Chapter 12
Chapter 12: The Shark Demon
Colorful fireworks bloomed in the night sky like brilliant flowers opening in the darkness.
One glass of alcohol made Lu Qianqian’s body sway slightly, so she moved closer to Gu Qing. Soon they also joined the fireworks-setting crowd. That box of fireworks was taken out by Gu Qing—there were large handheld fireworks that they could hold after lighting, watching them explode in clusters over the lake surface. Lu Qianqian laughed.
Those fireworks brought Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian much warmth. Even after they’d all been set off, Lu Qianqian still felt unsatisfied. The two sat down on chairs by the lake, watching fireworks still bursting in the sky, the air filled with the scent of gunpowder. Lu Qianqian suddenly gently grasped Gu Qing’s hand.
Gu Qing looked down at her.
“Are you cold?” she asked.
“I’m okay.”
The girl’s soft little hand was now holding his tightly, gently rubbing to transfer some warmth to him. Gu Qing couldn’t help smiling: “Your hands are so warm.”
“Hehe.” She cupped Gu Qing’s hand and gently blew on it.
City A, luxury villa in the city center.
“I’m already an adult. I have the right to decide what I want to do.”
Ji Yueling sat on the sofa, slowly and leisurely peeling an orange, her voice cold.
It was hard to imagine that someone so cold outside would maintain the same attitude at home. At this moment she wore a black nightgown, with her sister and parents nearby. Her sister was hugging potato chips watching boring TV programs, while her parents sat in front of her, once again bringing up the topic she didn’t want to touch.
“Leng Leng, I really hope you can understand that with your abilities in logistics and clerical work, the contribution you could make would definitely be much greater than in the combat department. This isn’t special treatment because you’re our daughter—it’s the best outcome after weighing everything. You shouldn’t keep stubbornly fighting in the combat department. Do you know how pale your mother’s face was when she learned you encountered the Green Scythe Demon?”
“Aren’t I fine?”
“You were fine this time, but what about next time? The time after that? What if something goes wrong…”
“This is my own choice. Besides, my abilities aren’t unsuited for combat.” Ji Yueling stood up and walked toward her room. Behind her came her father’s voice: “What are you doing?”
“Changing clothes to go out for some air. It’s too stuffy at home.”
“You child, we finally have time to sit down and talk properly, and you’re…”
“Going to see fireworks. Haven’t seen them in a long time.” Ji Yueling casually found an excuse, then slammed the door shut, changed into casual clothes, grabbed her car keys and ran out.
Inside the house, her parents looked at each other, wanting to speak but holding back.
Her sister continued eating chips, as if indifferent to everything.
Even the most intense fireworks must eventually end.
Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian bought another drink, but this time Lu Qianqian only took a small sip before her head became even more dizzy, so she handed the cup to Gu Qing. Gu Qing drank her cup clean in two gulps. They looked toward the distant lake surface, with people still sporadically setting off some fireworks, occasionally making crackling sounds.
It was already ten o’clock. Gu Qing once again turned his gaze toward the lake surface.
He suddenly said softly, “Look over there.”
Lu Qianqian froze, looking in the direction of Gu Qing’s gaze. The originally pitch-black lake surface that had been slightly rippling with reflected light suddenly began churning without wind, as if something was swimming inside, and the waves it stirred up were enormous. In an instant, the sound of water attracted many people’s attention.
Just as the crowd by the lake focused their gaze on the lake surface, the waves finally broke completely open. A shark demon covered in black scales leaped up from the lake surface, instantly reaching the shore.
Lu Qianqian’s body tensed instantly, looking toward the crowd in panic. At this moment, the crowd that saw the demon instantly scattered in all directions, all frightened pale and crying out, crawling on hands and feet in their haste to escape.
In the next instant, Lu Qianqian’s body was directly hoisted onto Gu Qing’s shoulder, and he turned and ran.
The shark demon was nearly three meters tall in the moonlight, with a humanoid body but gills and a fish mouth, plus a fish tail, covered in slimy liquid and scales. It was on all fours, already looking toward the fleeing crowd. Its body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, quickly targeting a girl wearing high heels who couldn’t run well—she had fallen on the steps in her panic.
Running ahead of her seemed to be her boyfriend—just earlier Gu Qing had seen them kissing on a nearby bench. At this moment the girl was pale with fear and unable to move, only able to let out shrill screams, while her boyfriend had long since fled in terror, losing all awareness.
