bestows-evil-heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-538":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Heavenly Official Bestows Evil",{"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},2317157,4530,"Chapter 538: Nightfall Changes","heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-538",538,"\u003Cp>Xia Wentao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood frozen for two seconds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To muster the courage to turn around, he kept encouraging himself inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not turning back, he could still deceive himself; but if he turned, he might have to face a cruel truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nothing’s there—it’s just an illusion!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Wentao comforted himself with these thoughts, then turned and looked down—and what he saw nearly made him faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath his feet should have been a land turtle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now it was a grotesque monster: it bore a turtle shell, yet had human limbs and a human head protruding from a gap in the shell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shell was far too small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The human limbs sticking out were crushed and deformed; flesh and organs oozed from the edges, and blood continuously seeped from the shell’s cracks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Worse still was the head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the neck met the shell, it had been crushed to half its original thickness; the exposed portion swelled purple-red from blood congestion, and on top, blood, flesh, and hair were matted together, the skull slightly warped, with a deep red hollow at the root of the hair—a wound caused by crashing into the tree! The monster’s purple-red face lifted, its eyes bulging as if about to pop out, fixed unblinkingly on Xia Wentao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stay here, stay here, let’s swap—I don’t want to be a turtle anymore, I want to be human, you stay here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Wentao’s hair stood on end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He kicked the monster’s face hard, screaming and cursing in frantic tears as he kicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let go! Let go right now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how hard Xia Wentao kicked, the turtle-man held on tightly, showing no intention of releasing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More and more “animals” gathered around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a dog-like creature crouching on the ground, covered in black fur, its cheeks torn, its skull deformed—a “dog-man.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a chicken-like creature with a bird’s beak, its scalp peeled back and stuck to its forehead, its arms stretched open like bloody wings—a “chicken-man.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These animals had been calm and peaceful during the day; now they were all monsters crawling out of hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human and beast combinations came in many forms—cute, gritty—but what stood before Xia Wentao were the most twisted, horrifying versions imaginable!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They charged toward the group, all screaming similar words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why are you human?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And we have to be beasts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing these deformed “animals,” Xia Wentao felt despair. As death loomed, memories of what had happened an hour ago flashed through his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After discarding Han Hao’s severed arm, Xia Wentao, enraged by Ma San’s contemptuous attitude, grabbed his collar and shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Han Hao’s in trouble!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I already told you his condition was off—I was trying to get you to help him!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You two are the Blessed Ones—you know the Blessed Land better, you’ve faced more life-or-death crises—saving Han Hao should be easy for you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kang Tiantian reached from the side and pried open Xia Wentao’s fingers; the pain forced him to let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma San straightened his collar and stared coldly at Xia Wentao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can save him—or I can choose not to.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We agreed to split up only to search for the statues more efficiently, not to act as your babysitters.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me give you some advice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Every ability to fight evil in the Blessed Land consumes something. To survive here, you must stay rational, discard unnecessary emotions, avoid unnecessary expenditure…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re all ordinary people—we must use every trick just to survive. Only the strong have the strength to protect others.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re not strong… and neither am I.”…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From that moment on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Wentao lost faith in the Blessed Ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had seen the cruelty of the Blessed Land: here, only you can be responsible for yourself. He no longer expected help from the Blessed Ones when danger struck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Wentao was held fast by the turtle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A “roe deer” with half a human head dangling from each antler, its body riddled with blood-filled pits, charged toward him—how could he survive on his own? CRACK! The roe deer suddenly stepped into a mud pit; its speed too great, its legs snapped with a sickening crunch—this was the effect of Hu Shutong’s 【Step of Sorrow】 blessing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian whipped out his Blood-Thorn Silk, striking the roe deer’s head, igniting crimson blood-flame atop its skull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Hua drew a short knife from her waist and chopped off the turtle-man’s hand bones in one slash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Mi lifted the turtle and hurled it away like a shot put, then snapped at the stunned Xia Wentao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Run! Why are you standing there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Xia Wentao could reply, Su Mi grabbed his shoulder and slung him over her back, sprinting toward the dormitory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From her shoulder, Xia Wentao saw everyone running toward the dormitory—especially Ma San and his wife, who had fled the moment the turtle-man appeared and were now already inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrounding animals refused to let Wu Xian and the others enter the dormitory; they lunged toward them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their terrifying faces could stop children from crying at night; their venomous cries sent chills down the spine—especially some of the animals, whose speed far exceeded that of humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in the end, they safely reached the dormitory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All thanks to Hu Shutong’s 【Step of Sorrow】—she could trip each animal once, allowing the group to slip inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The foremost animal halted at the dormitory’s front steps; others crowded the entrance, their deformed human-animal flesh pressed together, howling in frustration toward the first-floor lobby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian exhaled in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up at the time—it was exactly six p.m., and the sky darkened at that very moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that as night fell, the danger level in the training center rose another tier; the once-safe animals now began attacking humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps not just these animals—other parts of the school would grow more dangerous too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, these animals couldn’t enter the dormitory, which was why they hadn’t been attacked before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the past two nights, they’d stayed on the ninth floor; even looking down from the windows, they hadn’t seen these things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others gradually climbed the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian observed for a moment, then prepared to go up too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as soon as he turned, he felt a cold gaze from behind—it made his whole body uneasy, especially his cat whiskers, which trembled violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian whirled around, staring toward the source of the sensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, beneath a distant tree,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>stood six blurred human figures, each bearing animal traits—but far more harmonious than the twisted horrors crowding the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of them,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was a slightly plump old woman, her hair streaked white, her face a wrinkled, partially bald cat’s face!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stared at Wu Xian and smiled—a strange, chilling smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian confirmed it: this thing was the cat he’d been searching for—the old woman who had cursed him! But tonight, he couldn’t spare the time to kill her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could only etch her image deep into his memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1156,"2026-06-20T14:31:07.793Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","bd5a4045f653033d1d787dfd70c8427356e22b119602350646e8fcbd61b1a3e1","heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-539","heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-537",556,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fheavenly-official-bestows-evil-cover.jpg"]