Chapter 38: The Plot Twist

Chiyohime, with a blade at her throat, showed not a trace of panic. Instead, her lips curved into a blossom-like smile, her eyes brimming with seductive charm as she gazed at Su Cheng. “Cheng-kun, what exactly do you mean by this?”

“I mean, let’s stop pretending, Your Highness the Princess,” Su Cheng sneered coldly. His wrist flicked, and the blade traced a slender line of blood along Chiyohime’s swan-like neck.

It was true—the princess from five hundred years ago had never died. She had deceived everyone, adopting a new identity as the heiress of the Chiyo clan, a family of shrine maidens. Even the Ghost King had been taken in, believing Chiyohime was the princess reborn, hoping to awaken her past memories and unravel the grievances entangled over five centuries.

“Oh? And how did you discover the truth?” Chiyohime’s enchanting eyes narrowed ever so slightly, their allure almost tangible, enough to make any man lose his composure.

Even Su Cheng, with all his steely resolve, felt his desire flare uncontrollably. Hastily, he donned the Mask of the Slaughtering Oni, regaining his composure in an instant.

“I found records under the general’s memorial tablet. Three years after the princess’s supposed death by illness, the general’s retainers exhumed her grave. Strangely, there were no remains inside.”

“Moreover, in the Five-Storied Pagoda, demons and spirits run rampant. A powerless shrine maiden would be a delicacy to them, yet you arrived here unscathed. Isn’t that a bit too coincidental?”

These were, in truth, only Su Cheng’s deductions—he had no concrete proof. But judging by her reaction, his reasoning was sound. The shrine maiden’s identity was a lie.

“I’ve also uncovered clues about the events of that year. The general was wrongfully killed. Unable to resolve the resentment upon him, he became a vengeful spirit and lingered in the mortal realm. After five centuries of cultivation, he became the Ghost King.”

With these words, Su Cheng drew a deep breath, his gaze sharpening as he leveled the blade at Chiyohime. “So, the question is: what exactly are you?”

For this princess to have lived five centuries, she could not be an ordinary human. Was she a jiangshi, a drought demon, or some other monster?

Chiyohime was silent for a few moments, then suddenly burst out laughing, her laughter growing more unrestrained by the second.

From the clay doll in her hand, wisps of sinister black mist rose up and seeped into her body.

“So, tell me—what sort of monster do you think I am?”

As Chiyohime turned her head, Su Cheng was astonished to see a layer of black fur sprouting across her face. Her once dark eyes glowed a reddish violet, blood gleaming in her pupils.

She had turned into a cat.

A terrifying demonic aura spread outward. Yasumi and her companions, locked in fierce battle with the Dog God and Ao-bozu, froze at the sight of Chiyohime’s face. None of them had imagined that the one who had stayed by their side all along was, in truth, a cat demon.

Sensing the vast demonic energy, Su Cheng’s heart tightened. He pressed on, “You killed the general because he was ordered to investigate the matter of demons devouring human hearts and livers, didn’t you?”

“You’re quite right. Had the general not traced the case back to me, I would never have resorted to such measures. Back then, I was but a lowly demon with little power. I could not approach him, for he was shrouded in murderous intent. My only recourse was to orchestrate his death from afar. But after his death, suspicions arose about my identity, so I feigned my own death to escape.”

Chiyohime let out a coquettish laugh, her gaze rippling with spring-like waves.

“So the general’s heart and liver were also stolen and devoured by you.” This cat demon cultivated by consuming the hearts and livers of the living—her cruelty had drawn the ire of countless exorcists, prompting her to fake her death and escape pursuit.

“Heh, unfortunately, thirty years ago I crossed paths with a powerful sorcerer, who shattered my demon soul and imprisoned it within the Five-Storied Pagoda. Fortunately, I had left a sliver of my spirit lodged in the body of the shrine maiden, granting me a chance to reclaim my demon soul at last.”

So it was the cat demon’s soul that had been sealed within the belly of the idol.

At that moment, the voice of the horror game echoed in the minds of all the players.

“Player Su Cheng has successfully unraveled the plot. Step Three of the mission is complete.”

“Clear condition: Survive the cat demon’s onslaught and persist until the story concludes.”

Upon hearing the system’s announced condition for survival, Yasumi’s expression froze as a sense of impending doom welled up within her.

This cat demon was anything but simple.

