At this moment, the Pantheon Cult’s main headquarters was already in complete chaos.

In less than a week, half of the cult’s hall masters had died at the hands of the Hero Association and the demon race. That left Harris, the divine envoy in charge of the Eye of Divinity, absolutely furious.

“What’s going on? Did someone uncover our strength, or is there a rat leaking internal information?” Harris roared.

The remaining hall masters looked at each other. Most of them were still wounded, survivors who had barely broken out alive from the Hero Association’s and the demon race’s sudden purge.

For the demon race and the Hero Association to pull something like this out of nowhere, it clearly meant they were moving toward an alliance. That was a major obstacle to the Pantheon Cult’s plans.

“They were trying to assassinate people at White Peach Mountain not long ago. So why are they suddenly allying now?” Harris couldn’t make sense of it.

“My lord divine envoy, I don’t know how they started working together,” said Barnett, the hall master stationed at the main headquarters, as he stood up. “But one thing is certain. Situ Qingxue of the Hero Association and the demon race’s empress, Su Zhaoyu, once met in private.”

“Go on,” Harris said.

“The place where they met was a small clinic,” Barnett said. “And it was the same clinic where the Wolf King was imprisoned, and where Hall Master Qitong was assassinated. There’s definitely something fishy about it. The owner of that clinic must have the means to bring both sides together, or at least force a temporary alliance.”

“That place?” Harris frowned.

Back when Hall Master Qitong had been instantly killed by the clinic’s owner, Harris had already realized the other party was extremely troublesome. If he wanted to achieve his goal, that person could become a serious problem.

But precisely because he feared that power, he had shelved the matter for the time being. He had planned to make full preparations first, then go meet that person himself.

Besides that, Harris had also hoped the other party was just a neutral bystander. He knew what kind of temper Qitong and the Wolf King had. He had hoped they had merely provoked some overwhelmingly powerful existence on their own, and that this person wouldn’t bother holding a grudge over the mistakes of such insignificant figures.

But wishful thinking was just wishful thinking.

Before the Pantheon Cult had finished preparing, the clinic’s owner had already made the first move. He had pulled the Hero Association together, or at least united Situ Qingxue and her group, and joined forces with the Demon Emperor’s side to catch the Pantheon Cult completely off guard.

This clinic owner had known the Pantheon Cult’s strength and goals from the very beginning. He had simply been hiding it all along. As for Harris’s earlier guesses about the clinic owner’s attitude, they had now turned into nothing more than a childish fantasy.

There was no doubt about it. The clinic’s owner was targeting the Pantheon Cult, and his strength was terrifying. At the very least, he had more than enough backup plans in place.

Because of that, eliminating the clinic’s owner had now become the Pantheon Cult’s top priority.

“For the sake of our god, I’ve decided we’ll strike that clinic first.”

After long consideration, Harris stood up and spoke slowly.

“Gather the strength of the entire church. Inform every branch hall to reduce activity, so they won’t be caught by the Hero Association or the demon race. Our first priority is to deal with that clinic’s doctor.”

...

...

The peach pit Lu Feng had planted had sprouted, and it was growing pretty fast too. By today, it had already become a little sapling.

Su Zhaoyu had said the pit could be planted in a flowerpot, so Lu Feng gave it a try. But looking at how fast it was growing now, he was starting to worry whether his slightly small pot could even hold up.

From the outside, it didn’t look much different from an ordinary peach sapling. Lu Feng set the little peach tree on the front counter and looked around to the left and right, but he didn’t notice anything unusual.

It actually looked pretty nice sitting on the counter as a little potted plant. He just didn’t know whether it would grow well indoors with less sunlight.

Still, since it was an unfamiliar variety and could be grown in a pot, it should probably do just fine. After taking another look at the sapling, Lu Feng went back into the inner room and continued his game.

Hallelujah was squatting on the floor. He yawned, looking a little lazy. But when he saw Lu Feng carrying that potted plant out, his pupils suddenly shrank. He hurried into the corner and didn’t dare look directly at the sapling.

Any important demon who had been to White Peach Mountain knew how freakish that thing was.

A rat crawled out from the corner. Seeing no one around, it boldly strutted out and passed right in front of Hallelujah with arrogant little steps.

That big dog was chained up anyway. As long as it stayed outside the chain’s reach, there was nothing the dog could do to it.

That was the rat’s experience talking.

It searched around without restraint, nose twitching as it sniffed. Then it suddenly spotted the potted fruit sapling on the counter. In the faint breeze, its emerald leaves trembled lightly.

What a beautiful plant.

I want to nourish it.

I want to give it all my nutrients...

A strange thought echoed in the rat’s mind, driving it closer and closer to the sapling.

That’s right... nourish it... offer everything to it... bury yourself in the soil like this... bury yourself in the flowerpot... return to nature’s most primitive state...

The rat climbed onto the flowerpot. The light faded from its tiny eyes.

But its body was too big to bury whole... so what should it do?

Right... if it dismembered itself, wouldn’t that solve it...

The rat let out a delighted squeak. It reached its claws toward its own eyeballs, tail, belly... and everything else on its body...

Meanwhile, Lu Feng was sitting on the sofa deeper inside the clinic. He opened the computer on the coffee table and entered the horror game he had downloaded three days ago. He was busy registering and logging in, while also opening his livestream room, preparing to become a gaming streamer and earn a bit more for living expenses.

Today was the game’s launch day. Lu Feng wanted to be one of the first pioneers to dive in.

The game interface was still full of mangled limbs and bloody, horrifying imagery.

This was absolutely an R18 game.

But that was exactly why it had to be scary, and real. That way the stream would be exciting, more people would want to watch, and with Teacher Lu’s silver tongue on top of that, he’d definitely rake in quite a few tips and coins.

The game screen was currently showing that it was downloading an expanded resource pack. There was also a line of text:

“This game was jointly created by multiple espers, allowing players to experience one hundred percent real horror gameplay.”

“Players with heart disease or similar conditions are advised not to enter.”

They even hired espers. This game company really was willing to spend money.

Espers didn’t come cheap, after all. People with powers were still a minority.

As he scrolled further down the instructions, there were a few more lines.

“The game company’s espers will use their abilities to let each player’s consciousness enter the game scene. Feeling sleepy during the process is normal. After launching the game, we recommend finding a comfortable place to lie flat.”

“All of your actions will also be displayed on the game screen, so there is no need to worry about livestreams or similar activities being interrupted.”

“Final friendly reminder: this game is always online. To ensure smooth administrator connection, please relax and, if possible, enter a sleeping state.”

You can do that too? Lu Feng was amazed.

Powers really were convenient. With almost no effort, they had created a fully immersive VR game, and one that could reach every household.

Watching the progress bar move forward little by little, Lu Feng was honestly getting excited.

The update finished. Lu Feng clicked to launch the game, then lay down peacefully on the sofa with both hands folded over his stomach, silently counting down in his heart for the game administrator’s power to activate.

As long as your guts are big enough, even Sadako would have to go on maternity leave. What bullshit “real horror game”? Lu Feng wasn’t scared at all.