Dear, What is Happening to You?

The morgue was freezing, but the three people inside were handling it perfectly. Xu Rouguang had made another temperature-adjusting accessory for Lai Mingjie while the coroner seemed immune to the cold. Also, it was noticeable how scrawny the coroner was; it was as if he had no muscles, only skin and bones. His eyes were also swollen by default, making it larger than a normal human's.

Those scrawny fingers held onto a knob and twisted it, pulling out a tray to show what remained of the poor Sales Executive from JDI. Xu Rouguang and Lai Mingjie didn't flinch, but they didn't stare long at the body. It was too painful to think that it used to be human.

"This isn't a work of a human; even someone crazy wouldn't do anything close." Lai Mingjie shook his head. He had seen many humans killing other humans in his other lives; he was so clear it wasn't done by a functioning person. The Sales Executive's husband was a lawyer who had his own firm; he was too functional for such a brutish act.

"I know right." The coroner only laughed before caressing the remaining arm. "Only a hungry beast would eat someone up like this. The mouth also isn't big enough to gobble her up completely." He then twitched and covered the excuse of remains. His large eyes drifted up to look at Lai Mingjie. "It's probably an escaped animal."

"Heh, that's not what the neighbors said, but sure, I'll believe that." The director snorted before looking around the morgue. "Any similar incidents in your office? I looked up the net and saw that there were seven more that happened yesterday."

"Hmm, no more in here, Emodao. You should probably look for other morgues or funeral homes in the city." The coroner shook his head before glancing at his wrist, noticing the time. "I have to close up now. No one knows you're here. You should go now."

Lai Mingjie would nod, but he noticed Xu Rouguang had gone away from his side. When he turned behind him again, he saw the general staring at the weird-looking flowers at the corner of the morgue. It didn't seem unnatural, but it's the first time he had seen something like that. "What are those?"

The coroner sweated out of sight. He gulped down the lump in his throat. "Oh, those are exotic flowers. They came from polar regions so I keep them here where it's the coldest."

The demon king glanced at the former demon before walking to it, standing next to Xu Rouguang. "Hey, you find that pretty?"

It wasn't undeniable that the flowers were ugly to Lai Mingjie's eyes. They were dark purple roses, but the petals were wrinkled like they were dead. It had no fragrance as well as a certain degree of aesthetics. For someone who admired the flowers of heaven, of course, these flowers were very ugly.

However, Xu Rouguang was staring at these flowers as if his eyes couldn't be taken away from them. He didn't dare touch them, but he even ignored Lai Mingjie because of them. After a few seconds, he turned to the director and smiled at him. The two then said goodbye to the coroner and snuck out of the morgue.

"Those flowers are weird." Lai Mingjie pouted as they walked through the streets. For some reason, the sidewalks were filled with humans who were very wary of strangers. They even passed by a television shop featuring a report about the brutal murders in its multiple displays. The culprits were still at large, and the public would start panicking if the murders continued through the weekend.

"Jie, those flowers... something's drawing me to them," Xu Rouguang whispered to his love. "I don't what it was, but I'm getting really tempted to eat them."

"One, that's disgusting. Two, good job for holding back." Lai Mingjie snorted before using his arm in a cast to lead Xu Rouguang out of the crowd. He then hummed as he looked up at the night sky. "Rouguang, you can detect movements miles away, right? You think we could intercept one of these things tonight?"

"Why, Jie? You want to save them?" Xu Rouguang's eyes flickered. He didn't think Lai Mingjie would be so righteous to fight crime in their city. Well, he would fix things if he's involved with it; but to dive headfirst into this mess? The general really wanted to commend the demon king.

"Not really... but that coroner... he's reeking of hunger." Lai Mingjie ignored Xu Rouguang's reaction. His eyes grew sharp and darker than it had been before. "He wanted to eat that body he showed us. Also, the way the woman was eaten... only a demon would dare do that. The mouth isn't big enough... heh, he was mocking the other demon for sure."

Xu Rouguang stopped walking and reached out to hold Lai Mingjie's wrist. He made a helpless smile. "Jie, would you like to fly?"

Lai Mingjie only nodded hesitantly. They were going to fly? How? Ah, right, immortals could use their essences to propel themselves up to the sky. Even Xu Rouguang morphed into something like an arrow to travel.

Without getting another word in, he just felt his back falling into someone's steady arms and his legs leaving the ground. Lai Mingjie just grabbed onto Xu Rouguang as the other ran off before hopping and dashing into the night sky.

Learning tricks from time to time, the general figured he could use his essence to blur light, turning a certain space invisible to the eyes and electrical displays. He flew like a proper immortal in the skyline of the city before descending towards a residential district. Lai Mingjie, who had never flown like a bird in his entire life, was both ecstatic and terrified. He felt like he would break if he fell, but feeling the wind in his body was an experience of a lifetime.

As the general's feet reached the ground, he hopped forward in a dash—speeding like a bullet through the residential streets. He then slowed down and twirled before kicking down a door next to them.

Lai Mingjie was caught off-guard by his actions, but he looked into the house they just barged in. A wife was standing in the middle of the lounge, rubbing her reddened arms. Her face had traces of her tears while her lips were bruised. Her husband was on the couch, curled up as if he was silently in pain.

"Who—who are you? What do you want?" The wife then yelled as she came to.

"Whoa—wait!" Lai Mingjie got off of Xu Rouguang and tried to explain the situation, but his eyes were attracted to the man on the couch. He pursed his lips and walked into the house. The director then stood between the wife and the man on the couch. He spoke, "Hey, what's happening?"

"Excuse me, you need to leave!" The wife held onto Lai Mingjie's arm as if taking him away, but her hands shook so bad she found it comforting to hold onto him. She then turned to Xu Rouguang who also walked in the house, building a barrier to keep the door intact and the sounds from escaping the house.

"Emodao..." the man on the couch chuckled. He lifted his head to see the director and his secretary, his eyes morphing into an ugly red. His face had also started to morph into a beast's... as much as his hands that were hidden earlier.

The wife screamed as she backed away. Tears ran down her face again, "Dear! What is happening to you?!"

"So I was right." Lai Mingjie stared at the man who was a regular at Bloodvein Café like him. "The demons are regaining their powers."