"Ahhhhhhh! It hurts! It hurts! No! My face! My youth!"
The black-robed man, frantically scratching his face, let out an incredibly pained cry, yet he showed no signs of stopping. He didn't even cease his assault when he tore off the intact flesh from his face.
Accustomed to being steeped in poisons, the black-robed man scratched his face wildly. The slight toxins hidden in his unkempt, sharp fingernails touched his eyeballs. Instantly, a burning pain shot from his eyes to his entire body. The corrosive sizzling sound, masked by the black-robed man's escalating screams, was still undeniable.
"Crack!"
The sound of flesh bursting caused a slight ripple in Tang Sui's dark eyes.
Tang Sui, who had remained motionless, finally took a step. One by one, unhurriedly, she walked towards the black-robed man, who was hunched over in pain, unable to straighten his back. A faint red glow spread from her eyes as she slowly spoke:
"Does it hurt? That's how I felt just now."
In just a few seconds, the black-robed man's face became a bloody mess, his features indistinguishable, and his vision gone.
He paid no mind to Tang Sui's words, still lost in his own world, consumed by nightmares.
Standing three meters away from the black-robed man, Tang Sui took in the man's tragic state.
Was it disgusting?
Of course.
But after switching forms and activating her black face, her human emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and fear seemed to fade, leaving only detached rationality.
No matter how horrific the scene before her, she felt no aversion now, as if she were watching a tiny ant, stirring not the slightest ripple in her heart.
Perhaps...
Was the mask truly another her?
Tang Sui mused with a hint of self-mockery about the origin of the Yokai, Menreiki. She tilted her head slightly, glancing at the Saru-men, who had returned to her side and was now floating to her right.
The Saru-men's round, crimson eyes flickered, as if in response. Yet, despite being able to communicate, it made no other sound to interact with Tang Sui.
As one of the first awakened, the Kitsune-men remained silently still to Tang Sui's left, its fox eyes, glowing with an eerie green light, cast their usual silent gaze.
[Beep—Friendly reminder, host, although it’s a bit gross, the person in front of you is still a Soul Emperor-level powerhouse. You can try to devour them with your yokai power, dear.]
The system’s voice, tinged with excitement, echoed in Tang Sui’s mind.
The Saru-men immediately stopped flickering and stabilized.
Devour a human?
Tang Sui stared intently at the black-robed man for a few seconds, then slowly raised the hand hanging at her side.
Dark yokai power condensed into a ball in her palm and flew out. Like a bursting water balloon, a tide of black and red mist poured out, covering the black-robed man entirely, rapidly encasing him into a cocoon.
"Ahhhh! How can this be! My face!"
From within the cocoon, the black-robed man's voice, a mix of shock and anger, rang out. He had clearly regained his senses from the Saru-men's deterrence.
"What is this ghastly thing?! Third Soul Skill! Ah—!!"
The Saru-men and Kitsune-men, flying to Tang Sui's left and right, had their eyes light up with a black and red glow. Gruesome chewing sounds emanated from within the cocoon. The black-robed man felt as though the black and red light mass tightly binding him, like a spiderweb, had sprouted countless mouths with sharp teeth, gnawing at him piece by piece. Even the poisons he harbored were being devoured by these unseen monsters!
"Third Soul Skill, Lethal Sting!"
Sharp pincers pushed the light cocoon upwards, but they couldn't pierce the tightly wrapped black and red shell.
"Brat! I will definitely kill you!"
"How long do you think you can trap me!? A mere Soul Grandmaster! Ahhh—!"
"Fifth Soul Skill, Cross Poison Blade!"
"Stop gnawing! Damn it! Hiss!"
"Damn it, what kind of monster are you! Ah!"
The black-robed man's initial violent struggles and curses, the cocoon that swelled into various shapes from the Soul Skills from within, subsided amidst the crisp chewing sounds. Only the screams continued unabated, though they shifted from sharp and forceful to weak and pathetic.
"No..."
"I... I was wrong... it was my fault ahhhh!"
"Please... please have mercy and let me go..."
Witnessing the entire transformation in the black-robed man's attitude, Tang Sui slowly floated up, suspended in mid-air. She lowered her gaze, her lips pressed together, her small face adorned with winding crimson streaks devoid of any expression.
She looked down from above at the black-robed man's ghastly wails under the erosion of yokai power. She showed no discomfort at the gory scene, merely gazing quietly at the man's plight, waiting for the outcome.
Finally, the cocoon, originally oval-shaped, slowly sliced into thin strips of light. Besides the wind that continued to howl wantonly through the night, no other sound could be heard.