Chapter 1167: Lust

Qingyang Bridge, midnight.

When Vermilion Bird, White Dew, and Zhang Wei arrived at the head of the bridge, a bell rang, announcing the arrival of midnight. They looked out the windows. The moon hung stark white, draining all vibrancy from the world and leaving it washed, cold, and lonesome in monochrome.

The radio signal cut off simultaneously.

“Raven Shark, Raven Shark!” Vermilion Bird shouted into the transmitter. No response. She quickly switched to the public channel. “This is Team Vermilion Bird. Do you copy? Do you copy?”

Nothing but white noise answered.

“Stop!” White Dew warned.

Vermilion Bird started, stepping on the brake.

The car halted at the center of the bridge. Something red materialized before them, like the only spot of color in a black-and-white painting.

It was Lust's throne: a delicate, magnificent structure with a tall back, surrounded by a thick, boiling pool of blood at the bottom. Bubbles burst across its surface without warning, vanishing into nothingness.

Lust—Zhou Jing—sat on the throne. She was clad only in her scales as before, her body covered in faint red patterns. Red light threatened to overflow from her slanted eyes—desire in its most naked form.

Legs crossed, she leaned forward with her elbow on her knee, hand propping her face up. Her lips curled into a seductive smile. “Two women and one man. Ah, an imbalance between yin and yang...”

Boom!

A great torrent of water shot from the river beneath the bridge, morphing into a deep blue dragon composed of marine animals, seaweeds, stones, and blue energy—imbued with the power of Sea King, these creatures had entered the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation as well.

The water dragon descended upon the bridge, its large maw engulfing everything like an abyss. Neither Zhou Jing nor Vermilion Bird, White Dew, and Zhang Wei escaped its path.

The water split into two torrents and rushed along the bridge in opposite directions, sweeping away cars, stones, and other public facilities.

The image reminded one of a commercial on laxatives.

In no time, only puddles of different sizes and marine animals were left on the bridge. While Unreachable, Vermilion Bird, White Dew, and Zhang Wei stood where they had been, unscathed.

The Throne of Lust had vanished, replaced by an orb of blood hovering one meter above the concrete floor. Three meters in diameter, the orb comprised countless rapidly spinning drops of blood. They arranged into strings of beads before scattering, revealing an unharmed Zhou Jing.

The beads of blood converged once more to form the crimson pool under Zhou Jing’s feet.

Zhou Jing narrowed her eyes at Raven Shark, who was standing behind Vermilion Bird. She said with a smile of surprise, “Haha, two men and two women. That’s more like it.”

She didn’t hurry to attack, but sauntered over to the awakeners and Spectre. The pool of blood under her feet rose and fell like a living fountain. Every rose revealed a man’s puffed-out chest and a woman’s whipping hair in their lovemaking.

“Do you want to make the pick, or should I do it?” Zhou Jing pressed an index finger to her bottom lip, the light of desire at the bottom of her eyes so thick it couldn’t be ignored. “Ah, it’s difficult to make the pairs. There’s still more yin than yang.”

Rage built in Zhang Wei's chest, but the word "bullshit" died in his throat. Vermilion Bird was stunning with three of the top and bottom twelve Talents. She far surpassed Zhang Wei in experience, seniority, and status.

White Dew was a top beauty and the lone Spectre, also incredibly powerful.

If Zhang Wei and Raven Shark were to pair up with the two goddesses, it’s probably a little—just a tiny little bit—them hitting way above their league.

“Where’s Dragon?” Zhou Jing asked. “Why isn’t he here? I adore him.”

“You call that adoration?” Zhang Wei finally got a chance to retort. “You just want his body, you lecherous woman!”

“Haha, and what’s wrong with that?” She stared right at Zhang Wei. “What do you have outside of your bodies?”

“We have a heart! And love!” Zhang Wei remembered “losing” Chen Ying, and his anger intensified. “Lowly creatures thinking with their genitals won’t understand!”

“Humans, how pretentious you are. No matter how you embellish it, desires are desires.”

Lust stopped walking. More crimson bubbles rose from the blood pool, spreading outward in expanding rings.

“Desires are Maker’s gifts for all lives, and the desire to procreate is the mead among the gifts. Without it, no lives will continue. That tells you how great the desire to procreate is. You yearn for it but pretend to denounce it.”

She chuckled. “How pathetic humans are.”

Then she vanished, reappearing beside Zhang Wei and cupping his face. Her desire-filled eyes leered at him.

It happened with breathtaking speed. No one had expected her to appear right beside Zhang Wei when they had been twenty meters apart. Such movement should only be possible with Teleportation.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Zhou Jing hadn’t teleported—she had swapped places with one of her crimson bubbles, which now floated everywhere, allowing her to move wherever she wished amid the manifestations of desire.

While the two sides seemed locked in verbal combat, a lethal undercurrent had existed since their first moment of contact. Both had been searching for an opportunity to strike.

White Dew's power could counteract Zhou Jing's abilities, but from such a distance, it was too weak to launch an immediate attack.

The same limitation applied to Vermilion Bird.

Raven Shark’s first attack had failed. And his Decaying Particles was too obvious. Zhou Jing would immediately notice, so he didn’t rush to make another attempt.

For tonight's confrontation, Team Vermilion Bird had prepared several strategies. One involved Zhang Wei making a surprise attack with Petrify.

The death monsters didn’t know Zhang Wei had Petrify. And Zhang Wei was known for his tendency to run his mouth. Thus, Zhang Wei used that to his advantage and activated Petrify discreetly while bickering with Zhou Jin.

It was slow to take effect, but it was difficult for the enemies to notice. It would usually be too late when they realized.

And Zhou Jing had failed to notice Petrify at work in the beginning, but she had sensed the change in Zhang Wei’s libido.

Zhang Wei felt nothing resembling attraction toward Zhou Jing, but her inherent charm made complete immunity impossible. Even looking at her stirred up arousal.

To Zhou Jing, one's libido was like a scent she could keenly detect. During their conversation, Zhang Wei's scent had subtly changed, becoming more reserved and controlled. This told her he planned to kill her, which suppressed his natural reactions.

Zhou Jing kept up the act and made a move.

Zhou Jing maintained her act and made her move.

Blood transformed into countless crimson bubbles, scattering in seemingly random patterns. One almost translucent bubble had been creeping toward Zhang Wei, rendered nearly invisible by the world's lack of color.

Gotcha, cutie.

Zhou Jing smiled affectionately while holding Zhang Wei’s face.