The both of them continued to make their comments in a hushed voice and were led by Duan Hongzhen to a room that looked like a living hall. It was very large and also covered with soft carpeting and luxurious decorations.

There were several people sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room. They were Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, whom Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian knew from the previous instance, while the remaining one was the person they had just seen on Duan Hongzhen’s screen.

While Xiao Tangqiu was still secretly guessing who that person was, the latter spoke first, “Duan Hongzhen, you finally brought him back. I thought you died.”

God knows when Duan Hongzhen took out his knife again. He smiled and said, “There aren’t many people who can kill me in the city of the abyss.”

The man gave Duan Hongzhen a look, stopped talking and turned to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, “Which one of you is Xiao Tangqiu?”

Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, “I am.”

Compared to Duan Hongzhen, this man was an alluring young man with beautiful eyes, elegant eyebrows, red lips and white teeth. 

He was very young and didn’t even look 20 yet. He looked to be around 17 at most.

“I am Xue Junli.” The young man didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point, “Are you the one that caused Shen Yuan to fall into a coma?”

Xiao Tangqiu paused and gave a wry smile, “That should be me.”

Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu, his gaze somewhat complicated, but it was fleeting. Then, he snorted coldly, “He still hasn’t woken up until now. Do you know why?”

Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“Go through everything that happened carefully and don’t leave out any details,” Xue Junli said to Xiao Tangqiu in a commanding tone.

Xiao Tangqiu paused and began to narrate what happened at the time.

“…And then I fell unconscious. I don’t know what happened after.”

Xue Junli’s expression was complex. “You said Shen Yuan finally put his hand through your chest?”

Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but feel a stabbing pain in his heart. His body seemed to recall the feeling at the time. He reached out and touched his chest subconsciously. “Yes, it hurt…”

Xue Junli ignored Tang Mianmian. He coldly looked at Xiao Tangqiu and said, “The pain that Shen Yuan suffered was 100 times more than what you felt. You were parasitized by Lippinobert at the time. If your heart were eroded by the demon, you would’ve completely turned into a demon… He used his own body to absorb the fragment of ‘demon’s heart’ that invaded your heart. No matter how much pain you felt, his pain was 100 times or 1,000 times more than yours.”

“The demon’s heart? Fragment?” Xiao Tangqiu mumbled these words in a daze, not knowing how to respond.

“The Abyss Demon divided his heart into several fragments. Each fragment is a special prop – the demon’s heart. Those who take the demon’s heart will be reduced to lower demons without a mind if they can’t bear the overwhelming power of the demon’s heart. If they can bear it, they will get the power contained in the demon’s heart, but at the same time, they will gradually lose their minds while they grow stronger and eventually become demons.”

Xue Junli’s tone was calm without waves, “You should be glad that you haven’t become a lower demon who has lost his mind. Instead, Shen Yuan is one step closer to the demon…”

One step closer to the demon…

Listening to Xue Junli, Xiao Tangqiu didn’t have any reaction for some time. Although he had vaguely guessed that Shen Yuan’s situation wasn’t very good, he didn’t expect it to be this bad.

According to Xue Junli, the demon’s heart could turn people into low-level demons without intelligence. If Shen Yuan hadn’t made his move at the time, he would’ve become a low-level demon by now… But why did Shen Yuan save him at the time?

The atmosphere in the living hall was extremely solemn. Even Tang Mianmian, who was a little confused with the situation, didn’t dare to make a sound. Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment before he struggled to ask, “What will happen now that Shen Yuan absorbed the demon’s heart in my body? How is he now?”

Xue Junli said flatly, “I don’t know. We’ve tried everything but there’s no way to wake him up. That’s why we brought you here as our last hope… Almost no one can bear the great power of the demon’s heart, even if it’s only one fragment. At least, Shen Yuan is the only one we know so far who has absorbed the demon’s heart.”

“As for those who absorb two fragments of the demon’s heart at the same time… we’ve never heard of such a person before. It’s unprecedented so we don’t have any prior cases to refer to.”

Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment and finally summoned up the courage to say, “Can I see him?”

Xue Junli asked coldly, “You have a way to wake him up?”

“I don’t, I just want to…” Xiao Tangqiu bit his lips. Although he knew how pathetic he sounded saying this, he still grit his teeth and continued, “I just want to personally see… how he is now…”

“Why should we let you?” Yu Fuling sneered coldly, “Will older brother Shen wake up?”