That girl blocked quite a bit of time for the fleeing crowd, as the shark demon had already reached her side and bitten through her shoulder.
“It’s okay.” Gu Qing’s voice sounded in Lu Qianqian’s ear, saying softly, “Shark demons like to drink blood. Once they start drinking blood, they’ll stop.”
But just as his words fell, he looked back and was suddenly shocked to discover that the shark demon hadn’t started drinking blood. Instead, it instantly changed targets, quickly grabbing the girl’s boyfriend and tearing off his arm before his terrified eyes, with large amounts of blood spilling down.
This shark demon seemed somewhat mad. This hunt wasn’t for feeding, but for… slaughter.
It began moving through the crowd, continuously attacking the scattered people. Gu Qing, who had reacted early, was already carrying Lu Qianqian and had run far away, but his luck seemed poor—the shark demon was running in his direction. Though it kept slaughtering the crowd behind Gu Qing, it was gradually approaching him.
Lu Qianqian was already crying from fear, while all Gu Qing could do was quicken his pace. At this moment his breathing was very steady—he knew that when running, you had to maintain breathing rhythm, and losing rhythm would quickly drain your strength.
But two legs ultimately couldn’t outrun four legs. Just then, the roar of an engine suddenly rang out from the roadside. A silver sports car attracted everyone’s attention like arc light, and in that instant, it crashed into the shark demon.
The huge inertia sent the shark demon’s body flying far away, splashing into the lake with a thud. The car door opened at the same instant, and a woman in a black leather jacket jumped out. She stood in the moonlight, raised her hand, and milky white light appeared from her hand, falling on the injured people on the ground.
Those milky white rays fell on each injured person, temporarily sustaining their lives with this light.
Gu Qing’s running steps stopped. He stood under a tree, still carrying Lu Qianqian on his shoulder. Lu Qianqian looked back in panic, whispering, “It’s Sister Ji…”
Ji Yueling’s expression was very cold at this moment. She reached out and lightly touched the jade bracelet on her right hand. Instantly, a revolver appeared in her left hand, already loaded with bullets.
Ordinary firearms could hardly harm A-rank demons, but the gun in Ji Yueling’s hand was City A’s most advanced alchemical technology—an alchemical creation made from knowledge mastered by transcendents. Each bullet was filled with explosive power. She held the gun with both hands, looked toward the churning waves on the lake surface, and pulled the trigger.
The lake surface exploded in clusters of water sprays, instantly causing mist to spread across the lake. The shark demon’s low roar came from the lake. Ji Yueling stood there and emptied all six bullets, but this still couldn’t force the shark demon to retreat. The shark demon soon surged onto shore again, with several bloody holes torn in its body, large amounts of fresh blood dripping to the ground.
Ji Yueling showed no hesitation. Her left hand touched the jade bracelet again, and the next moment, an alchemical longsword appeared in her hand.
Firearms had once been humanity’s proudest invention, but after humans mastered alchemical power, alchemical swords became the main weapons of Alliance combat groups. Even enhanced firearms could hardly break through demons’ defenses, but the sharpness of alchemical swords combined with transcendents’ energy-enhanced bodies became transcendents’ capital for fighting demons.
Depending on different alchemical formulas, alchemical swords naturally had different grades. The one in Ji Yueling’s hand at this moment made Gu Qing slightly stunned.
Worthy of being the Ji family’s eldest daughter—probably only she had the qualification to be equipped with an alchemical longsword made from an S-rank demon crystal core while still at A-rank, right?
Gu Qing put down Lu Qianqian, who he’d been carrying, but Lu Qianqian seemed unable to stand steady, so Gu Qing gently put his arm around her shoulder, supporting her body, and said softly, “She’s here, so it should be fine now.”
Instead of continuing to watch Ji Yueling and the shark demon, he looked around at the surrounding crowd. The surroundings were very quiet, with the water mist stirred up earlier by Ji Yueling’s alchemical pistol slightly affecting visibility.
Gu Qing clearly remembered shark demons’ habits. Shark demons lived in water areas, usually feeding on fish and shrimp in the lake. When they went mad, they would crave human blood, but they weren’t monsters obsessed with slaughter—generally after drinking enough blood, they would dive back into the water.
But this time, what they encountered was a nearly mad shark demon.
He glanced at Lu Qianqian, whom he held in his arms. Lu Qianqian was still anxiously watching Ji Yueling and the shark demon in the distance. Her cheeks were so pale, as fragile as glass.
This