Chapter 99: The Phantom Demon Working as a Waiter?

“Wait.” Director Takahashi stopped his subordinate who was about to play the video: “Go get Mori Tian Takeshi, then play the video.”

“Mori Tian Takeshi? I think I’ve heard that name before… Mori Tian Takeshi from NH137?”

Director Takahashi saw the thoughts in everyone’s minds and spoke slowly:

“Mori Tian Takeshi appeared in the video. As a party involved, he might offer a different perspective on the late King.”

“Mori Tian Takeshi performed well in Higashiohku—he’s a promising talent.” Section Chief Saito chimed in, aiming to promote his capable subordinate.

Not long after.

Mori Tian Takeshi arrived.

“Officer Mori Tian Takeshi, I assume you’ve heard about the late King’s new video…” Director Takahashi explained: “We’ll play the video now. Don’t be nervous—say whatever you think.”

“Yes!”

Mori Tian Takeshi saluted. The video began playing.

…

In Tokyo, Japan, Arakawa Ward—nearby but separate from Higashiohku—was Nichirin.

On the bustling street, lights blazed brightly, colors vibrant, people flowing endlessly.

Cafes suitable for casual chats, KFC, McDonald’s—all filled with patrons watching videos and discussing supernatural monsters.

Meanwhile,

In a private room at a high-end sushi restaurant sat a woman so stunningly beautiful that one glance made you want to move next door and become the neighbor.

She wore a long red dress, crimson as blood, and upon entering the restaurant, she instantly drew every eye.

“Those legs—I could play with them for a year.”

One guest whispered to his companion, who replied instantly.

“I’d be paralyzed from the waist down before I was done.”

Everyone was fixated on the woman’s beauty and explosive figure, none noticing her distracted, absent-minded expression.

The woman ignored the lecherous, wolfish stares around her and requested a private room.

Without hesitation, she sat down and picked up the tea the server had poured.

Her hand trembled.

More precisely, this stunningly beautiful woman was shaking—deep in her beautiful eyes lay profound fear, as if she had endured something horrific, her soul rattled, and she had been mentally unsteady since arriving.

Snap!

The beautiful woman noticed her trembling hand and hastily grabbed it with her other hand, trying to stop the shaking.

She looked as if terrified someone would see she was afraid.

Too bad—no matter how hard she controlled herself, breathed deeply, or drank tea, she couldn’t calm down. Her hearing was extraordinarily sharp; even inside the soundproof private room, she clearly heard the guests’ conversations, and even the faintest whispers from people on the street outside.

This hearing was no longer human.

Every conversation she overheard centered on the supernatural and Higashiohku—each one growing more excited, more intense, spittle flying.

It was these very words that made the beautiful woman unable to settle, her heart pounding with dread.

Especially whenever someone mentioned the Kūkai Priest, or the Lord of Demons and Spirits even greater than him—Yamata no Orochi—her heart hammered harder, and she grew even more unsettled.

“This world is too dangerous.”

The beautiful woman murmured, recalling something, her face twisting with regret and anger as she cursed:

“I told Sianjie to be careful, but he wouldn’t listen—now I can’t even return to the Phantom Demon Realm, forced to stay in this terrifying world.”

A sigh.

“But returning now won’t help either. Without the Master’s protection, I’d die in the Phantom Demon Realm.”

If the Six-Eyed Demon were still alive, even without seeing her face, just hearing her voice and her calling out “Sianjie,” he’d instantly recognize her: she was Li Gui, the companion who had once come to Japan with him to conduct an invasion survey.

Perhaps realizing she couldn’t return anytime soon, Li Gui could only find solace in dark humor, comforting herself.

“Good thing I didn’t go with Sianjie—if I had, I’d be dead too.”

Unlike Sianjie, Li Gui had always been famed in the Phantom Demon Realm for her caution, and even after arriving in Japan, she retained that cautious nature.

She didn’t go on indiscriminate killing sprees. Instead, she operated in secrecy, luring victims to isolated places and killing them quietly, leaving no trace, unseen and unheard.

Even during Sianjie’s rampage in Higashiohku, Li Gui did not appear—she observed from afar, watching this world as a bystander, gathering the most perfect intelligence possible.

Sianjie once said Li Gui was even more terrifying and infamous than him, with enemies everywhere—yet she survived, precisely because she was cautious. Even in another realm, even one he judged primitive, she remained as cautious as ever.

So far, Li Gui’s caution had been right—she hadn’t been discovered, and she was still alive.

“What should I do next? Find a way back to the Phantom Demon Realm, or settle here and hide?”

Li Gui pondered her future plans.

Through her observations, she now understood how terrifying this world was—just the bizarre, supernatural myths alone sounded horrifying…

Especially when she accidentally overheard two guests discussing a country called Huáguó’s supernatural beings—Gonggong toppling Buzhou Mountain, Pangu splitting heaven and earth, Houtu creating the cycle of reincarnation—she nearly crushed the tea cup in her hand.

Too terrifying.

Resurrection was already horrifying—but reincarnation?

She decided: no matter what, she’d hide her identity, become an invisible little mouse. After all, Phantom Demons were lab rats—now being a transparent mouse made no difference.

“For now, kill fewer people. Be human.” Li Gui took a bite of sushi, her dark eyebrows lifting slightly: “Huh? Is food in this world really this delicious?”

Li Gui possessed a talent: by consuming an opponent’s brain, she could absorb their memories—provided their power was vastly inferior to hers.

The Master had assigned her as an invasion scout precisely because of this ability.

Since arriving in Japan, though cautious, she had consumed over ten people, gathering information about this world and understanding how different it was from her own—in technology, daily customs, food, and more.

“If I want to live as a human, maybe I should get a job?”

Li Gui knew this world had surveillance cameras. If she remained unemployed while constantly eating and drinking out, she’d risk being discovered by the government. Ever since the Yunhu incident, surveillance had intensified—and now, with the Higashiohku supernatural events exposed, monitoring across Japan would only grow stronger, not weaker.

As she thought, Li Gui sighed deeply.

She, a high-ranking official of the Phantom Demon Palace, reduced to working alongside ordinary humans… How hard this life was.

The next moment,

“Waiter.” Li Gui called over the server: “Check, please.”

“Of course.”

The server turned to leave to settle the bill, but Li Gui stopped her.

“By the way—do you need waitstaff?”

“Huh?”

The server stared, utterly baffled.

Was this…?

Trying to avoid paying by washing dishes?

Then, after Li Gui paid with money taken from over ten victims and asked again if they needed waitstaff, the server was completely lost.

What the hell? Eating premium sushi… applying for a waiter job?

Meanwhile,

In Tokyo, Japan, Arakawa Ward, an apartment.

Kamikawa Mitsu sat in his room, gazing out the window. His dark eyes shimmered with profound, tranquil radiance, like the ripples of an immortal lake—stretching across vast distances, capturing every blade of grass and tree.

His gaze was fixed on Li Gui’s location.

He was watching Li Gui’s every move from his apartment in Arakawa Ward, far away.

…