The Cursed Black-Beast Demon

"Here, breakfast. Sister Mu is such a sweetheart — she bought a portion for you too. Aren't you going to thank her?"

Early morning. Ai Tutu spotted Mo Fan shuffling out of his room, still half-asleep, and immediately dangled the fragrant breakfast in front of him like bait.

Mo Fan didn't stand on ceremony — he just took it and started eating.

"You're getting ruder by the day," Ai Tutu said, clearly displeased.

"How's your investigation into the Shadow Demon-Beast going?" Mo Fan asked, not looking up from his food.

"Not telling you. Don't even think about stealing the fruits of our labor. Let's just say the beast won't be slipping through our fingers." Ai Tutu patted her ample chest with confidence.

"Actually..." Mu Nujiao thought for a moment, then said carefully, "I don't think this trial is simply about finding the Shadow Demon-Beast."

"How so?" Mo Fan asked.

Finding the Shadow Demon-Beast was the last thing on Mo Fan's mind right now. The Black Church had already made their move against him, and Xu Zhaoting had been swept up in it. Xu Zhaoting had been taken, his fate unknown — that was what truly weighed on Mo Fan.

"Dean Xiao's exact words were that the task is only complete when the Shadow Demon-Beast is delivered to the school's beast-taming cage. Which means catching it alone isn't enough," Mu Nujiao said.

"Sister Mu, you're saying the school doesn't care who finds the Shadow Demon-Beast, and doesn't care who captures it — all that matters is who delivers it to the cage. That means the moment anyone catches it, it becomes a rugby ball that everyone else will try to snatch away!" Ai Tutu exclaimed.

"Exactly. So before we go after it, we need to factor that in."

"When you boil it down, the Shadow Demon-Beast is probably just the bait. In the end, it's all a fight between students!" Ai Tutu said, the realization dawning on her.

Mu Nujiao's analysis clicked for Mo Fan as well.

*So all I have to do is swoop in at the right moment. Why burn myself out hunting that elusive beast when someone else will do it for me?*

After breakfast, Mo Fan headed to the hospital where Zhang Lulu was recovering.

Physically, she was doing well — the magic of a Healing Element Mage could mend injuries like hers, which hadn't reached the bone, with remarkable speed.

Mentally, though, she was in a terrible state. She couldn't eat, and her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen. The worry over Xu Zhaoting was eating her alive.

Mo Fan escorted her back to her residence and asked how the two of them had ended up where they had.

"We were originally planning to find students from other disciplines to form a group and hunt the Shadow Demon-Beast together. But then Xu Zhaoting bumped into someone in the restroom, and his whole expression changed. He started following this person — who looked like a student. The further we followed, the more we noticed these dark, ugly things trailing around them. I tried to convince him to turn back, but he wouldn't listen. He kept going deeper."

"A student?" Mo Fan's brow furrowed.

Had the Black Church's influence already infiltrated Pearl Academy? Or had their pawns been planted there long ago, lurking undetected until this very mission drew them out?

Mo Fan suspected the latter was more likely. Pearl Academy's management was notoriously strict — there was no way Black Church operatives could have simply walked in off the street.

"They said they were going to make a move against you," Zhang Lulu continued, "but they're wary of the school and the Tribunal. So they had to find methods that wouldn't expose who they are."

"Methods that won't expose who they are..." Mo Fan bowed his head, lost in thought.

"I don't know the specifics beyond that," Zhang Lulu added.

"Get some rest. I'll find a way to track down where they've taken Xu Zhaoting," Mo Fan said.

"Should we contact the Tribunal...?"

The Tribunal was the only organization with the real power to strike at the Black Church. No ordinary person could stand against an organization capable of controlling Black-Beast Demons.

"Not yet. The moment the Tribunal mobilizes, these Black Church members will smell something's off and abandon their plans immediately. If they pull out..." Mo Fan paused. "We'll never find Xu Zhaoting again."

Zhang Lulu went quiet. She genuinely didn't know what to do anymore.

After Mo Fan left, Zhang Lulu lay down to sleep.

She drifted in and out of consciousness. Awake, her mind flooded with images of those hideous, savage Black-Beast Demons; asleep, the same monsters stalked her dreams.

In Zhang Lulu's mind, nothing in the world was more terrifying or revolting than a Black-Beast Demon. Even their stench seemed to haunt the edge of her senses — faint, persistent, inescapable.

She opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The room was pitch dark. The curtains were half-drawn, and the light from outside fell across the carpet in a cold, lonely stripe...

A smell?

Zhang Lulu jolted fully awake. Cold swept through her body as if she'd been plunged into ice water.

*God — how could that smell be in her room?*

She thought at first it was her imagination. But when she actually inhaled, there was no denying it. The smell was real.

**Clang! Clang!**

Something in the corridor had been knocked over with a crash.

The sound ripped the last of her composure away. Zhang Lulu scrambled out of bed and bolted barefoot from the room, racing for the stairs, climbing toward the rooftop.

The smell grew stronger with every step, and beneath it rose the sound of small, scurrying feet. She peered through the gaps in the stairwell railing — and saw a cluster of dark shapes writhing below.

The monsters.

Zhang Lulu didn't hesitate for a heartbeat. She flew up the remaining stairs and burst onto the roof.

She knew what staying in her room meant. Up here, she could escape by crossing the connected rooftops of the neighboring buildings.

She emerged into the dead of night. Not a soul on the streets below, and nothing up here but a cluttered rooftop strewn with laundry lines and old crates. She sprinted toward the water tank on the far side — then the wooden door she'd just come through exploded off its hinges behind her.

Three or four Black-Beast Demons poured through the gap. They dragged their tongues across razored fangs, eyes blazing with ravenous green light, trailing a stench so foul it turned the stomach.

A wet, clicking gurgle rose from their throats.

Zhang Lulu spun toward the next rooftop and was about to leap — then stopped dead.

There, between her and the gap, stood another Black-Beast Demon. Its entire body was wreathed in a dense, churning aura of cursed darkness, an oily shadow clinging to its frame like a second skin.

This one was even more grotesque than the rest. Strips of half-rotted flesh clung to its face, and fresh blood glistened wetly between the decaying patches.

Zhang Lulu's vision swam. Every escape route was gone.

The gurgling behind her sharpened into a frenzied, wet rattle — but the pack that had chased her up from the corridor didn't advance. They held perfectly still, eyes fixed on the curse-shrouded creature with unmistakable wariness.

The cursed Black-Beast Demon crept forward slowly, passing right beside Zhang Lulu. Its eyes were a deep, blood-soaked crimson — burning with fury and hatred — and a guttural, rasping shriek tore from its throat.

Its gaze wasn't on her.

It was staring at the pack.

Zhang Lulu stood frozen, unable to move.

Then the cursed Black-Beast Demon let out a shriek and hurled itself at the other demons — and she could barely trust her own eyes.

*They're not on the same side?*