Chapter 56: Come And Die (1)
Chapter 56
Liyu sat still, struggling against his primal urges, but no matter how much he tried to control himself, he couldn’t stop the twitching in his limbs.
He focused his mind, desperately attempting to suppress the impulse that kept whispering in his ear, urging him to break something.
It wanted him to crush bones, it wanted him to rip something apart, and not an inanimate object either... something alive, something very, very alive. His eyes moved toward the group; they were all resting, although they remained on high alert, as that much could be seen from the flow of qi circulating around them.
Liyu tried the trick the system had suggested; he began thinking about his favorite anime shows, trying to distract himself, trying to calm down.
But no matter how much he thought about them, the urge to kill always returned. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Liyu suddenly stood up. At the same moment, all four members of the group opened their eyes and turned toward him.
His expression was one they couldn’t quite understand; it almost seemed as if he was afraid of something. "Brother Yu looks scared..." Li Yuexin couldn’t help but feel worried. "I need to get something. You guys wait here. I’ll be back."
The entire group frowned simultaneously upon hearing his words. Didn’t he know that they were already wary of whatever was following them?
Something had been chasing away every beast they encountered, and the fact that none of them could even sense or perceive this supposed stalker made the situation even more concerning.
Now Liyu wanted to leave the group by himself? What if he got attacked? Seeing their gazes, Liyu spoke again, his tone calm, but there was something feral hidden beneath it: "I’ll be fine."
He turned to leave, but suddenly paused; slowly, he turned his head and looked back, his eyes locking onto one particular person: "Li Yuexin... and none of you must follow."
With that, he dashed into the forest behind them. The group remained silent, each trying to understand what was going on. "Hey... is it only me, or is Brother Yu not feeling well?" Li Xie finally asked.
"At least that’s what it looks like. He seems to be struggling with something." Li Yuexin’s heart raced. She had clearly seen it as well; something was wrong with Liyu. She wanted to follow him, she wanted to help him, and she wanted to know what was troubling him.
Yet, she was also certain that his last sentence had been directed specifically at her. He didn’t want her to follow, and she needed to trust him. Letting out a small sigh, she calmed her anxious heart. "Everything will be fine..."
At least, she hoped so; truthfully, she wasn’t certain at all.
Meanwhile, far away from where the group rested... BOOM! A deafening explosion echoed throughout the forest. Moments later, a massive pillar of dust rose into the sky.
When the dust finally settled, it revealed a scene of utter destruction: trees had been uprooted and toppled over, massive boulders had shattered into countless fragments, and the ground itself had been torn apart.
It looked as if a battle between ancient titans had taken place there, but that wasn’t what had happened; not even close. Instead, it was simply a certain lunatic venting his frustration.
Liyu’s fist slammed into another boulder; the rock was already covered in cracks from his previous attacks, and the moment his punch landed, it exploded into countless pieces.
"Damn it!" Liyu cursed. The itch was only becoming stronger, more intense, more unbearable. His fist struck the ground once again. BOOM! A massive crater formed instantly, with the center marking the exact location where his fist had landed.
Liyu inhaled deeply, then exhaled; he breathed in again, and out, again and again. His brows furrowed, and his eyes gradually turned red... not because of some supernatural transformation, but because of how overwhelming the addiction had become.
He had already flattened a huge portion of the area just trying to calm himself down, yet the urge wasn’t decreasing, not even slightly. If anything, it was becoming stronger the more he resisted it.
"Host, take a deep breath. You can handle it." "I... I can’t!" Liyu shouted through gritted teeth. His entire body twitched violently; this feeling... he needed to satisfy his hunger for bloodshed soon, otherwise he felt like he was going to lose his mind.
"Actually, Host, it’s the opposite," the system replied calmly. "You need to resist the urge if you want to control it. If you keep giving in every time it appears, then it will become increasingly difficult to manage."
"I’m trying to!" Liyu growled. He continued breathing heavily, but it wasn’t working; nothing was working. He closed his eyes, and another wave of unbearable itching spread throughout his nerves.
