Chapter 288: I Have My Own Way
The alluring smile vanished from the snake demon’s face, replaced by pure anger.
Her mood was already quite sour, but she had been suppressing the anger in her heart because of Yang Haoran. Now, Vice-Captain Zhou’s words had directly ignited the fury within her.
From a human perspective, demons eating people makes them villains who must be eliminated.
But from a demon’s perspective, their eating people is no different from humans eating meat; there’s nothing wrong with it.
Vice-Captain Zhou’s expression turned cold; the snake demon’s words ignited anger in his heart as well.
"Humans eating meat is only natural, it’s the law of this world!"
The snake demon scoffed coldly and immediately retorted, "Demons eating people is just as natural, and just as much a rule of this world!"
"You! " Vice-Captain Zhou was furious. Then he said, "You speak well, but now that you’ve fallen into our human hands, killing you is only what you deserve!"
"Heh heh, kill me? Are you my match? Even though I’m heavily injured right now, you’re still no match for me! " The snake demon scoffed coldly, her gaze filled with disdain.
Hearing Vice-Captain Zhou’s words, the snake demon’s fury intensified.
"Stop trying to pin the blame on me! The people who died today have utterly nothing to do with me, including that young man I ate last night—he wasn’t killed by me either. If you want to fight, then fight! Don’t act like a coward and seek excuses. You humans are just hypocritical, always looking for excuses and reasons for everything you do. I truly despise you!"
Vice-Captain Zhou was thoroughly angered by the snake demon’s words. He stopped wasting words with her; his face filled with rage, he directly channeled the power within his body into the Copper Coin Sword in his hand.
Empowered by the powerful energy, the Copper Coin Sword erupted with a burst of golden light, as if special effects had suddenly been added to it.
The snake demon also showed no weakness; a wave of green light emanated from around her body, white scales appeared on her face, her eyes transformed into snake eyes, and her cherry-red mouth even flicked out a forked tongue.
In this state, both of them were clearly about to fight. However, at this very moment, a voice rang out, jolting both enraged individuals back to their senses.
"Vice-Captain Zhou, want a cigarette?"
The speaker was naturally Yang Haoran. The two were at daggers drawn; if he didn’t speak up now, they would certainly come to blows, which was not the outcome he desired.
Yang Haoran smiled and took out a cigarette case. Yin Qi coiled around it, floating it before Vice-Captain Zhou.
Gazing at the cigarette case wreathed in Yin Qi before him, Vice-Captain Zhou took a deep breath and dispelled the power from his Copper Coin Sword.
He understood in his heart that Yang Haoran speaking up at this moment was clearly to protect the snake demon.
The snake demon let out a cold snort; the scales on her face vanished, and her eyes were no longer snake eyes. However, the alluring smile did not return to her face; instead, it was as dark as still water.
Vice-Captain Zhou did not take the cigarette floating before him. He shifted his gaze from the cigarette to Yang Haoran, his expression very serious.
"Emissary Yang, you are human, she is a demon. Are you taking her side? " Vice-Captain Zhou’s voice was heavy as he spoke.
Yang Haoran naturally sensed Vice-Captain Zhou’s change in mood. He chuckled and said, "Vice-Captain Zhou, you jest. How could I possibly take her side? The reason I’m protecting her is because she’s still useful to me."
"So you’ll protect her because she’s useful? Then who will seek justice for those she ate? " Vice-Captain Zhou asked in a deep voice.
"What justice do they need to seek? They brought it upon themselves!"
The snake demon replied coldly. Yang Haoran glanced at her with a smile; though he said nothing, the snake demon still swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.
"Vice-Captain Zhou," Yang Haoran said with a smile, "there’s something on my mind I’ve always wanted to say, but never had the chance. The weather’s nice today, I think it’s a good time."
Vice-Captain Zhou frowned and asked, "What is it?"
"Actually, I’ve always respected you Spirit Police—not because of how strong you are, but because you constantly protect ordinary people and continuously sacrifice your lives for them in silence, which is what grants them their peaceful lives. In my eyes, you are truly great."
"However, I’m different from you. I’m not a Spirit Police officer. I have no obligation to protect ordinary people, nor do I have the time to protect ordinary people. I have my own ideas, I have my own goals—this is what drives me to live, and also my spiritual conviction."
