BOSS
He Zhouyan cast a cold glance, his expression as calm as still water.
“Overestimating yourself.”
In front of him, the bird-headed butcher looked as though he were being crushed by an invisible hand. His fleshy pink head was instantly deformed under the pressure. He barely had time to let out a low groan from his throat before collapsing limply to the ground.
Silent. Without a trace.
The top-ranked butcher—bird-head—was dead, just like that.
The chihuahua butcher froze as if someone had hit the pause button. His wide eyes stared at them in disbelief, watching his once-reliable ally die without even a ripple.
It was no longer barking and aggressive—just frozen in place, standing stiffly.
Behind them, Lin Yang whispered to Wen Yi, “That chihuahua reminds me of the one we used to have in our courtyard. Always acting tough behind its owner.”
As soon as he said that, he couldn’t resist tearing off his invisibility charm and stepping forward, emboldened by the backup behind him.
With an even more arrogant tone, he glared at the butchers and shouted, “Back off! One more step, and you’re next!”
Of course, he made sure to stand behind Lu Congxing while saying that, making himself look more imposing by association.
The chihuahua butcher was the first to retreat, tail tucked between its legs as it slunk to the back of the group. All that earlier bravado? Gone without a trace—it was like a whole different dog.
The other butchers: …
They ignored Lin Yang, but their eyes were still filled with fear as they watched He Zhouyan. Just one twitch of his finger, and they’d all retreat on the spot.
Then, the stalemate was broken by the two-faced cat butcher. It eyed He Zhouyan warily and said, “I don’t know who you are, but I can tell you’re not livestock. It’d be best for both sides if we each backed off. Push too far, and the new master of this slaughterhouse won’t let you go.”
Mentioning that “master” seemed to ease its tone slightly—it clearly believed He Zhouyan wouldn’t dare act recklessly anymore.
But what it didn’t notice was that the dog-headed butcher beside it had frozen when it heard those words. It was as if its mouth had been sealed shut, unable to make a sound—its eyes, however, were filled with utter despair.
It had recognized him.
At the moment He Zhouyan struck, it had felt that same fear and dread from before. Just half an hour ago, it had been kneeling in front of this man, eyes fixed on his feet.
It had watched him treasure that sacrificial offering like something sacred.
And now, with this show of strength and that protective aura, there was no denying the truth anymore.
But it didn’t dare expose anything. It could only curse its foolish comrades in its mind over and over.
The two-faced cat butcher clearly misunderstood the look in Lu Congxing’s eyes. It casually stroked its whiskers and said, “I don’t know how you saved that piece of livestock, but if you like, you can take him and do as you wish. The rest, however, stay.”
In an instant, the oppressive atmosphere returned, heavier than ever.
Killing intent flashed from He Zhouyan. He hated it when others used such degrading words to refer to the cub.
Still… “do as you wish” didn’t sound too bad. Once he caught this mischievous cub who’d wandered into danger, he might consider a small punishment.
An inappropriate image flashed through He Zhouyan’s mind—of earlier today, when the cub had been pinned beneath him.
Those round, wide eyes full of confusion and surprise; the stark contrast between his dark hair and the white bedsheets was an almost decadent visual.
His silence made the butchers even more restless. With the bird-head’s brutal death still fresh in their minds, they didn’t dare go after Lu Congxing directly—but they were already shifting their attention to the other livestock.
Lin Yang immediately felt the pressure mount. He looked toward Lu Congxing, nearly in tears.
Lu Congxing rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Why did it feel like everyone around him was either reckless or thick-headed? Lin Yang had seemed so prickly when they first met—how was he now acting so relaxed and trusting?
He pointed at the man who was still lying unconscious nearby, silently signaling Lin Yang to go help him.
Since being tossed aside by the chihuahua butcher, the man hadn’t moved at all. That worried him.
Lin Yang practically skipped over like he’d just received a royal decree.
In his mind, He Zhouyan—whose face had suddenly become unreadable—must be Lu Congxing’s reclusive master. As for that earlier, absurdly handsome and youthful appearance? Definitely some mystical disguise technique.
And sure, reclusive masters were usually eccentric and reluctant to help others—but just from the way he looked at Lu Congxing, it was obvious he doted on him. There’s no way he’d let anything bad happen to his precious disciple!
Lin Yang dashed forward in a panic and crouched down in front of the motionless man. He had learned some basic first aid, and as soon as he knelt, his demeanor shifted—serious and reliable. He pushed aside all distracting thoughts, silently recited a mantra, and flipped the man over.
The man’s face was pale, and his lips had no trace of color.
Lin Yang froze for a moment, then reached out to check his pulse. After a few seconds, he slowly withdrew his hand and looked at Lu Congxing, struggling to speak. “He… he’s dead.”
No one had expected this outcome. Even Zhai Huokang and Wen Yi, who were hiding under invisibility talismans, couldn’t help but feel a chill run through their limbs.
Lu Congxing had exposed himself in order to save this man, but who would’ve thought the guy would actually be killed by a single toss from a chihuahua?
Still, he didn’t feel much emotional turbulence. One way or another, they were bound to face those butchers eventually.
