[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-276":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"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},2269922,4431,"Chapter 276","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-276",276,"\u003Cp>What is a cultist?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Roughly speaking, they’re twisted beings who don’t regard other lives as their own kind.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the hellish scene before him, the “slave” Wu Gu unexpectedly recalled everything he had heard before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This isn’t right. This is terribly wrong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Gu is sixteen years old; as a Bull Clan member, he stands over two meters tall and has already awakened three racial talents, his bloodline having evolved once—he’s Kancheng  a combat prodigy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this brought him no luck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a “gladiator slave,” he had grown accustomed to killing his own kind to survive, but this scene before him was something else entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s Lamor, of the Kun family’s branch line! A great noble! They often come to watch our gladiatorial fights.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Those bastards, those filthy nobles. They took my sister! My twelve-year-old sister—those beasts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These trash love nothing more than watching our brothers and kin slaughter each other.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, when that noble was thrown into the slaves’ cage, even though the slaves remained angry and resentful, they only cursed and glared with hostility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As always, as ever, the slaves were merely monkeys bound by iron chains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Gu said nothing; he knew it was meaningless. The hatred between both sides had its reasons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He, well-known among the slaves, watched the unfortunate young noble, who gazed around in bewilderment and shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This noble youth, who looked no older than a child, had probably never set foot in the filthy dock districts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Snap!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old order ended when a dagger was thrown into the cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whoever kills him gains freedom, feasts on fine food, and may choose a woman to enjoy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gladiator outside said cheerfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same thing happened repeatedly across the entire area—not just the slaves were chosen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even commoners received the same treatment, and among the minor nobles, another noble from a rival faction was thrown in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make lambs and sheep who’ve never seen blood shed it—of course they’ll evolve into lions and tigers. In breeding beasts, the cult is professional.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cultists were patient; they watched with delight as the hostages struggled in torment, bringing food to the outside of the cages while they themselves enjoyed it merrily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This, in fact, was also part of the “Blood Baptism.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When appetite, the lust to kill, and the lust to mate overpowered reason, and they began slaughtering their own kind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In religious terms, it was bestiality overcoming humanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Die, filthy noble!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first to act was the slaves’ cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They already hated the nobles here intensely; they never thought beyond survival—gladiator slaves were lucky to live another day, let alone consider such distant consequences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For them, killing a noble before death, perhaps even eating well, was already worth it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The noble thrown into the cage died horribly, torn apart piece by piece, no one able to determine who struck the first blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And outside, the cultists did not break their word—they tossed in a pile of “blood food,” letting the slaves feast happily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Gu did not eat. He had learned some secrets of the cultists from a comrade—he trusted none of their words, and he would never touch the food they offered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, his “experience” was proven right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aaoooh!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unconsciously, those slaves who had eaten the food, killed their kin, and enjoyed women began to change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Horns grew on their heads; their bones shattered and regrew; their limbs twisted and expanded in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, they became half-human, half-beast monsters, staring blankly at everything around them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So hungry. So hungry.” The monster hesitated, then reached for the shredded meat on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And outside, the cultists laughed with delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, choosing the slaves’ cage was correct—other areas hadn’t yet crossed the line, but here, the first “Beast Child” had already emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The food contained “Beast Blood,” and within this “sacred place,” fulfilling the cult’s rites meant gradually embracing bestiality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aaaah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the first beast attacked the others in the cage, fear began to spread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the first “Beast Child” did not prevail—the unmutated slaves, outnumbering him, surged forward and killed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they finally gasped to a stop and stared at the half-human, half-beast corpse, their faces showed confusion—they too began to feel pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I—I what? I didn’t even eat!”\u003C\u002Fp>",706,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8fcc72c81d7868e63175f049ce265eb4e0c66739fe34272c2f96bba3902db24b","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-277","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-275",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]