"I’m not some naive child. On the contrary, I’ve seen enough of reality, seen enough of scheming and manipulation, seen enough of human nature. Gradually, I became the kind of person I once hated the most; I also became realistic."
"I’ve never believed in handouts from the sky. If you want something, you can only obtain it through your own abilities and efforts. It’s just that along the way, it’s inevitable to do things you don’t want to do but have no choice but to do. This is unavoidable; I can only try my best to alter my methods so that my conscience suffers less condemnation."
At this point, Yang Haoran tossed away the cigarette butt in his hand, then took a deep breath, as if to calm his emotions. Then, a smile reappeared on his face, and he continued to speak.
"Hard liquor is within reach, but dreams are far away, yet I will never give up just because a dream is distant. I like to set goals for myself and then, through these goals, gradually move closer to my dreams. Either I reach the end, or I die on the way—there is no retreat."
"To achieve my goals, while I can’t be utterly unscrupulous, my methods are still unacceptable and incomprehensible to many, and may even be met with scorn. I can be as humble as an ant, or as ferocious as a tiger. I can befriend ordinary people, and also coexist with demons and ghosts. I can slay demons and eradicate evil, and similarly, I can skin ordinary people alive."
As these words left his mouth, Yang Haoran clearly felt his emotions fluctuating more and more intensely. He did not continue; instead, he took another deep breath.
The agitation in his heart gradually subsided. Yang Haoran couldn’t help but feel a hint of regret, because this time he had spoken too much, and many of those words, in his opinion, should not have been uttered.
Some words are best kept to oneself, rotting in one’s belly, not suitable for speaking aloud, because once spoken, they might not necessarily bring benefits and could even bring negative consequences.
He understood the principles, and he comprehended the stakes involved. It was just that some things had been suppressed in his heart for too long without release, which led to him temporarily losing control of his emotions.
However, the words were already out, and it was impossible to take them back. He couldn’t erase Vice-Captain Zhou’s and the snake demon’s memories, as both of them were quite powerful, and doing so would be extremely difficult. He saw no need to do so.
Of course, he was even less likely to kill both of them just because of these words. He couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing—at least not yet.
As for Vice-Captain Zhou and the snake demon, they were currently too shocked by Yang Haoran’s words to speak.
In Vice-Captain Zhou’s eyes, he had never been able to fully grasp what kind of person Yang Haoran was, but he had thought he at least had some understanding of him.
But at this moment, he realized he didn’t understand Yang Haoran at all.
And in the snake demon’s eyes, this Underworld Official who always wore a gentle smile was a very dangerous existence. But now she realized she had still underestimated the extent of this Underworld Official’s danger.
Besides the danger, she also sensed that Yang Haoran seemed to be hiding many things in his heart.
Vice-Captain Zhou sighed, his gaze falling on the cigarette floating suspended before him. He hesitated for a moment, then took the cigarette, pulled one out, then pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit it, took a deep drag, sighed softly, and said nothing.
"Don’t worry," Yang Haoran guaranteed with a smile to Vice-Captain Zhou. "I guarantee you on my honor, I definitely won’t cause you any trouble. I don’t know how many people she swallowed before, but while she’s with me, I believe such things won’t happen. If they do, I’ll kill her."
In truth, Yang Haoran didn’t want any involvement with this female demon, and even less did he want to make any guarantees to Vice-Captain Zhou. But at present, he had no choice. Judging by how the snake demon had proactively proposed a deal with him earlier, there was still something he could extract from her.
In his opinion, to fully extract this kind of thing certainly couldn’t be accomplished with just a few words. Furthermore, the snake demon wasn’t stupid and certainly wouldn’t be willing to complete the transaction in front of Vice-Captain Zhou.
However, this time he was wrong. He had underestimated the intense sense of danger he instilled in the snake demon; the snake demon couldn’t wait to complete the transaction right here.
Of course, even if Yang Haoran knew the snake demon’s thoughts, he still wouldn’t complete the transaction here in front of Vice-Captain Zhou, because that wouldn’t be good for him.
"We’ve known each other for so long, I naturally trust Emissary Yang’s words. Since you, Emissary Yang, have spoken, then we’ll proceed according to your wishes. I’ll explain to Captain Luo."
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