Chapter Fourteen: Parasitism, The Second Host

A figure suddenly appeared before Sun Shihe’s eyes—it was none other than the person he knew best, Li Juetian.

“What… what should I do?” Sun Shihe asked urgently, desperate for an answer.

Li Juetian said nothing. He merely pointed to Sun Shihe’s chest.

There, pinned to his chest, was a badge—a tool that allowed Spirit Tamers to suppress the monstrous entities sealed within them. Inscribed upon it were the words: “Burn your own blood to ignite the filth of this world.”

As Sun Shihe read those words, his pupils contracted sharply. In the next instant, Li Juetian vanished.

At that moment, Sun Shihe knew what he had to do.

“Bang!”

With the sound of an explosion, Sun Shihe’s entire body erupted into a cloud of blood mist. The mist, almost alive, surged forth, engulfing Xiao Zi in an instant. In the next second, the blood mist ignited into eerie crimson flames, wrapping Xiao Zi completely.

Trapped within the blood mist, Xiao Zi felt as if he’d been locked inside an alchemist’s furnace, flames licking endlessly at his body. He quickly invoked his Ghost Shadow Steps, dashing out of the mist—but the flames still clung to his back, burning fiercely.

Sun Shihe had actually self-detonated, and used some special method to ignite his own blood!

“Damn it!”

The pain of the flames was excruciating, wringing a howl of agony from Xiao Zi. Worse yet, he was already running low on energy—if the flames kept burning, he’d soon be bidding this world farewell.

But as for extinguishing the fire, he had no idea how. The most pressing matter was to restore his strength immediately.

With the soul-parasite skill at his disposal, the fastest way for him to recover was to find a human host and devour their soul.

But this place was an abandoned sports ground, deserted for who knew how many years—hardly a place where anyone would wander by.

Yet, with no other options, he forced himself to calm down, stretching out his senses to search for a trace of human presence.

Before long, he picked up a sign and dashed toward it at full speed.

“Humans, I need humans!”

In the distance, a boy of about seventeen or eighteen lay sprawled on the ground, his face bloodied, his school uniform covered in muddy footprints. Standing before him were three other boys in identical uniforms.

“Wang Hui, if I ever see you walking with Si Li again, I’ll break you for good!” snarled the leader before leaving with his companions.

The boy called Wang Hui lay on the ground, veins bulging in fury as he watched the three retreating figures. Rage twisted his features.

“You say I can’t get close, but I’ll do as I please! What can you do about it?”

He was just a local high school student, and because a girl had been pestering him recently, he’d been dragged out to this godforsaken place and beaten up. Who wouldn’t be angry?

He was just about to get up when a strange sensation crept over him from behind. Turning instinctively, he saw a blood-red, flame-wreathed thing racing toward him.

But his awareness went no further. The image didn’t even have time to imprint itself on his mind before his world faded to black.

Xiao Zi entered Wang Hui’s body and began to greedily consume his soul—an act so violent, he paid no heed to the boy’s survival.

This relentless absorption was not only devastating to the host, but even Xiao Zi, the possessor, could barely endure it. Only when the flames finally faded did he relax.

It was then that he noticed something strange.

This unfortunate host had an unusually powerful soul. Though Xiao Zi didn’t know the reason, the boy's soul strength was at least three times that of Ruan Qing, his previous host.

Moreover, after Xiao Zi ceased absorbing, the boy’s soul force began miraculously to recover.

Before, when he’d devoured Ruan Qing’s soul, it had been nearly certain: soul power was non-renewable. Once consumed, it was gone for good.

In other words, once Xiao Zi drained a person’s soul enough, that person was finished.

Yet this boy was different—his soul force could recover.

While this ability might not mean much to Xiao Zi—after all, if he killed one host, he could always find another—in this terrifying world, an extraordinary one at that, danger and opportunity always went hand in hand.

This boy was clearly unique, which meant he must possess something out of the ordinary.

If Xiao Zi could uncover the secret within this boy, it could only benefit him—never harm.

If it proved useful, he’d exploit it; if it benefited humanity or other supernatural entities, he’d simply erase it.

A simple matter.

With this reasoning, Xiao Zi retreated deep into the boy’s soul, hiding himself away.

…

Tianjing City, First International Hotel.

A frightened waiter led more than a dozen people in black trench coats to an elevator.

“This is the place, but I advise you—do not press the buttons in the order the rumors describe, or someone’s going to die for real!”

“You needn’t worry about that,” one of the Spirit Tamers replied, clearly dismissing the waiter’s warning. After sending him away, all eyes turned to the only woman among them, Chen Jiaoyu.

“Well? Is this the place?” Li Juetian asked.

Their mission was simple: find the aberration possessing a Forbidden Domain—known as the Immaculate—and destroy it.

Among them, even those of Li Juetian’s rank, D-class, were little more than cannon fodder. The most powerful Spirit Tamer from the Tianjing City Bureau of Anomaly Investigation, a B-class, was participating in this operation.

Of course, that alone wouldn’t give them the courage to challenge the Immaculate in its own domain. The real reason for their boldness was the teenager in their midst.

He looked about fifteen or sixteen, with a radiant smile that seemed never to fade, his gaze always fixed ahead, unwavering.

Who could have guessed that this youth was actually a B-class Spirit Tamer?

In Li Juetian’s eyes, this Spirit Tamer was utterly unique—he gave off none of the eerie aura typical of those bonded with supernatural entities, but instead radiated an inviolable, sacred power.

Even more terrifying was his background: he was an agent of “Soulforge,” dispatched from Daxia to take over as Bureau Chief in Tianjing City.

Even so, Li Juetian and the others believed this mission was a death sentence—a chance for the new chief to slay the Immaculate.

They were reluctant, but duty bound them—there was no escaping the responsibilities of a Spirit Tamer.

“Yes, this is the place. If you follow the rumored procedure, you’ll enter its domain. My abilities are too modest, so I’ll be taking my leave.”

No way she was going to serve as cannon fodder—she was a special-class Spirit Tamer, but not nearly strong enough to survive.

She glanced back at Li Juetian. “Try to stay alive. That’s all.” With that, she turned and left.

The waiter from before watched the scene and sighed. “At least one of them has her wits about her. I’ll never understand these occult enthusiasts—playing with their lives for a thrill.”

None of the Spirit Tamers spoke. They stepped into the elevator.

First they pressed for the fourth floor. When the elevator arrived, they selected the sixth, then back to the fourth.

This time, after the elevator doors closed, no one moved. Minutes passed in silence before the elevator suddenly plummeted, the display descending rapidly—until it read: Basement Level -18.