Chapter 86: Hidden Killing Intent

Yin Zhi’s subordinates had already submitted the Contract and were just waiting for a guide to lead the way.

However, to everyone’s surprise, the name the announcer called out wasn’t a familiar one.

To be precise, it was a Beastman completely unknown to them.

The announcer: "It seems today’s beast fights haven’t been to your satisfaction. We’ve made a last-minute decision to recall last month’s ace fighter, to be sure we bring you the most spectacular duel..."

A man who wasn’t particularly tall slowly emerged from the shadows.

He wore a black cloak, his entire face swallowed by the shadows.

No one could make out his features. They could only judge by his build that he was a male Beastman.

But this Beastman was truly strange. As he lifted his head, the light cast a faint sheen on his neck.

Wen Qian vaguely saw a long, slanted mark on it, like a scar from stitches... But in the next second, her brow furrowed. She realized the scar was moving.

The surprises kept coming. The man reached out to adjust his cloak, and Wen Qian noticed he had a pair of withered, desiccated hands.

It wasn’t just his hands, but his neck and every inch of exposed skin... It reminded Wen Qian of shiitake mushrooms left out too long—dried, shriveled, and warped.

"What kind of Beastman is that?" Wen Qian asked instinctively.

When she heard no response, she turned back in curiosity.

She saw that the few people who had looked so relaxed just moments before now wore grave expressions.

After a long moment, Yin Zhi spoke. "That guy doesn’t look like a Beastman..."

"Perhaps he’s been injected with some kind of serum," Gu Mian said coolly.

Since this was the Beast Fighting Arena, there were surely restrictions on the participants’ identities.

"We’ll know when he takes off the cloak." Chi Ye raised an eyebrow. He’d never run into this guy before.

Even though it was their first meeting, Chi Ye’s impression of the Beastman before him was not a good one.

’Dressing like a guide in the dead of night... How pretentious can you get?!’

On the other side.

Their eyes met, and Chi Heng couldn’t help but frown.

His gaze fell upon the Beastman’s desiccated face. "What are you?" he asked, his voice low.

He was close enough to see the man’s face clearly.

It was a face covered in wrinkles, its countless hollows unsettling to look at. Not only that, but the face was completely bloodless, like a crumpled piece of paper...

He had never seen a Beastman like this, not even in a lab.

"Hehehe... I’m just like you... a Beastman." The moment the man looked up, Chi Heng’s frown deepened. His irises were completely blood-red, as if they had been steeped in gore.

"Did you know that the part of the body that stores the most water is the eyeball? That’s why almost all the fluid in my body is concentrated here." He licked his parched lips, seemingly in no hurry to start the fight.

Except others store water. He stores blood.

"The outcome of this beast fight is certainly going to be one to watch!" the announcer declared again.

At almost that exact moment, the fight began.

The iron cage wasn’t very spacious. Chi Heng could barely maneuver enough to fight, but in contrast, the man opposite him seemed perfectly at ease.

He dodged swiftly, his long, sharp nails simultaneously raking across Chi Heng’s body, leaving a trail of bloody scratches.

Their figures blurred as they crisscrossed the cage. After countless near-misses, Chi Heng instinctively sped up... Every one of his punches was ferocious, smashing mercilessly toward his opponent.

For the most part, the man dodged with ease. Fortunately, even the few impacts that did land were accompanied by intense vibrations and the sound of cracking.

But to Chi Heng’s surprise, his attacks didn’t seem to be doing much damage.

Instead, it was his own body that was, for some unseen reason, growing more and more sluggish...

In the second exchange, Chi Heng intentionally slowed his movements.

Only then did he realize it: the blood flying from his wounds was all being absorbed by that thin slit on his opponent’s collarbone.

The slit squirmed slowly. By the time Chi Heng finally got a clear look at what it was, the man’s claws had already carved four deep gashes across his chest...

It was a mouth.

A mouth, filled with countless, needle-like teeth.

"Hehehe... So, you’ve discovered my secret." The man looked up again. At some point, color had returned to his face. The blood in his eyes receded, faintly revealing a pair of translucent irises.

An air of danger and tension filled the iron cage. No one knew what was happening inside, but the wordless struggle and the deafening sounds of impact still drew raucous cheers from the crowd.

"It’s a Fuyi." At the same time, Gu Mian had also figured it out. He pursed his lips, his gaze darkening slightly. He then added in a low voice, "A Mutated Bat Wings, one that’s been injected with drugs."

In the next second, Wen Qian also got a clear look at the man’s face.

He threw off his cloak, revealing a face that was not quite human.

He gave a nearly hideous smile, completely unabashed, as the wriggling mouth on his collarbone slowly sucked in the droplets of blood floating in the air.

’He’s drinking blood!’

Wen Qian’s heart sank.

Color was gradually returning to his once-desiccated hands; there was no telling how much of Chi Heng’s blood he had already drunk.

"I’d advise you to give up now. We’re both Beastmen, there’s no need to take this to the..."

"In your dreams." A cold sneer played on Chi Heng’s lips, and his glare cut the man’s words short.

’I don’t know what this thing is... But there’s no way in hell I’m letting it get the better of me.’

In truth, the few punches Chi Heng had landed weren’t ineffective. It was just that as his opponent drank his blood, the injuries had healed with frightening speed...

’What a disgusting creature.’

Seeing his words couldn’t persuade the man, a vicious glint flashed in the Mutated Bat Wings’ eyes.

’If he can’t be persuaded to surrender, then he must be killed. A person this stubborn absolutely cannot be allowed to live.’

In the dark, the man’s eyes filled with brutality and murderous intent. A pair of black wings tore through the fabric on his back, slowly unfurling within the cage.

The edges of the wings looked like they’d been specially treated; they were lined with densely packed, razor-sharp, diamond-shaped objects. The iron bars of the cage, where the wings had touched them, were instantly covered in a dense web of scratches...

"It’s over! One swipe of those wings and my dear nephew is going to be sliced to ribbons..." Panic flashed in Chi Ye’s eyes.

Ling Xuan was exasperated. "If you don’t know how to use an idiom, don’t just throw it around!"

This time, Chi Ye didn’t argue back. He just stared intently at the iron cage.

He watched as Chi Heng’s body also began to change.

He threw his head back in agony as red gradually consumed his entire eye.

A guttural roar echoed throughout the Beast Fighting Arena.

Chi Heng let his body swell, tearing his clothes to shreds. He let fur sprout wildly all over his body until he had completely transformed into a Werewolf.

The already cramped iron cage now seemed to be filled to bursting by the man’s transformation. He lowered his head slightly, his eyes fixed on the Beastman before him...