Chapter 142

Two hours later.

Ke Xingzhou and the others sat in the police station’s mediation room, face to face with the Heavenly Demon and a group of Moruo demons, staring at each other with wide eyes. The atmosphere was indescribably awkward.

A screen in the hallway was playing the local news—

“This is a report from our station: Recently, multiple groups of unemployed young delinquents have been wandering around various parts of the capital. Out of resentment toward society, they have deliberately taken revenge by either painting their bodies purple or installing mechanical prosthetics to impersonate non-human species in order to commit fraud. Multiple victims have already come forward.”

“As of now, several suspects have been apprehended. Citizens of the capital are advised to remain vigilant and cautious around idle individuals in society. Do not trust them easily or share personal property or passwords. If you encounter such individuals, please report them to the police immediately.”

A young officer pushed open the door to the mediation room from outside. In the hallway, a few street punks who had just been lectured were now mocking the “idle individuals” featured in the news:

“So stupid. I haven’t done anything that dumb since I was ten. These people look like they’re in their twenties or thirties—how are they still this dumb?”

“Painting themselves purple? And three heads, six arms? Hahaha… Do they really think cosplaying Nezha will trick anyone? And Nezha’s skin is normal! The bellyband and red silk ribbons are red—where’d the purple come from?”

“Damn, bro, you might’ve found the real point! You think they’re spies? Is there still a 500,000 yuan reward for reporting spies?”

“…Wait, do any of you feel a sudden chill behind you?” one of the punks suddenly rubbed his arms and glanced back, only to see the mediation room door slowly closing.

A companion looked at him warily: “You’re not worth 500K too, are you?!”

Punk: “Are you nuts?!”

That interruption dispelled the doubt that had just risen in his heart.

Probably just the air conditioning turned down too low in the mediation room!

In the dead of winter, who knows what kind of serious offense the people inside committed to deserve cold air torture.

The punk shook his head and left with his companions under the urging of the police.

Inside the mediation room.

The already tense atmosphere grew even more silent. The closed door blocked out the Heavenly Demon’s chilling gaze.

The young officer poured tea for each of them, casting glances at the demons' bodies from time to time, with an expression that looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. This made the Moruo demons start to stir restlessly, each shooting him angry looks.

What, he’s thinking of starting a physical altercation with demon bodies now?!

Their eyes met, sparks flying instantly. The tension was about to explode.

Then the young officer slowly opened his mouth and said, somewhat sheepishly: “Are those drawn-on body paints or artificial skins? The craftsmanship is way too good… Could you share your prop designer’s contact info with me?”The Moruo demons: “...?”

The Heavenly Demon, who had already been briefed by Zhu Chu on what “cosplay” meant on the way here: “............”

Seeing that the Moruo demons didn’t respond and were still looking at him with confused expressions, the young officer gave a light cough: “Just a hobby, just a hobby. Can’t a cop have a private life?”

Everyone: “……”

The young officer seemed like he still wanted to say more, but the police chief arrived. Seeing the situation, sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. He quickly waved his hand to shoo the officer out.

Just before leaving the room, the young officer dutifully asked, “Do you want to contact a family member for bail?”

The police chief’s head was already spinning. He had no time to care about family or not, so he waved his hand and said directly, “Up to you!”

Turning around to face the room full of demons, he took a deep breath, braced himself, and led in the doctor who had earlier administered emergency bandaging to the Heavenly Demon.

While dressing the Heavenly Demon’s wounds earlier, the doctor had already noticed the unusual structure of his body. But, adhering to her medical ethics of saving lives, she said nothing and diligently bandaged him up.

Now she followed the chief back, bringing medicine to change his bandages.

Under everyone’s complicated stares, the female doctor walked up to the Heavenly Demon with her medical kit, kept a neutral expression, asked him to turn the wounded area toward her, and then began asking whether the injury had been hurting over the past few days.

The police chief held his breath, not daring to blink, hand already pressing down on the walkie-talkie’s talk button.

The curtains in the mediation room were wide open. Everyone in the station had already been evacuated, and armed forces were long hidden on the surrounding rooftops. The Moruo demons clearly noticed all this. The moment the police chief’s hand pressed down on the walkie-talkie, they became inexplicably restless. Strange-shaped and numerous eyes fixated on the police chief, with a madness in their gaze.

The room was filled with the sound of chairs creaking and shifting nervously.