“As a token of gratitude, let me devour your heart and liver,” the cat demon purred, licking her paw and vanishing in a blur.

Before Su Cheng could react, a black feline claw was already at his chest.

The cat demon was too fast; he didn’t even have time to draw his blade.

“Mantra: Guard!”

In a flash, the talismans on his body ignited, conjuring a spiritual barrier before Su Cheng, which managed to block the cat demon’s paw.

Crack.

The black paw crushed the barrier with ease, sending a storm of spiritual energy rippling outward. Su Cheng was hurled backward, narrowly evading the cat demon’s attack.

As he flew through the air, a gunshot rang out—Kyōhei Furukawa had drawn his pistol and fired a shot at the cat demon’s head.

The silver bullet was snatched out of the air by the cat demon and effortlessly ground into powder.

“If you’re so eager to die, let me send you on your way.”

With a ferocious snarl, the cat demon vanished and lunged at Yasumi.

“Heaven’s Justice!”

The radiant spear in Yasumi’s hands blazed with light. A pillar of holy radiance descended from above, slicing toward the cat demon like the sword of Damocles.

Boom!

A deafening crash resounded from the top floor of the pagoda, blowing a chasm in the floor that yawned like an abyss.

But the cat demon was nowhere to be seen.

“What a pity—you missed.”

A voice dripping with murderous intent whispered into Yasumi’s ear, and in the next instant, a razor-sharp claw pierced through her abdomen and emerged from her back.

Drip, drip.

Blood spilled from Yasumi’s body, pooling on the ground. An icy chill crept through her as her body temperature gradually ebbed away.

Despair washed over Yasumi. Her “Heaven’s Justice” was a powerful homing skill—unless the enemy’s level far surpassed her own, dodging it should have been impossible.

Which meant that this cat demon’s level was enough to crush the entire Yasumi squad.

“Miss!”

Kaori Inoue cried out, swinging the “Nurarihyon’s Coffin Board” shield at the demon with all her might.

The cat demon’s paw lashed out, and the shield—imbued with supernatural power—was shattered into splinters by a single strike.

“Die.” At some point, Kyōhei Furukawa had appeared behind the cat demon, his gun pressed to the back of her head. He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

Gunfire erupted as blood instantly soaked Furukawa’s clothes. The cat demon’s face was raked by the bullet, leaving a long, bloody gash, but Furukawa’s arm was torn clean off, white bone gleaming at the wound.

At such close range, the cat demon had still managed to evade the shot!

Given this demon’s level, the Yasumi squad was utterly outmatched. Even Yasumi, a professional, was nearly killed in a single exchange. The others had suffered grievous casualties; even Inoue’s shield had been destroyed. Had she not used a life-saving healing potion in time, she would have been killed instantly.

“This is bad,” muttered the Dog God Byakuya and Ao-bozu, both wary of the cat demon’s monstrous aura. The Spider Woman, gravely wounded, tried to escape, but the demon shredded her head with a swipe and devoured her spirit.

After consuming the Spider Woman’s soul, the cat demon’s power surged again. Even the combined efforts of Byakuya and Ao-bozu were no match for her.

“We’re doomed. It’s a plot kill,” Yasumi murmured bitterly. The cat demon’s strength was overwhelming, just like a forced game-over—utterly inescapable.

Their only hope for survival was to endure until the story reached its end.

“You look like you’re struggling. Let me put you out of your misery,” the cat demon sneered, driving back Byakuya and Ao-bozu before approaching Yasumi. Licking her lips with a pink tongue, she extended her razor-sharp claws toward Yasumi’s heart.

Whoosh!

At that instant, a crossbow bolt sliced through the air, piercing the back of the cat demon’s neck and emerging from her throat.

Behind her, Su Cheng stood, aiming a sniper crossbow.

“Heh, as expected of the man who caught my eye,” the cat demon rasped, a flash of malice in her violet-red eyes. She yanked the bolt from her throat and leapt at Su Cheng, intent on ripping out his heart.

Yet in that moment, facing the deadly cat demon, Su Cheng wore not a mask of terror but a smile.

Had he lost his mind?

The cat demon felt the man’s grin was strangely unsettling. In the next second, a black blade burst through her heart from behind, protruding from her chest.

“You forgot—there was one key character yet to appear. And now, he’s right behind you.”

Out of the ink-black night, a man in armor materialized behind the cat demon.