Chapter Twenty-Six: The Planting of the Venom Seed

…In fact, ever since we left the cold storage, a question had been nagging at the back of my mind. Wasn’t Boss Bai’s behavior just a bit too strange? Although he hid it well, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about him.

For instance, others would typically try diplomacy before resorting to force, but this guy did the opposite—why start with force and only try to make peace after A-Si couldn’t handle us? It all felt too disingenuous. Why insist on becoming enemies first, only to seek reconciliation later?

Moreover, Boss Bai was notorious for always being surrounded by bodyguards, yet this time he showed up alone, bringing a group of women to meet the two of us. Wasn’t he afraid we might turn the tables on him?

Still, doubts were just doubts. Though I mumbled to myself and stayed alert, I failed to take any real precautions or action. I have to admit—my vigilance was far too low. After all, this was a place that would devour you whole, bones and all.

It wasn’t until we fell into the trap that I finally understood the whole situation. All my questions found their answers in the woman clinging to Wang Hou.

The moment she threw herself into his arms, she wrapped her legs around his waist like a snake, and those moist lips went straight for his mouth. In the bright light, a black haze burst across her face, her eyes instantly turning blood-red—just like Xian Hongye when she went berserk.

“Damn!” Wang Hou was so startled by her sudden transformation that he froze, completely ensnared with no room to fight back.

At that moment, everything became clear. These women weren’t “honey traps” at all, but like Xian Hongye and those girls in the cold storage—victims controlled by Boss Bai’s sinister parasitic curse.

Now these innocent girls had been turned into weapons and cannon fodder by Boss Bai.

Anger and desperation surged in me. I shouted at Wang Hou to “hold on!” and, mustering all my strength, rushed over to help.

To be honest, even though I made a move, I was filled with uncertainty. It felt like Wang Hou was about to end up just like last time, bitten and mauled by this girl.

But then, unexpectedly, the girl did something neither of us saw coming. She didn’t bite or claw at him, but, just like little A-Si in the cold storage, she stuck out a tongue like a snake’s forked one.

That tongue traced Wang Hou’s scent and slipped straight toward his mouth.

A chill ran down my spine as I watched that deformed, split tongue—I suddenly understood. Boss Bai intended to infect us with his parasitic curse the same way, making us his puppets, just like the girls.

Such a venomous fiend! The reincarnation of a demonic toad!

With the crisis at its peak, I saw that forked “snake tongue” about to slip into Wang Hou’s mouth. I abandoned my original plan and abruptly changed course, gritting my teeth through the pain in my shoulder as I reached out, half-blindly, to grab that monstrous tongue.

When I caught hold of it, half of it was already down Wang Hou’s throat.

I didn’t let myself feel disgust or waver, nor did I care for Wang Hou’s bashfulness; I yanked that thing straight out of his mouth and tore the girl off him, just as I had with Hongye before.

Summoning every bit of strength, I flung the unfortunate girl aside and knocked her out with a single blow.

After a quick, apologetic word, I staggered to my feet, wiped the blood from my forehead and shoulder, and looked up with cold, sidelong eyes at that bloated villain, Boss Bai.

Enough talk! If Bai Wei wanted to play dirty, then we’d beat him at his own game.

At that moment, Bai Wei seemed to lose his composure. He clearly hadn’t expected his underhanded trick to fail, let alone that I—a half-cripple—still had fight left in me.

Frightened, Boss Bai suddenly produced some powder and scattered it over his female attendants, then stumbled backward in retreat.

At once, all those poor women’s eyes flared a ghastly red, and they began advancing toward us step by step.

Their eyes were filled with a savage hunger; beneath their cheongsams, the once-smooth curves of their bellies now bore the faint, leering visage of a hungry ghost.

Staring at those girls, I frowned and said, “The parasite’s taking hold.”

Faced with these victims, Wang Hou was clearly more hesitant than I was. At a loss, he could only shout after the fleeing Bai, “You animal! Using women as weapons—what kind of man are you?”

But the only answer was Bai’s receding footsteps, his jeering laughter, and a string of curses in a language we couldn’t understand.

I, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm. At this point, there was no other choice.

I told Wang Hou concisely, “I’ll handle these ‘living corpses.’ No matter what, you must capture Bai alive—force him to reveal how to save them!”

Wang Hou nodded, but then he said something that set my teeth on edge: “Go easy! Don’t be too rough with the flowers.”

I was momentarily stunned, inwardly cursing this idiot—was this really the time for such nonsense? Serves him right to have nearly been bitten to death by Xian Hongye!

But with danger looming, I had no time to argue. I simply shouted, “Get lost!” and plunged into the fragrant onslaught of the five beauties.

Honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to use excessive force on victims like these. If I hadn’t mastered a technique specifically for dealing with Bai’s curse, I wouldn’t dare touch them at all. If I hurt them, I’d bear grave guilt.

What technique? In fact, it was simple—strike at the “ghost face” on their bellies.

Come to think of it, I had Xian Hongye to thank for this. If she hadn’t had an episode last time, triggering the curse in her, I would never have known what to do.

That devilish face on her belly was burned into my memory—so much that even now, I felt I hadn’t hit it enough! At last, I had a chance to vent my pent-up gloom and teach that malicious thing a lesson.

So I went on the offensive.

Dodging and weaving, I landed a punch on the nearest girl. Then I spun around, my eyes falling on the belly of another. Through her pale blue cheongsam, the little ghost face was plain as day, filling me with furious loathing.

Suddenly, a phrase our squad leader used to scold us came to mind—it fit this situation perfectly, and I blurted out, “You parasites feeding off the people! Disgraceful vermin paid for by honest labor…”

With these resounding words, I launched a whirlwind of vengeance—or perhaps salvation.

When I had subdued all those under the curse, I dragged my weary body and looked in the direction Wang Hou had chased after Boss Bai.

By then, Wang Hou was nowhere to be seen. From somewhere near the restaurant’s main hall, I heard a chorus of groans and the sounds of people scattering.

I figured Wang Hou must have settled things.

Dragging my exhausted, aching body, I made my way through the corridor, step by step, toward the noise.

By now my wounds had reopened, blood seeping through the makeshift bandages, but at least the constant movement had dulled my nerves so that the pain was less sharp than before.

I knew I was in bad shape, unlikely to withstand much more. The most urgent thing now was to call the police and find a way to break Hongye’s curse.

And all of that had to start with that bastard Boss Bai.

Just the thought of that venomous fiend filled me with uncontrollable rage.

Tonight, thanks to him, I finally understood what true ruthlessness was. For the first time, I realized just how blessed I’d been—the restaurants I’d worked at were so innocent by comparison. Even the tricks and corruption I used to disdain now seemed almost endearing, familiar, and safe.

Still, I couldn’t help but worry—could Wang Hou really handle things on his own?

After all, the old villain was as cunning as they come, a master of psychological warfare. If he hadn’t miscalculated from the start and mistaken us for police, would we have survived this place at all? The answer was a resounding maybe.

Lost in these thoughts, I found I’d already reached the end of the corridor.

Turning right, I saw the scene in the main hall…

What I saw nearly made me burst out laughing.

Pointing at Wang Hou’s back, I said, “What on earth are you and Boss Bai doing? That’s enough to make anyone sick!”