Liberty to Kill

The two had walked out of the residential area, but Lai Mingjie stopped walking as they reached the bus stop. He then hardly kicked the pole next to it, not even causing any damage. His brows were knitted, and his teeth were tightly clenched. He didn't say anything, but he kept on kicking the metal pole.

Xu Rouguang only watched him do it four times before he lifted his gaze at the furious demon king. "Jie? What are you doing?"

"What? Never seen a powerless man let off some steam?!" Lai Mingjie might or might not intend to raise his voice, but he basically yelled at the other person. He stopped kicking and just shifted his weight to his other foot. Kicking a metal pole sure did damage to him instead. "You never had to beat an inanimate object in your life...?"

"Jie, you can hit me if you like."

"You're an M now, too?" Lai Mingjie didn't want to beat up his supposed boyfriend; if not, what kind of boyfriend was he? He only shook his head and went to take a deep breath, trying to suppress his rage. He then stared at the bus stop and the empty street before them. "Someone's playing with the demons, and it's making me really mad. I know we're supposed to be true to our nature of devouring everything and using brute strength in everything... but even we have a sense of family and kinship. Whoever's making the demons eat their mates needs to be taken down, or else I won't be satisfied."

The general only wore a grave expression. He looked away from Lai Mingjie and sensed as far as he could. Simultaneously, the same kind of events was happening all over the city. Even if he could fly around now, he could only save around two or three of them. He then turned to the demon king who had nothing clear in his mind.

"Jie, if the immortals act on this to save the humans... the demonkind will bear the full brunt of the blame. It won't be pretty." Xu Rouguang fished for his phone and fiddled to access the chat group. If he ordered the second battalion to come and sweep through the streets and save civilians, humans would survive; but the demons would all be killed.

"...Screw the immortals. Do what you must; I don't care anymore." Lai Mingjie could see the bus coming. "I'm going to see Botangca. There's no way she would be sitting her pretty ass in her club knowing that this is happening out here."

"I'll try to find out what those flowers are." Xu Rouguang typed down on his phone, ignoring the bus that came to the stop. He only lifted his eyes to watch Lai Mingjie ride on the almost-empty vehicle. He should come with him, but being together only meant less work would be done. He bit on his lip and ran off before turning into a light arrow and disappearing into the horizon.

The demon king sat on the seat and looked out the window, calming himself with the darkness of the night. Empty streets before midnight weren't something innate to Crimson City. It was a lively city with gorgeous night traffic. Some stores even dedicate their opening hours to accommodate those who loiter in the dark.

However, with the city-wide cases of brutal murders, the people were imposed with a loose curfew in the main streets. Only those who work in the night were allowed to go around while everyone else would be questioned for going out at night. Bus drivers and night commuters were immune to the curfew, but they weren't immune to the terror. Everyone had unsung fears in their eyes that only Lai Mingjie could understand fully.

Amidst the silence of the night, a shrill scream tore into the streets. The commuters were all shocked; even the driver was freaked out by it. Lai Mingjie flew to the other side of the bus and looked out the window, spotting a lady running away from a corner. She was in her nightdress with her arm visibly bathing in blood. The commuters all screamed in terror as the lady tried to catch up to the incoming bus.

Of course, the bus driver had to step on his brakes. He opened the door when the bus came to a stop. The driver then got off his seat and went to the door, reaching out to help the woman get on the bus fast.

Lai Mingjie, however, raced to the door. The woman was too close and was steps away from entering the vehicle. A smile tore her face as she reached out her hand to take the driver's generosity. Then again, as her fingers grazed the driver's calloused hand, Lai Mingjie grabbed the driver's shoulder pushed him off to the side. He produced his stun gun and shot the woman right on the face.

Another scream reverberated through the silent night. The commuters would beat up that dashing salaryman for doing such an inhuman act... if only they didn't see what happened next.

The electricity burned the woman from inside, but it had become her priority to take that cartridge off of her face. Her wounded arm suddenly morphed into a slimy scrawny limb with a sharp fin on the elbow. The nails were extremely sharp that when she grabbed the cartridge off of her face, her human flesh got sliced as well.

"Drive!" Lai Mingjie screamed at the driver who crawled back to his seat with haste. He reloaded the gun and shot the woman again, making her unable to leave her spot as the bus drove away. However, the salaryman also hopped off of the vehicle. He only left a few words: "Never stop for anyone." The director didn't go to see the woman he just stunned. He ran to the direction of the club, traversing the darkest of the alleys.

It was awful. Civilians were on that bus, and they got to see a demon morphing. Even if Lai Mingjie managed to kill that one, it wouldn't erase her existence to those humans' minds. His mind was revolving too much as he ran down the alley, ignoring the screams he could hear from different spots.

However, he felt a swift movement from behind him. Before he could turn and evade, a hook went through his shoulder and hurled him to the top of the building in front.

Lai Mingjie groaned in pain after rolling for a few rounds. He discovered a claw attached to his shoulder which he tried to pry off of him. As he couldn't do so, he grabbed the wire that was used to hurl him up. As he thought, it was the Soul-Trapping Grapple... and he knew exactly who owned it. His gaze then lifted to the group who descended in front of him.

Pained laughter came out of him, laced with anger and resentment. "Heh, General Qiang, did you finally make it to the first battalion now?"

"Hmph, how audacious of you." A woman walked from behind the group and pushed one who was in her way. She swept her dress to the side and used her foot to stomp at Lai Mingjie's chest. With her hair as dark as midnight and her eyes glowing like twin blue moons, she was like an ice mountain goddess who gazed down at her mortal subjects. "Emodao, what are you up to, huh? Are you really sure you could survive a rebellion with your frail human body?"

"I don't... that's why I'm not even trying. I see you still have your pea brain intact—good for you—"

Before he could finish, General Qian stomped at him again, causing blood to drip from his mouth. She could have broken a rib or two. "Listen to me, demon. You better stop this at once. If not, I'll have the liberty to kill you in this lifetime."

"Hehe, why don't you try?" Lai Mingjie gave her a mocking toothy grin. "Kill me and see if it stops. I'm not scared... are you?"