Circus of Horrors (18)
With a new actor added to the stage, the dynamic of the performance shifted immediately. Fu Moyang easily flicked his knife and sliced open the male dancer’s palm—stopping him just before he could place the poisoned crown on the female dancer’s head.
Tears streamed down the female dancer’s face. For a fleeting second, both dancers’ expressions softened with gratitude—only to be replaced by fresh waves of pain a moment later.
Fu Moyang now stepped into the role of storyteller: “Suddenly, a hunter appeared by the lake. He separated the two swans.”
The two dancers slowly separated.
Just as Joker was about to erupt in anger, he suddenly let out a cold laugh: “The furious swans have decided to kill this unwelcome intruder.”
Once again, the two dancers lunged uncontrollably toward him, hands reaching straight for his throat.
An invisible force tried to bind Fu Moyang’s arms, forcing him to follow the script. But before he even lifted a finger, a sudden burst of ghostly energy erupted from his body and completely overpowered it.
The dark, shadowy energy—tinged with red—devoured the force imposed by the “circus rules.”
From the outside, it looked like he had stood still for less than thirty seconds before raising his hand sharply and delivering a precise knife-hand strike to each of the dancers.
Both collapsed in unison, bloodstained from their earlier expressions of pain and struggle—just like their name implied, they had become true “blood swans.”
Fu Moyang raised an eyebrow: “Both poor swans have lost consciousness…”
Joker abruptly cut in: “The other angry villagers by the lake have come to avenge the swans!”
As soon as he spoke, dozens of tattered cotton teddy bears came rushing out from behind the curtain.
Their torn button eyes glowed red as they cried out in unison: “Chii-chii-chii-chii!”
The entire circus tent was instantly filled with the noise.
Who could have guessed Joker had such a low-down move up his sleeve?
The magician snapped: “This is too much!”
She immediately realized who she was accusing, and quickly covered her mouth in fright.
Fortunately, Joker paid her no mind, his gaze fixed on Fu Moyang with open malice.
He knew these little things wouldn’t be enough to kill him—but if they could hurt him a bit, or even just get under his skin, that would be satisfying enough.
Chen Li was overwhelmed by the shrieking teddy bears and covered his ears.
[System, will he be okay?]
System 001 answered casually: [They’re just a few cotton teddy bears. What could possibly happen?]
The cotton teddy bears didn’t even reach his knees.
What were they going to do—jump up and hit his kneecaps?
“Roar—!”
Suddenly, a deep, furious growl erupted from the first bear’s mouth. One after another, the rest joined in, releasing ear-shattering bear-like roars.
Furry paws suddenly sprouted razor-sharp claws, and with a single swipe, they tore deep gouges into the ground.
These were cotton teddy bears with the strength of real bears. It was easy to imagine what would happen if one of those claws landed on a human body—skin would be instantly torn open, blood gushing everywhere.
System 001, thoroughly slapped in the face: […]
It silently vanished without another word.
Fu Moyang casually tossed the two unconscious “swans” aside like cushions, flattening a swarm of cotton teddy bears beneath them. As the other bears leapt aside and then lunged at him in fury with gaping jaws, he spun his knife into a graceful flourish and sliced through their throats, revealing soft, snow-white cotton stuffing inside.
Joker snapped his fingers elegantly, and the teddy bears that had been knocked down immediately sprang back up, charging again without hesitation.
They didn’t fear death, didn’t feel pain. Despite their shabby exteriors, they were no different from zombies.
Chen Li wanted to shout for him to be careful but held back, afraid to break character. He paced anxiously above.
Fu Moyang frowned in irritation, ready to end things quickly by ripping out their stuffing. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the little lamb sitting quietly in the VIP seat, clutching the whip and waiting for him.
That small lamb was looking at him, eyes full of worry.
Fu Moyang’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Suddenly, his knife changed direction and stabbed toward a cotton teddy bear attacking from the right. In doing so, he left himself exposed to the one leaping in from the left.
It sank its teeth into his shoulder. Blood burst forth.
A muffled grunt of pain escaped the man’s lips.
Chen Li’s eyes widened in horror: “You…”
Fu Moyang dealt with the cotton teddy bear, then looked up and mouthed three words: I’m fine.
But the white lining of his shirt was already soaked with red.
Chen Li’s eyes turned red with tears. He murmured under his breath: “How could you be fine…”
At that exact moment, Joker and System 001 shared an eerily identical thought: Damn it! This shameless bastard!
He’s so cunning! He could’ve avoided getting hurt just now!
Such a tactic might fool a naive human—but not them.
For the first time, Joker felt a pang of regret. Why had he allowed this man to perform?
If he kept playing along, it would only lower his own standards. Fu Moyang no longer held back against the other cotton teddy bears. Despite his injured shoulder, he took care of them all. White stuffing was scattered across the ground, and he stood amid it, his expression dark and brooding.
He spoke slowly and clearly: “In the end, the hunter killed all the troublesome little animals… and finally welcomed a happy ending.”
The words happy ending were delivered with a chilling, blood-drenched aura.
As soon as the word ending left his mouth, the invisible “rule-bound power” covering the stage instantly shattered.
The two dancers groaned in pain and awoke. The male dancer, whose feet were a bloody mess, finally regained control of his body and curled up like a wounded shrimp. The female dancer sobbed as she rushed to embrace him, murmuring again and again: “We’re saved…”
For the first time, the young nobleman who had only ever sat in the VIP section stood up, ran down the small stairs to the stage, and threw himself into Fu Moyang’s arms like a sugar-filled cannonball.