Sai Lulu scoffed at them, “Exactly! Older brother Shen was forced to absorb the second demon heart fragment and fell into a coma because of you… “

Xue Junli interrupted Sai Lulu, “I don’t think Shen Yuan did it for him.”

Sai Lulu suddenly froze. Xue Junli took a look at Xiao Tangqiu, his tone calm as he said, “I believe that no matter who was parasitized at that time, whether it was you or Yu Fuling or even Duan Hongzhen, Shen Yuan would do the same thing. That’s who he is.”

Duan Hongzhen arched an eyebrow, “What do you mean even me?”

Xue Junli ignored Duan Hongzhen’s taunt and told Xiao Tangqiu, “You and your friend can go back. Forget what happened before and watch your mouth, otherwise you won’t want to know what the consequences are.”

Xiao Tangqiu stared at Xue Junli’s cold expression. He stuck his neck out and demanded, “Can you let me see him once? Even one glance is enough. I just want to see how he is now… “

Xue Junli refuted firmly, “No need. Duan Hongzhen, see our guests out.”

“Hey, you stinky brat,” Duan Hongzhen looked at Xue Junli with an arched eyebrow. The relationship between the two was obviously not very harmonious. “Don’t think that just because the captain is in a coma, you can order me around.”

“What are you doing quarrelling at this time?” Yu Fuling frowned slightly. “Duan Hongzhen, you send them out first. We have to discuss what to do next.”

Duan Hongzhen shrugged, “Mmm, I’ll listen to you, I’ll listen to you.”

Xiao Tangqiu wanted to continue pleading with them but Xue Junli and Yu Fuling had already turned around and assumed a cold expression that indicated their refusal to continue talking. He sighed and could only reluctantly follow Duan Hongzhen to leave.

After leaving the living hall, Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but ask Duan Hongzhen, “You really can’t let me see Shen Yuan?”

Duan Hongzhen shrugged, “If you have a way to wake up the captain, I can take you to see him.”

Xiao Tangqiu was still a little unwilling to let go, “Is it really impossible?”

The three of them walked along the long corridor back to the elevator and were about to enter. The last bit of hope in Xiao Tangqiu’s heart wilted.

But just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly heard a soft meow.

“Meow~“

Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. It wasn’t strange to hear meowing, but it was strange to hear it here.

Xiao Tangqiu’s gaze followed the source of the meowing and at the corner of the corridor ahead, appeared a small black cat with smooth, shiny fur and beautiful emerald green eyes, just like a pair of mysterious gems.

“A cat? Where did it come from?” Tang Mianmian also noticed the black cat.

“It actually ran out. That never happens,” Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, sounding a little strange. “It has never come out to meet outsiders before.”

As soon as Duan Hongzhen’s words fell, the black cat walked towards Xiao Tangqiu in a refined manner, using its emerald green eyes to examine him.

Xiao Tangqiu was rather puzzled. In the next second, a white cat appeared. The white cat was covered in luscious fur and had a pair of glittering, crystal blue eyes. As soon as it saw Xiao Tangqiu, it immediately pounced on him.

Xiao Tangqiu, who got a fright, subconsciously stumbled backwards but the white cat followed him, meowing softly and rubbing his calf with its little head.

“What the hell? Qiuqiu, when did you become catnip?” As a cat lover, Tang Mianmian was very jealous of this. “You clearly said before that cats aren’t automatically drawn to you! You lied to me!”

Xiao Tangqiu was also very puzzled. “I’m really not ah…” Although he liked cats very much, they hardly ever came up to him on their own. This was the first time he encountered such a thing.

After rubbing against Xiao Tangqiu’s calf, the white cat turned and ran a few steps forward. Then, it stopped and looked back at Xiao Tangqiu.

The black cat seemed to have finally finished examining Xiao Tangqiu. It quietly gave Xiao Tangqiu another meow.

Xiao Tangqiu was confused. “Is it talking to me?”

The black cat stood up, turned around and looked back at Xiao Tangqiu.

Tang Mianmian suddenly thought of something, “It seems to be asking you to follow…”

Looking at the black and white cats that looked as if they were inviting him, Xiao Tangqiu first hesitated then followed.

Duan Hongzhen arched his eyebrow but didn’t mean to stop Xiao Tangqiu, so he was able to follow the two cats through the long corridor to a room at the end of the corridor without any obstruction.

This room looked ordinary and didn’t seem special, but when Xiao Tangqiu stood in front of the door, his heart started pounding wildly for some reason. He didn’t think it was polite to barge into someone else’s room so he couldn’t help but pause at the door.