The Grand Theatre

At that moment, Liu Feiyu saw the ice spikes shooting toward him and raised his hand to summon his own power.

“Water Curtain.”

Surging water elemental energy gathered in front of him, forming a flowing barrier.

However, the ice spikes did not stop when they struck the water curtain. The water Liu Feiyu had summoned instantly froze, becoming part of the ice spikes and turning back toward him.

“What?”

Liu Feiyu retreated in horror, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

His skill had actually been completely overpowered by his opponent’s.

So this was his second brother’s handiwork—a genius who had been overlooked by everyone all this time.

“Don’t kill her. She’s a clue.”

An Changqing’s calm voice rang out amid the chaos. His longsword flashed as he knocked away the ice spikes flying toward him.

“Long Ao, keep her occupied. Find a way to capture her alive.”

“Got it.”

Long Ao let out a low growl and changed tactics. He no longer sought to kill Su Qing with a single devastating attack. Instead, he launched broad, powerful punches like a storm, constantly shrinking her room to maneuver and attempting to pin her down.

But Su Qing, strengthened by demonic power, was slippery in a way no living person should have been. She always managed to evade the fatal blows from the most treacherous angles.

For a while, the group was thrown into disarray by a single opponent.

“Kid, need some help?”

Baal’s lazy voice echoed in Chen Guan’s mind.

“Tsk, tsk. Astaroth’s taste in choosing candidates is as terrible as ever. He took a promising subject and turned her into this useless toy.”

Chen Guan asked silently, “Can you sever his control over her?”

“Sever it?”

Baal scoffed, his voice brimming with arrogance. “You’re underestimating me, and overestimating Astaroth. Cutting off his control would be as easy as crushing an ant.”

Chen Guan no longer hesitated.

He watched Su Qing dodge frantically amid Long Ao’s barrage of punches. A wisp of black light quietly appeared in the palm of his left hand.

It was spiritual pressure originating from the foremost of the Demon Gods.

An invisible shockwave spread outward from Chen Guan.

An Changqing and the others noticed nothing, but Su Qing, who was locked in combat with Long Ao, suddenly froze.

The black frost covering her body like a bone-deep parasite rapidly receded as if exposed to the blazing sun.

Long Ao seized the opening and slammed a fist into her shoulder, sending her flying into the wall of the cold-storage room.

Su Qing crashed to the ground and staggered as she rose.

She lifted her head. For the first time, a trace of life returned to those vacant eyes.

She stared blankly at her hands, then looked around in terror. Finally, her gaze settled on Chen Guan.

“The theater…”

Using all the strength she had left, she forced two hoarse, indistinct words from her throat.

But the instant her voice faded, Su Qing’s body began to change. She had begun to annihilate herself.

Her skin split apart inch by inch. Starting from her fingertips, her body transformed into crystalline ice dust that drifted away.

“He’s destroying the evidence!”

An Changqing’s expression changed, and he shouted, “Everyone, move!”

None of them had expected Liu Xiao’s methods to be so decisive and bizarre.

Chen Guan stepped forward. Before Su Qing’s body could completely disperse, he pressed his palm against her forehead, which had already begun to crystallize.

Countless fragmented, chaotic images flooded into his mind.

A luxurious room brightly lit by lamps. A huge screen on the wall monitored every movement within the Liu family manor.

A map of the Magic City lay spread open, with several locations circled in red.

Then all the images vanished.

One scene remained frozen deep within his consciousness.

It was a dilapidated old building that exuded an ominous aura beneath the night sky.

Above the building hung a plaque bearing several mottled, barely legible characters.

“Guotai Grand Theater.”

Chen Guan read the name aloud. Hong Yuan’s expression immediately turned strange.

“How is it another property of Yin Chen’s family? Shouldn’t his grandfather get someone to take a look at it? His family’s feng shui must be terrible.”

Chen Guan’s attention was focused on something else. He was wondering whether this person’s appearance had been a little too perfectly timed.

If Liu Xiao had been watching them all along, then everything made sense.

But that raised another question. If Liu Xiao had been monitoring this place the entire time, he should have known one thing: Chen Guan could read other people’s memories.

That made the timing of this clue rather suspicious.

Still, this was their only lead. Even if there were doubts, they had no reason not to go.

“Baal, can you defeat Astaroth?”

To be safe, Chen Guan decided to ask Baal first.

Liu Xiao alone would not be difficult to deal with. They could call in reinforcements, and sneaky tactics were always an option. But if they had to fight him head-on, then failing to clear the field in three seconds would mean the whole operation was a bust.

“Well… the current Baal is only a fragment. You need to collect one hundred fragments to synthesize three-star Baal. Then collect another one hundred fragments for four-star Baal. Finally, you’ll need two hundred more fragments to synthesize five-star Baal.”

“Once you’ve synthesized five-star Baal… heh heh heh. Never forget who the strongest Demon God is.”

Putting everything else aside, could any of the other Demon Gods have pulled off what he had just done? Could they have accomplished what he had accomplished and created the situation they were in now?

Only the great Baal could do it!

Chen Guan: “…”

Had Baal ever played one of those four-character mobile games?

Nearby, Long Ao frowned. He clearly had no interest in all these twists and turns.

“Now that we have a location, what are we waiting for?”

An Changqing shook his head and looked at Hong Yuan.

“Since it’s Yin Chen’s family property, Liu Xiao choosing that place probably wasn’t a coincidence.”

Hong Yuan asked, already gripping the handle of her axe, “What else can we do? I’ll just call them directly.”

She pulled a phone from her storage ring and skillfully dialed a number.

“Hello, Grandpa Yin?”

The voice of Yin Tianzheng came from the other end of the line, as steady as ever.

“Hong Yuan, dear, it’s very late. What do you need?”

“Grandpa Yin, we need to enter the Guotai Grand Theater.”

Hong Yuan gave him a brief account of what had happened. In her opinion, having the host family’s assistance would make dealing with Liu Xiao much easier.

“I understand. Go there directly. I’ll bring the authorities over at once. Until then, no one is to set foot inside the theater.”

After what had happened last time, Yin Tianzheng did not ask any unnecessary questions and readily agreed.

After all, Hong Yuan had always called him “Old Man Yin.” It was rare for her to call him Grandpa.

The old man was absolutely delighted.

“Okay! Thank you, Grandpa Yin.”

Hong Yuan cheerfully hung up and flashed the others a victorious gesture.

“Done.”

Heh heh. It really paid to be sweet-talking.

An Changqing’s gaze swept over Liu Chengjun before settling on Liu Feiyu.

“Young Master Liu, we may have offended you today, but I believe you want to uncover the truth even more than we do.”

Liu Chengjun’s expression was grim. He said nothing, merely turned around, and strode out of the cold-storage room, which amounted to tacit agreement.

The group quickly left the Liu family manor, got into their vehicle, and drove toward the old district in the heart of the city.