Tears in his eyes, he looked up at him: “You’re hurt.”
He looked so sweet and well-behaved it could melt anyone’s heart.
Fu Moyang took a deep breath, barely resisting the urge to reveal his slit-pupil eyes. He smiled: “It doesn’t hurt. I completed the young master’s order.”
Even now, the man stayed in character.
Chen Li glared at him, both angry and anxious. He barely remembered to stay in character too, so he huffed arrogantly: “Joker, send us back.”
Trying to sound fierce, he ended up looking more like a panicked little bunny.
Joker sighed helplessly: “Yes.”
He sent everyone out of the circus space.
Watching Chen Li’s unwavering gaze locked onto Fu Moyang, Joker muttered sourly: “He insisted on joining the script himself. Serves him right.”
He was ready to continue mocking, but then Fu Moyang weakly added:
“Mm, it does serve me right—for making the young master worry.”
Joker and System 001 once again: …
Joker stared in disbelief at this manipulative, green-tea man and blurted out: “You—!”
“Shut up!” Chen Li suddenly snapped. “I don’t want to see you right now.”
It was rare for him to act like a pampered young master, but now he looked fiercely cute—like an angry little kitten.
He didn’t even consider that the man might be hurt. His mind was a complete mess, and on top of that, he was worried the crazy ringleader might actually stab him. All he could think about was getting Fu Moyang bandaged up as quickly as possible.
Joker, who had just been yelled at for the first time, froze for a few seconds.
The other players instinctively took a step back, eyes wide with fear.
What kind of hellish drama was this?! Were the NPCs finally turning on each other?
They prayed they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire—they’d survived all the deadly traps in this instance so far.
All they had to do was make it through tonight’s banquet, and they could finally leave the castle.
Everyone held their breath anxiously, while Joker—the very center of this storm—stood frozen as the expression on his face slowly went blank.
He’d just been yelled at… by Cotton Candy… Candy…
The sweet little cotton candy didn’t like him anymore.
Suddenly, Joker’s face changed drastically. The other players, who had been keeping a close eye on him, turned pale and frantically started looking for an escape route.
But before they could even run, Joker moved.
Without a word, he tossed a bouncy ball that exploded into a cloud of pink smoke—and vanished completely.
He actually ran away?!
The players were stunned, slowly turning their stiff necks to look at Chen Li, all gasping in unison.
This NPC is terrifying!
He actually scared off that terrifying core NPC—unbelievable!
There’s no way a guide-type NPC like this wouldn’t be well-known—he must be a new NPC.
Looks like it’s time for a dark horse to shake up the NPC leaderboard.
That dark horse, Chen Li, was currently frowning deeply as he stared at Fu Moyang’s wound, completely oblivious to the fact that Joker had even left. He waved his hand casually: “I’ve lost my appetite. You guys enjoy the food yourselves.”
He was the master of the castle, a noble with status—so whatever he said naturally went unquestioned. Even if he acted willful, no one dared to doubt him.
Thanks to the blocked view, the injured man beside him shielded the young master from everyone else’s line of sight, so no one could see the worry in Chen Li’s eyes.
They simply thought that the young master, who had a bloodthirsty persona and loved watching bloody spectacles, was throwing a tantrum because he hadn’t seen the tragic ending.
Chen Li grabbed Fu Moyang’s uninjured hand and pulled him upstairs.
The Magician seemed worried: “Young Master Rum looks really angry. Do you think the beast tamer might get hurt?”
They still didn’t know the beast tamer’s true identity, nor his name, so they could only refer to him this way.
The Puppeteer shook her head: “He should have means of self-defense.”
The man’s skills were so formidable that they only ended up being a distraction.
The dancer couple exchanged looks but lacked the courage to offer help.
No one expected that the young master, who was supposed to be furious and difficult as imagined, would nearly cry in frustration the moment he closed the door behind him. In a small voice, he quietly said: “I’m sorry.”
Fu Moyang: “It’s not your fault. I was careless.”
Chen Li: “Let me bandage it!”
He then gently took Fu Moyang’s hand and guided him to sit on the bed.
This was the first time the boy had so actively held his hand, and Fu Moyang couldn’t help but stare down, lost in thought for a moment.
Mm, this injury was definitely worth it.
It must be used well.
So, he allowed the boy to remove his shirt, revealing his well-toned upper body and the gruesome wound.
At first, the injury wasn’t very big, but he had intentionally used his ghostly power to cover it, tearing and making it worse.
Chen Li: [System, hurry up and give me the medicine.]
System 001 reluctantly exchanged some points for a bottle of hemostatic medicine and bandages.
Chen Li spoke softly: “I’m going to apply the medicine now.”
He fumbled a little, dipping cotton into the medicine before carefully applying it to the wound.
When Fu Moyang was harsh on himself, his face showed no sign of emotion, his heart was calm. Yet, when the soft cotton touched his wound, he deliberately lowered his gaze and hissed.
His thin lips barely let out the sound before quickly closing again, not saying anything.
It seemed unconscious, but it made Chen Li nervous and immediately stop: “Does it hurt?”
Fu Moyang’s mask had fallen off at some point, and he looked up with his cold, silver eyes, pausing for a moment before replying: “…It hurts.”
Author’s note:
Joker and System 001: Bah!!!
this green tea ML 😂