There was no doubt—if these self-proclaimed demons made any sudden move, a violent conflict would break out instantly.

However, just as everyone was tensed for battle, surprisingly, after staring at the female doctor for a while, the Heavenly Demon actually obediently turned his body to face her, presenting the wound, and looked away to the side.

Under his gaze, the restless Moruo demons also quieted down.

--

At the same time.

Having received the chief’s approval, the young officer turned to contact the family members of this group of “idle individuals.”

Casually flipping open the personal information they had filled out upon arrival, he found the “emergency contact” listed at the top and dialed the number.

After a few rings, the call connected, and a hoarse, low voice answered, “Hello.”

The young officer thought to himself, this parent must be a heavy smoker too—what a deep voice!

But his tone remained official as he introduced himself and explained the purpose of the call: “I’m with the XX precinct. You’re Luo Hou, right? Your family member impersonated a non-human species and gathered in the street—he’s been arrested. It should just be a warning and a few days of detention, nothing serious. Come bail him out.”

Luo Hou: “?”

Hearing no response, the officer figured the signal might be bad and repeated, “Your family member—the one who refuses to give his name and likes being called ‘Lord Heavenly Demon’—he’s been arrested! Hurry to the XX precinct and bail him out!”

Luo Hou: “…………”

This time, Luo Hou was silent for even longer.The silence lasted so long that the young officer couldn’t help but wonder if the call had been disconnected. He picked up the phone and checked it carefully.

Just as he was wondering why there was no response and tentatively asked, “Are you Luo Hou? The ‘Hou’ with the eye radical,” the other side finally made a sound.

“Heavenly Demon… said I’m his family?”

“……” The young officer thought to himself, what a whole family of delusional roleplayers. But wanting to get off work sooner, he didn’t bother correcting him. He replied with a couple of “Mmhm”s and said, “Yeah, he listed you as the emergency contact. Aren’t you his family? Then what are you to him, a friend? Or his partner?”

Each word more overstepping than the last, Luo Hou sank into deeper and deeper silence.

After a long moment, he finally let out a cold chuckle through gritted teeth, sounding as if he were gnashing them: “Fine. Tell him to wait.”

And then he hung up.

“…What’s with that reaction?” The young officer stared blankly at the phone, confused about what he’d said wrong. “Isn’t it usually one of those when you fill out an emergency contact? What else could it be?”

At that moment, an older officer beside him, busy writing a report, shook his head and said in a meaningful tone, “You’re still young. That one clearly hasn’t confessed yet. Now look, you helped him skip that whole step.”

The young officer came to a sudden realization: “Ah, I see!”

He glanced toward the mediation room, recalling the tall, muscular man with purplish skin he had just seen. He couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

So big and strong, yet so innocent!

--

“……” The Heavenly Demon suddenly shuddered violently.

A strange and ominous premonition swept over him. Instinctively, he extended his demonic senses outward, and immediately came into contact with a familiar—painfully familiar—aura rushing toward him.

—The Demon Ancestor had arrived!

At first, the Heavenly Demon was overjoyed. But then he realized something was off about the Demon Ancestor’s aura.

Why did most of that raging fury… seem directed at him?

He didn’t understand, but an instinctual desire to submit to the strong prevented him from questioning it. The only thought that filled his mind was—

He deserved to die! He had somehow angered the Demon Ancestor!

The Heavenly Demon’s entire body tensed. With a whoosh, he shot up from his chair, and the arm he had lost began regenerating at a visible speed—quickly forming a complete, muscular, and finely structured limb.

Police Chief: “……”

The female doctor who had just finished bandaging him: “……”

Ke Xingzhou had already sensed the immense energy building at the severed arm, so he wasn’t very surprised. As the Heavenly Demon stood up, he also quickly straightened his posture and looked up toward the sky.

Nie Chen, sharp as ever, immediately sensed something was wrong: “Who’s coming?”

“Luo Hou,” Ke Xingzhou uttered the earth-shattering name, then turned to the police chief with a look of admiration. “Didn’t expect your department could really get in touch with the Demon Ancestor. Impressive.”

Police Chief: “……?”

The police chief looked utterly baffled. Demon Ancestor Luo Hou? How could anyone in his station possibly have his contact information? Then he glanced at the tea on the table in front of everyone.Police Chief: "............"

The police chief slammed the table and stood up!

Who the hell writes their boss’s number on a personal information form?!