If someone had been unfortunate enough to be standing here right now... he would have torn them apart without a second thought. This was the side effect of the Primal Tyrant Physique; at that moment, the saying "nothing comes for free" became painfully clear.
He hadn’t paid much attention to the corruption counter before, not even when it had reached thirty percent yesterday, because he hadn’t experienced anything unusual. But now... now he understood.
"Host, stop right there. You are not a vampire, and by the blood you’re talking about..." The system paused. "You mean Li Feng and the others." "Yes." Liyu nodded, and a feral look appeared in his eyes. "They can help satisfy my hunger."
All he needed to do was fight them, kill them, rip them apart... that was all. Just tear them to pieces, and this maddening urge would disappear. Liyu nodded to himself, then began walking toward the direction where Li Feng and the others were waiting.
He had only taken two steps, then suddenly stopped. The next moment... BANG! He drove a full-powered punch straight into his own face. The surge of pain instantly cleared his mind, his vision blurred, and his knees crashed against the ground.
The violent impulse receded slightly; Liyu knelt there, breathing heavily, his face pale and his fists trembling. "This is too much..." He couldn’t help but think. The feeling dominating his mind right now wasn’t human; it was like the instinct of a savage beast, a mindless predator, a creature that knew only one thing: to kill, and kill, and kill.
But he was no mindless beast, and he wouldn’t allow himself to be controlled by his own urges. He would try his best to control himself, but it was so painful that it almost seemed impossible.
Liyu lowered his head as he desperately tried to pull himself together and push the frenzied instinct screaming at him to kill out of his mind.
By now, he would have tracked down some beast and slaughtered it, but he couldn’t even hear the footsteps of an ant, much less a beast; they had all fled miles away from the group by now.
The system continued trying to provide him with mental support. In silence, Liyu fought against the insane bestial urge inside him... the urge to kill, the urge to tear something apart, the urge to paint the ground red.
But it wasn’t working; as time passed, his mind slowly began slipping toward those urges once more, and it was nothing short of troubling.
Meanwhile, six members of the Dark Reaper organization were moving through the forest. Their destination was the location of Six Mark, the code name they had given to the scout who had brought them news earlier.
As they traveled through the forest, they suddenly heard a series of loud explosions echoing from somewhere eastward; at first, they had no intention of investigating, but when they saw the massive pillars of dust rising into the sky, curiosity got the better of them.
Soon, they changed direction and headed toward the source of the disturbance. Several minutes later, they arrived; the moment they did, all six of them froze.
The scene before them was one that could only be described as desolate: the ground had been flattened, trees had been uprooted and splintered apart, and huge boulders had been shattered into fragments. The entire area looked as though it had been struck by a natural disaster.
But what truly caught their attention was the enormous crater at the center; it was unbelievably large, looking as though a calamity had descended upon this place.
Yet somehow, the strangest thing wasn’t the destruction itself... no, it was the figure kneeling in the middle of the crater: a lone human figure dressed entirely in black. His head hung low, his knees rested on the broken ground, and if anything, he looked devastated.
Six Mark took a closer look, and the moment he did, his expression changed. "That’s him..." The others turned toward him. "Who?" "One of the young cultivators I’ve been following all day." The moment those words left his mouth, several expressions brightened. This was good, very good.
A lone peak Body Refinement cultivator... weak, isolated, easy prey. They could kidnap him without any effort at all. The group immediately leapt down from the trees.
However, as they approached and got within several meters of the figure, they slowly realized that something was wrong; the young man’s shoulders were trembling, moving up and down repeatedly.
At first glance, it looked as though he was crying, but something about it felt off... very off. Six Mark glanced at the devastation surrounding them, then at the kneeling figure, and a terrible premonition suddenly formed in his heart. "Guys... I think we should leave."
The others looked at him strangely. "This guy is giving me a really bad feeling." Six Mark’s voice was serious. What was the possibility that a peak Body Refinement cultivator had caused this much destruction?
The answer should have been less than zero. Impossible. Even he, a Sixth Stage Qi Gathering cultivator, couldn’t imagine himself creating this level of devastation. His scalp tingled, and every instinct in his body screamed at him to run.
