Chapter 216: Negative

When they saw the newcomer was just a petite figure wearing Ten Kings Office attire, sunglasses on her face, light cyan hair and fox ears faintly reflecting in the dim light, the initial shock was quickly replaced by annoyance.

Especially, after this little fox girl kicked open the door, she stood straight at the doorway, her face behind the sunglasses unreadable, but her posture… showed no fear at all, instead carrying a provocative air.

After a brief silence.

The young Medicine King Secret Transmission member with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks was the first to snicker, breaking the silence: "Hey! I thought who had sneaked in, turns out it's a little judge from the Ten Kings Office? Or just a little girl?"

His tone was frivolous, openly mocking: "What, got lost? Or are you Ten Kings Office short-staffed, sending a baby like you to deliver performance?"

The scarred burly man twirled his short dagger in his hand, sneering: "This delicate skin and flesh looks weak as hell. Hey, kid, didn't your elders teach you not to kick doors randomly?"

The one with wandering eyes stared at Huo Huo's tail, licked his lips: "Fox people? Rare indeed… I wonder what this fur feels like…"

The leading middle-aged man frowned, he was more cautious than his subordinates; although he also thought this sudden intruding little judge posed no threat, the presence of Ten Kings Office people here was ultimately a trouble.

He raised his hand to stop his subordinates' increasingly unbearable teasing, and said in a low voice: "Little friend of the Ten Kings Office, this is a private place, outsiders not welcome. Considering you're young and ignorant, leave now and we'll pretend we didn't see you."

His words seemed to offer a way out, but actually carried a condescending dismissal.

Obviously, they didn't even consider the lone, frail-looking Huo Huo worth noting; they just wanted to quickly drive away this unexpected little trouble, not to delay their "business".

Huo Huo stood at the doorway, listening to these mocking, threatening, or perfunctory words, her lips pursed behind the sunglasses.

Strange, she actually felt no fear at all.

Even, looking at those faces full of ill intent and hearing those grating words, the inexplicable irritation in her chest flared up with a "whoosh".

She didn't answer, just slowly raised a hand and adjusted her slightly slipping sunglasses.

Then, using an icy tone she herself wasn't aware of, she clearly said to the four Medicine King Secret Transmission members who obviously didn't take her seriously:

"You guys, you're making noise in my ears."

"Pfft—"

The sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked young Medicine King Secret Transmission member burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking, as if he'd heard the funniest joke ever.

He staggered forward, waving his poison-coated short dagger in an unskilled flourish, the blade gleaming an ominous dark green in the yellowish light.

"Making noise in your ears?"

He mimicked Huo Huo's calm yet impatient tone, exaggeratedly digging at his own ear: "Little judge, did you wander onto the wrong set? This isn't the Ten Kings Office classroom, nobody taught you manners—big brothers will teach you—"

As he spoke he moved closer, a sneer on his face, his free hand reaching straight for Huo Huo's cheek half-covered by the sunglasses, clearly intending to pinch her.

The other three also wore looks of anticipation, the scarred burly man even crossed his arms, waiting to see this little fox girl scream in fright.

However, the next second.

The hand reaching for Huo Huo's cheek, in midair, was firmly gripped by a slender yet unusually steady hand!

The sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man's laugh froze on his face.

He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but felt his wrist clamped like in an iron vise, unable to move at all!

He stared in disbelief, lowering his head to meet the murky darkness behind the sunglasses.

"You…"

He only managed to utter a single word.

In Huo Huo's hand gripping his wrist, without warning, a burst of cyan-green flame flared up with a "whoosh"!

The flame wasn't hot, even carrying a hint of eerie chill; it instantly spread from the point of contact like living vines, in the blink of an eye enveloping the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man's entire upper body!

"Uh?!"

The sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man shuddered all over, not from being burned—the flame had no temperature at all.

But a throbbing and icy chill from deep within his soul swept over him.

The mockery on the faces of the other three froze instantly, turning into astonishment.

Enveloped in the cyan-green flame, the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man stared blankly down at the flames leaping on his body, as if they came from the netherworld.

No pain, no burning, but…

"Ah… ah ah…" he emitted meaningless hoarse sounds from his throat.

Immediately, countless chaotic, intense, dark emotions surged like a breached flood, overwhelming his mental defenses!

Pent-up fear, twisted greed, resentment from conflicts with colleagues, anxiety from sneaky deeds keeping him uneasy all day, and deep down, the shame he wouldn't admit to himself for his own vile actions…

All the negative emotions he had deliberately ignored were magnified many times by this eerie flame, ignited, and burned wildly!

"No… don't… it's not me… help… so painful… so much hate… why…"

He babbled incoherently, his facial expression twisting—sometimes terrified, sometimes furious, sometimes tears streaming.

Huo Huo released her grip.

"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"

The sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man let out a shrill, inhuman wail—not a cry of bodily pain, but a soul-rending howl from countless negative emotions tearing him apart!

He staggered backward, frantically scratching his head and chest with both hands, as if trying to dig those burning emotions out of his body.

"Save me! Save me! Help me!"

Tears and snot streaming, he reached out to his former comrades, his eyes unfocused, full of desperate pleading.

The scarred burly man, the middle-aged man, and the wandering-eyed Medicine King Secret Transmission member—now their faces drained of blood, as if they'd seen a living Yama in broad daylight.

Seeing their companion in a state more painful than being sliced by a thousand blades, a chill shot from the soles of their feet straight to their Heavenly Spirit Dome!

What kind of sorcery is this?!

When did Ten Kings Office judges ever have such heretical methods?!

"Run… run fast!"

The middle-aged man reacted first, his voice changing tone, no trace of his earlier composure left.

He didn't even bother to save his companion rolling and wailing on the ground in a horrifying state, turning and rushing toward the other concealed exit they'd reserved on the opposite side of the basement!

The scarred burly man and the wandering-eyed one were also torn apart inside, survival instinct overriding everything; they followed the middle-aged man, scrambling toward that exit, cursing their parents for not giving them two more legs.

Huo Huo stood where she was, her gaze behind the sunglasses coldly sweeping over the curled, twitching sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man on the floor, now reduced to weak whimpers, then flicking to the three figures fleeing in panic.

She didn't chase, she just raised her hand.

The cyan‑green Flame covering the sharp‑mouthed, monkey‑cheeked body, like a homing ghost, "whoosh" with a sound, detached from the already deeply comatose body, turned into a strand of light, obediently returned to Huo Huo's fingertip, slipped in silently, as if it had never appeared.

The person on the ground was completely still, their face as pale as paper, breathing weakly.