Chapter 805: Midnight Martial Contest Tests the Edge of Brilliance (60)

Hu Lei scoffed: "What illusion makes you think you still have the right to negotiate a deal with me?"

"You can torture me with cruel punishments until I speak: or we could… save time for both sides, War Chief," Jiao Qiu gritted his teeth, "There's a question that has always plagued me. How after seven hundred years of punishment you still remain unharmed? The Step‑Departed shouldn't have such a long lifespan… nor such a tenacious regenerative ability."

"So that's why the Yaoqing Immortal Boat wants to take me?" Hu Lei sneered, "To some, I'm a hostage in their grasp, but to others they covet the secrets I carry—"

"I still remember, in those early years of my confinement, the fox people came and went… they extracted my blood marrow, trying to unravel the cause of 'Moon Madness', to rid themselves of fear of the Step‑Departed, to seize control from the root of the bloodline. Unfortunately, they couldn't fathom the secret, so they resorted to the most vicious punishments they could devise."

"Some seek power to destroy their enemies, some seek power to become their enemies… Jiao Qiu, which are you?"

——

Chainsaw Man.

"Hey hey, why after gaining power do you start flying around killing and become a foe… this uncle is way too dark, huh?"

Dianci popped a potato chip into his mouth, the crisp crack satisfying.

From the other end of the sofa, Pawa reached out, like a blind creature searching for food, feeling his thigh, and when she hit his shorts, Dianci placed a potato chip into her palm.

The palm withdrew contentedly. Then—

"Whoa! Why are your chips cucumber‑flavored!" Pawa shouted, her voice raw with anger, "Humans making chips into vegetable flavors is too dark! Go die!"

Dianci popped another chip into his mouth: "Chips are just potatoes; eating potatoes is eating vegetables."

"Nonsense!" Pawa peered over from the sofa, "Barbecue‑flavored chips aren't vegetables; cucumber and tomato flavors are! When will they pass a law banning vegetable‑flavored potatoes? The tax should be thirty times higher!"

"Oh." Dianci replied perfunctorily, eyes fixed on Hu Lei in the sky, "By the way, Pawa, if you gained power, would you have anyone to take revenge on?"

"Hmm… if it were me, I'd probably kill the premier and replace him," Pawa sat up from the sofa, the ceiling fan whirring, lifting her hair slightly, "I recall that becoming premier lets you rule humanity, right? With enough power, of course you should rule humanity."

"Rule humanity, then what?"

"I haven't decided yet." Pawa stared at the chubby cat stretching on the windowsill, then a spark lit up, "Probably I'll have a hundred humans raise my cat; if the cat gets angry, I'll kill them all. My cat and I must eat meat daily, only the meat patty in a hamburger, and toss the leftover bun to humans. How's that? I'm quite kind, right?"

"You bastard are darker than Hu Lei…"

——

"Ah, I get it! Yaoqing's physician, you're the most pitiful kind— you seek power to share it with others, to do good. Then let me tell you the answer you seek."

Hu Lei looked up at the sky, "In ancient legends, the ancestor of the Step‑Departed, Du Lan, was dissatisfied with limited life and power; he yearned to dominate the heavens, to become master of the stars. To that end he sacrificed countless Step‑Departed and fox people, infused the spring of eternal life, and under genetic sorcery the water birthed a miracle—the 'Fetal Moon'."

"After climbing the moon's birthing bed, Du Lan obtained what he coveted: a heart shaped like a crimson full moon. Du Lan slit his own chest and replaced his heart with this red moon."

"Don't swindle me with myths!" Jiao Qiu shouted.

"Jianmu is also a far‑fetched myth. Yet you Immortal Boat folk understand it's real." Hu Lei continued, "This heart‑moon has pulsed through generations within War Chiefs' bodies. Because the Step‑Departed's succession ritual involves the successor opening the predecessor War Chief's chest, devouring this divine flesh, granting the strong its power!"

"【Devour】, this is the true essence that lets life continue and flourish. It condenses the life essence of the prey we devour, making us ever stronger!"

——

Twin Cities Battle.

"What a ceremony‑laden succession ritual."

An Beisa sat in a velvet armchair, holding a cup of Nuoxikasisi black tea gone cold. Moonlight bathed her as she gazed up at Hu Lei the War Chief in the sky, admiration in her eyes.

"Violence, directness, ensuring absolute transmission of power. Some early Nuoxikasisi tribes had similar customs—inheritance by killing the previous leader. Unfortunately… the ritual didn't persist; otherwise today's tribal heads wouldn't be so soft."

"Mother, after all that's a Step‑Departed tradition."

"That's the wolf's tradition," An Beisa emphasized, "Mei Er, do you remember what I once told you—'One must be a wolf'—you are now just a fox, and in real combat a fox can't beat a wolf."

"If I must become a wolf, then by tradition should I now flash my fangs at you?"

Mei Er frowned; she disliked discussing "foxes" and "wolves" with her mother. She constantly praised the Step‑Departed before her, hoping to learn Hu Lei the War Chief's ruthless tactics. Yet she didn't realize this was Piiertewofu, a progressive city famed across the Rune Continent, where excessive bloodshed wasn't needed. Civilization and order… those truly guide the future.

"Oh? Will that day ever come? I actually look forward to it." An Beisa smiled faintly, raised her cup, downed the strong tea, "…that at least shows my daughter has grown, a step closer to becoming a true 'wolf'."

——

"Seven hundred years of punishment made me think all hope was lost, but now this heart beats again," Hu Lei slowly withdrew his gaze, looking at the fox person before him, "…Alright, now it's your turn to tell me everything about the 'Heaven‑Striking General'."

"…"

On a distant rooftop, a pitch‑black figure flashed across the night sky.

Mo Ze stuck out his head, silently observing everything in the courtyard.

"Jiao Qiu… I've found you."