Chapter 332: The Hunt Begins

The winged host, whose true form was that of an eagle, finished explaining the basic rules of watching the hunt. Then, he transformed into a giant eagle and circled above the audience seats.

This was a kind of “opening act”, meant to stir up the crowd’s excitement.

After returning to his human form, the host introduced himself:

“Those familiar with me already know my name is Ying Xiang, but I just took a look around and saw quite a few new faces. So, I’ll say it again.”

“My name is Ying Xiang!”

“Ying, as in ‘heroic eagle’! Xiang, as in ‘soaring high’!”

Hearing this self-introduction, Gu Ning’an couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. The host’s way of speaking was remarkably similar to the sports commentators from his previous life.

“Alright, enough chatter!” Ying Xiang suddenly raised his hand and gestured toward the left. “Now, let’s welcome the challengers of tonight’s midnight hunt!”

Boom!

With a deafening rumble, a massive stone gate on the left side of the arena slowly opened.

From the shadows behind the gate, a group of unarmed inn workers stumbled out, their faces pale with terror.

There were eleven of them in total. The second-youngest among them, a teenage boy, walked at the front, holding onto Little Lian, the youngest worker who had joined the inn most recently.

Behind them, the rest of the inn’s staff followed, with the oldest being a plump chef, seemingly in his thirties, while the others were all young men and women in their twenties.

As the last person was shoved through the gate, the stone doors slammed shut behind them.

“Let me go back! Let me go back!”

“I didn’t poison anyone!”

“It wasn’t me!”

At the very end of the group, a thin, gaunt young man suddenly turned around and desperately pounded on the stone gate, wailing in despair.

This scene immediately sent waves of laughter through the audience.

Ying Xiang chuckled as well. “As you can see, this young man is very eager to escape from the Hunting Arena.”

“But the two youngest ones leading the group—they seem surprisingly calm. I wonder if they’ll put up an exciting fight for us tonight?”

“Ha! This Ying Xiang really knows how to talk.” The speaker, a tanuki demon, sat next to Gu Ning’an, shaking his head in amusement.

Beside him, a bull demon chimed in, “Yeah, as if we don’t all know the truth—these inn workers are just regular humans.”

“They don’t even have spiritual wisdom, let alone any combat ability. Just one big beast could eat them all up in seconds.”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an couldn’t help but ask, “Then why are you all still paying to watch if you already know the outcome?”

The bull demon shot him a sideways glance and laughed. “Watching people struggle to survive—isn’t that entertaining?”

“Besides,” he added, “the innkeeper of Taste of Freshness is no ordinary woman. If she comes to save them, our two taels of silver will be worth every coin.”

The tanuki demon nodded. “Exactly. Hua Erniang is the real attraction tonight. As long as she shows up to rescue them, we’ll get our money’s worth!”

While the two demons chatted away, down in the arena, Ying Xiang had descended in front of the teenage boy at the front of the group. With a loud voice, he asked:

“Boy, they say you are the prime suspect in the poisoning of two demons. Tell me—do you think you’ll walk out of here alive tonight?”

The teenage boy glanced at the host, then let out a mocking laugh.

“False accusations? No wonder—a bunch of beasts turning into ‘people’ wouldn’t know right from wrong to begin with!”

“A beast is a beast. Even if it wears human skin, it will never become human!”

The arena’s enchantments ensured that every word spoken inside was amplified and broadcasted across the entire venue.

And in Demon City, the vast majority of the audience were demons.

With just this one sentence, the boy had insulted all of them.

Immediately, the more hot-tempered demons erupted in a storm of curses and roars, hurling insults back at the boy.

Watching their reaction, the teenager’s eyes gleamed with scorn.

He sneered, “Look at you pigs and dogs—just a little provocation, and your true nature is exposed!”

“I’ll be honest with you—I don’t understand your pig-like gibberish!”

“If any of you have the guts, if you truly think you’re not beasts, then jump into this arena and come say it to my face!”

Seeing how sharp the young servant’s words were, Ying Xiang was secretly thrilled.

If this boy could actually provoke a few dumb demons into jumping down, wouldn’t tonight’s spectacle be even more entertaining?

Thus, he deliberately activated the formation within the arena, amplifying the young servant’s voice so that everyone in the Demon City could hear him loud and clear—he was pointing at their noses and cursing them!

However, to his surprise, despite all the demons in the audience cursing back and fuming with rage, not a single one actually jumped into the arena. They were cunning creatures—none were foolish enough to add to the drama.

Ying Xiang turned to look at Little Lian and smiled. “Little girl, how old are you?”

Little Lian glanced at the wings on his back and timidly replied, “Seven.”

“Oh dear, what a poor thing. I heard you just started working at Taste of Freshness this morning, didn’t you?”

“And now, in the dead of night, you’ve been dragged into this hunting ground.”

“Little girl, my heart aches for you.”

As he spoke, Ying Xiang reached out, intending to pat Little Lian’s head. She recoiled in fear, retreating backward, while the young boy gritted his teeth and stepped forward to shield her.

Of course, as the host, Ying Xiang remained completely unruffled. The boy had just insulted him along with all the other demons, yet he hadn’t taken offense in the slightest. A mere girl flinching away from him meant even less.

Dong—Dong—Dong!

Three deep chimes rang out, marking the arrival of midnight.

Ying Xiang turned and scanned the surroundings. Not spotting Innkeeper Hua, whose appearance would undoubtedly ignite the entire crowd, he raised a hand and declared, “Now, let’s welcome tonight’s defenders!”

As soon as his voice fell, the massive stone door on the right side of the arena slowly opened.

In the very next moment, a silver-white blur shot out from the shadows, streaking across the arena in the blink of an eye—lunging straight at the group of servants!

It wasn’t until the overwhelming stench of blood filled his nostrils that the young servant clearly saw the attacker’s form.

It was a silver-white wolf, its jaws wide open, teeth snapping toward his head!

At the last possible moment, Ying Xiang flared his wings, sending a powerful gust that swatted the lunging silver wolf away!

Both the audience and the group of servants stared at Ying Xiang in confusion.

There was no reason for him to save them after unleashing a vicious wolf into the arena.

“Don’t misunderstand!” Ying Xiang raised his head, his face brimming with mystery. “I’ve just received word—someone has requested to enter the arena!”

“Now, take a guess—who do you think it is?”