These butchers all appeared as ragged and beaten-down animals. In fact, he was starting to get a sense of how this entire illusionary realm had formed.
All things possess spirit, and the capacity for obsession isn’t limited to humans alone.
Maybe… the true obsession anchoring this realm didn’t lie with them—but with the butchers themselves.
The chihuahua butcher grinned triumphantly. Now that the two-faced cat butcher had mentioned the slaughterhouse’s new master, it had returned to its arrogant self. Shaking all over, it barked, “I suggest you leave on your own now. Once the new master arrives, he won’t show any mercy. He’ll rip you all in half!”
Lu Congxing remained calm. “You can reach him?”
He stole a quick glance at He Zhouyan.
Hmm… if they called him now, that’d be an immediate reveal.
The butchers didn’t seem to notice anything off. Now emboldened by what they believed to be backing, they shouted with renewed arrogance, “Of course! Once the master comes, you’re all done for!”
The two-faced cat butcher pulled out a communicator used to summon the slaughterhouse’s master. Right before activating it, it hesitated for a second—instinctively.
That new master was truly brutal. If they had any other choice, they wouldn’t have wanted to trouble him.
But after catching sight of the bird-headed butcher’s mangled corpse on the ground, the cat decisively crushed the communicator in its paw.
In an instant, golden light burst forth, circling above the crowd as if trying to determine the right direction.
Once it found the slaughterhouse master, it would shoot to him at the speed of light—and guide him straight here.
The butchers all wore smug expressions, a twisted blend of triumph and fanatical devotion to the powerful tyrant they revered.
They tilted their heads back to gaze upward.
Several seconds passed, and yet the golden light remained floating in place.
A flicker of hesitation appeared on the butchers’ faces.
The dog-headed butcher’s eyes began to lose hope.
The chihuahua butcher, suppressing its rising anxiety, tried to spit out one more threat. It opened its mouth: “You—”
But the golden light rudely cut it off. In a flash, it descended and wrapped tightly around He Zhouyan.
It circled once to confirm his identity, then vanished completely—leaving behind a group of stunned onlookers.
The dog-headed butcher’s gaze turned utterly desolate.
Might as well let the world end now.
After a brief yet suffocating silence, one of the butchers finally reacted.
The fox, half its skull cleaved off, bowed low in a panic, rubbing its hands together obsequiously. “My lord, why didn’t you tell us you were coming? We didn’t recognize you—we’ve been blind and foolish to offend you.”
Gone was any trace of the dimwitted creature from earlier. It was now sharp and fawning.
The chihuahua was in utter disbelief. “No way! The communicator must’ve been broken!”
It suddenly remembered all the arrogant threats it had just thrown out, and its face burned with embarrassment.
Unable to accept the reality before it, its pitch-black eyes—so dark you couldn’t even see the whites—bulged from its head, looking like they might fall out at any moment.
The humans, meanwhile, collectively gasped as though watching a dramatic twist in a stage play.
They had been… hanging out with the slaughterhouse’s boss this whole time?!
Zhai Huokang’s expression had frozen—eerily similar to that of the dog-headed butcher.
Seeing that the disruption had already spread, He Zhouyan simply dropped the illusion covering his face. His original, strikingly handsome features returned to view.
That was enough to silence even the chihuahua, who now made no sound at all—like a duck with its neck clamped shut. It let out nothing more than a wheezy gasp, on the verge of collapse.
Its breathing was ragged, and fear had reached its peak.
To think, being exposed turned out better than expected. Lu Congxing smiled lightly. “Everyone calmed down now? Great—then let’s talk.”
At that moment, his gentle smile looked more terrifying to the butchers than Lucifer himself.
. . . . .
“Ahem.” Lin Yang let out a small cough, clearly uncomfortable.
He had no idea how things had devolved into such a bizarre scene.
Just a moment ago, two opposing sides had been locked in deadly combat, and now… they were sitting in rows like obedient preschoolers.
The butchers still had fresh blood on their hands, but their vicious expressions were gone. They’d curled their massive, two-meter-tall bodies into trembling lumps, seated across from the humans.
And they were being stared down by those they once regarded as livestock.
Truthfully, the humans weren’t as calm as they looked. Their nerves were on high alert.
None of them had fully processed the fact that He Zhouyan was actually the BOSS of the slaughterhouse. Even after Lu Congxing explained that he had defeated the previous master, their anxiety didn’t diminish one bit.
If anything, it sounded more terrifying!
Lu Congxing was pleased with how quiet things had become. Like a stern school dean, he surveyed the butchers’ faces one by one.
Each Butcher he stared at would flinch violently.
Standing just behind him was He Zhouyan. Wherever the cub’s gaze lingered for more than a second, He Zhouyan’s cold, oppressive stare would follow.
It was an unspoken interrogation.
In the end, it was the dog-headed butcher who broke the silence. He had long witnessed how the new master of the slaughterhouse doted on that bold little “livestock.”
To say the master was completely biased in his favor would be an understatement.
With remarkable tact, the dog-headed butcher lowered his head and said humbly, “If there’s anything you want to know, I’ll tell you everything.”
Lu Congxing was quite pleased with this attitude. He nodded slightly. “Then let’s start… with why you all became Butchers.”