Seeing his fearful expression, the others immediately laughed. One of them even patted him on the shoulder. "What happened, Six Mark? Have you suddenly grown spineless?"
The man laughed mockingly. "You’re afraid of a kid at the peak of Body Refinement? He isn’t even in the Qi Gathering Realm, and you’re shaking like this."
He shook his head; even he, someone who had only entered the Sixth Stage of Qi Gathering a month ago, had more courage than Six Mark. "You idiots, look around you!" Six Mark tried once more. "If he’s the one who caused all this, then he might be much stronger than he looks."
But the group only stared at him as though he had lost his mind; because if he hadn’t lost his mind, then how could he possibly believe that the crying teenager over there had caused all this destruction?
The devastation was obviously the work of some powerful beast... a beast that had probably already left.
The man who had mocked Six Mark stepped forward. He approached the kneeling youth; the figure’s shoulders still shook. "Hey kid. I don’t know what’s making you cry." The man smirked.
"But guess what? I don’t care. If you know what’s good for you, hand over all your possessions and come with us. We might let you keep your life if you cooperate." The teenager didn’t respond; he didn’t even move.
The man’s smile disappeared. "Hey. Are you listening?" He took several more steps forward, then suddenly stopped; his entire body froze because the kid wasn’t crying, not at all... he was laughing.
A low, broken laugh escaped his mouth, but it wasn’t a human laugh; it sounded like something a feral beast would make if beasts knew how to laugh.
Slowly, the youth raised his head; the man instinctively took a step backward, his heart skipping a beat. The look in those eyes... madness. Pure madness. It looked like he had completely lost his mind. "W-What?"
The man stammered. Liyu grinned maniacally, and that broken beast-like laughter still escaped his lips. Then he spoke, a simple sentence: "You really came over to me." The grin widened. "You came over to die."
The man’s scalp instantly went numb. The way the kid was looking at him... it wasn’t the gaze of a human; it was the gaze of a predator... furious, hungry, unstable. .
Feeling both scared and angered, he immediately struck forward, and qi surged through his arm; he intended to knock the kid unconscious. His fist shot forward, yet it never reached its target.
A hand caught it, stopped it completely. Liyu’s eyes sharpened. CRACK! A sickening sound echoed through the area; the man’s fist was crushed, and a painful whimper escaped his mouth.
Then slowly... very slowly... Liyu twisted the arm; bones shattered, muscles tore, and before anyone could react—RIP! The entire arm was torn from his body. Blood exploded into the air.
Everyone froze; even the man whose arm had been ripped off seemed too shocked to scream. That shock only lasted until the pain finally reached his brain.
Then—"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" A horrifying scream echoed through the forest.
But Liyu wasn’t done; he grabbed the second arm. CRACK! The bones shattered. RIP! The second arm was torn off as well.
The man’s mind was filled with only one thought: his life was in danger. He stared into Liyu’s eyes, then his blood turned cold. Those beast-like eyes, those monstrous eyes... Six Mark had been right; they should have run away, they should have escaped while they still had the chance, but now... it was too late.
Liyu raised both blood-covered hands. Then... BANG! He slammed them together against the man’s skull. The head exploded like a watermelon. Blood and brain matter sprayed everywhere. The corpse dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Silence followed... a deep, terrifying, oppressive silence. Then the remaining members of the Dark Reaper finally reacted; weapons were unsheathed, qi erupted, and battle stances were taken.
The gazes they directed at Liyu had completely changed; moments ago, they had looked at him as prey, but now they looked at him as though he were a monster... a true monster. Liyu saw their fear, and his grin widened even further.
His arms spread open as though he were welcoming old friends; his fingernails elongated, transforming into sharp claws; his teeth lengthened into fangs; his hair grew longer and thicker; his eyes became increasingly beast-like.
The grin on his face widened. "Come forward, my prey." His voice sounded cheerful, excited, almost happy, like a child being told he would receive every flavor of ice cream he ever wanted.
"Come..." He licked the blood from his cheek. "Come and die."
