The Ungraceful Count of Roses [VIII]

With a "thud,"

Mo Youqian, weakened to the brink by the backlash, couldn't hold himself up any longer and collapsed to the ground.

Even so, driven by an intense will to survive, he braced himself with his hands and slowly began crawling backward.

"Spare me, let me go! I'm from Penglun Palace! If you kill me, Penglun Palace won't let you off!"

"My spirit's already dead! I'm nothing but a useless corpse now, no threat to you at all!"

"Please… spare me…"

Blood poured from Mo Youqian's mouth as he frantically begged for his life, even attempting to crawl behind the other players.

But unfortunately for him, he was moving too slowly now.

The area around him had been transformed into a "vacuum."

The players, terrified by Yi Bai's willingness to kill without hesitation, were too scared to go near Mo Youqian.

They all stood at a distance, as though avoiding a plague.

After briefly savoring the fear and confusion of his prey, Yi Bai lost interest.

A killer is always killed in the end.

But for Yi Bai, he had only intended to eliminate Mo Youqian before the latter could get the chance to kill him first.

In a blink, the long, dark specter appeared next to Mo Youqian.

Its pure black form seemed to personify despair, shattering the last shred of hope in Mo Youqian's heart.

"W-why?"

In his final moments, he voiced the question that had haunted him: the one thing he could never understand.

Whoosh!

The black claws whistled through the air.

Mo Youqian's head was cleanly severed, rolling across the floor, coming to a stop at Yi Bai's feet.

The lifeless eyes stared up at Yi Bai, unblinking, as if still challenging him.

The sight sent a chill down the spines of the players who witnessed it, making their backs tingle with fear.

"Why kill you? No reason. I simply want to kill you," Yi Bai said with a faint smile, his voice devoid of any emotion.

The four shadowy figures vanished back into the ground beneath him.

Without a second glance, Yi Bai turned and entered the resort.

The zombie employee quickly followed, but before entering the door, he suddenly remembered something.

He turned around 180 degrees, grinning eerily as he addressed the players:

"Temporary workers, now that a distinguished guest has arrived at the resort, you'd better be on your best behavior! If you upset our honored guest…"

"Hehehe... The one on the ground is a perfect example for you."

"Go to the employee desk, and someone will assign you your tasks there…"

With that, the zombie employee eagerly scurried inside to follow Yi Bai.

Outside the resort,

A deathly silence hung in the air.

The unblinking eyes of Mo Youqian's severed head seemed to gaze accusingly at everyone, pressing them with an invisible weight of fear.

A 60% survival rate at the Village of the Dead?

Now... could that number still hold true?

How could the death of a player occur so suddenly without warning?

This had to be a hellish difficulty setting, right? A game where the mortality rate was at least 99%!

"Let's go," one of the veteran players said, his voice low and defeated.

"Forget about trying to get on Young Master Yin's good side. The body on the ground says it all—he's a monster wearing the skin of a human."

"Don't think you can hitch a ride on his coattails, only to end up dead. You might drag others down with you."

Another veteran player spoke in a similarly grim tone.

The players exchanged looks, their faces twisted in sorrow.

At first, they had been so relieved. Now, that relief was completely gone, replaced by regret.

The joy of meeting a fellow player had turned into the bitter reality of facing a demon.

Yi Bai had casually eliminated a potential threat, solving the problem of any future disturbances.

Yet, in the players' eyes, he had transformed into something even more terrifying—a demon.

What was even stranger was that, despite their fear, they couldn't help but feel a strange sense of envy for Yi Bai.

...

"Young Master Yin, this is the room Mr. Ralph specifically prepared for you."

In a spacious penthouse, the zombie employee stood at attention, his voice polite, though a bit nervous.

After witnessing Yi Bai's cold-blooded actions, the employee's earlier relaxation had been replaced by a palpable tension.

He feared he might meet the same fate as Mo Youqian if he made a wrong move.

"Where's Ralph? He didn't come?"

Yi Bai glanced around the meticulously arranged room, designed with human aesthetics in mind, and couldn't help but ask.

Since Ralph had gone to such lengths to prepare for his arrival, it seemed odd that he hadn't shown up to deepen their connection.

"Mr. Ralph was delayed by some matters," the zombie employee replied respectfully.

"If you wish to stay here a few more days, Mr. Ralph will likely be able to make it then."

Yi Bai nodded, quickly deducing why Ralph hadn't come.

Aside from his involvement with the Bloodstained Kings and the cursed zombie arms, Ralph had little else to attend to.

"Alright, you may leave now. I'll call for you if I need anything."

Yi Bai dismissed the employee with a wave of his hand, the warmth from the magical array mark on his arm still burning as he did.

The employee, understanding his cue, hurried out and closed the door behind him.

"Hiss... ha..."

Yi Bai took a deep breath, then lifted his sleeve and lightly touched the blood-red magical array.

Hmm... the "call" was free of charge, as everyone knew.

So, there was no need for Yi Bai to send a "delicious pre-dinner treat" to the Count of Roses.

The magical array activated.

A disheveled, worn-out figure appeared before Yi Bai—his hair a mess, clothes torn.

"Damn! Count, are you alright? Did you and Jiang Ling have a falling out over the loot?!"

Seeing the Count's condition, Yi Bai's first thought was that this was the only possible explanation.

But then he noticed something that made him freeze.

The Count's face seemed even darker than before.

"Hahaha..."

From beside the Count, Jiang Ling's laughter grew increasingly unchecked, until it was downright uncontrollable.

Yi Bai's brain raced, processing the situation at lightning speed.

Why would the Count call him?

Why had she, so elegant and dignified, become this way?

As a powerful Bloodstained Ghost, who could have pushed her this far...

Questions swirled in his mind, but they all ultimately circled back to one core issue: Why had the Count called him?

Perhaps it was nervousness, or simply an instinctive refusal to accept the truth, but Yi Bai resisted using his Insight to check on the Count's current state.

Maybe... this was a natural reaction when faced with something beyond one's control.

"Little Yi Bai, let me explain to you why the Count became like this. Hehehe..."

As her black-hearted best friend, how could Jiang Ling resist twisting the knife in the Count's heart at this moment?

And then—

Boom!!!

A thunderous crash echoed from the mirror, as the blood-red and grayish fields engulfed everything.