The shrill scream echoed through the metal corridors, getting closer and closer with every passing second. Jing Shu still hadn't found a place to hide in the cramped, stinking hold, and anxiety began to crawl up her spine like a cold, rhythmic pulse. She couldn't just jump into the filth of the pigpen, could she? Or hide among the restless, shifting weight of the cows? If the lights stayed off, she might go unnoticed in the shadows, but the moment someone turned them on, she would be exposed. And then how was she supposed to explain her presence in the restricted livestock area?
She briefly considered using illusion magic to wipe a few people's memories, but just as she was thinking that, she turned a corner and froze. Two massive pythons blocked her path, their thick scales glistening under the faint, eerie glow of the red emergency light. Behind them stretched rows of rusted iron cages, each one housing something far worse than ordinary livestock.
"Dear Miss Peggy, is something wrong?" Two tall bodyguards approached from a distance, their deep voices echoing in the cold, damp air of the hold.
Peggy smiled sweetly, her expression serene despite the carnage. "Nothing is wrong. I'm just feeding my darlings. No matter what you hear, don't come in. Go farther away."
She lifted her gaze and unexpectedly spotted Jing Shu standing there, the panicked Chinese woman who had barged in by accident. Peggy's lips curved into a thin, predatory line. A woman who could use witchcraft—now that was interesting. She wondered which would be stronger: this intruder's strange power or her two beloved, mutant snakes.
The place was pure hell. Strange, grotesque creatures were locked inside huge cages, their bodies twisted into unnatural shapes. Chunks of raw, greyish flesh littered the floor, smelling of decay. These weren't ordinary animals. They looked like something a mad scientist had stitched together: a pile of translucent sludge with reptilian legs and heads that resembled tiny, malformed dinosaurs.
They weren't a threat, though. Most of them couldn't even stand properly on the slick floor. Jing Shu guessed they were experimental hybrids created by the bored, sadistic nobles.
What drew her attention instead was the source of that terrible, bubbling scream. It came from a man—one she recognized from the upper decks. He was the same noble who had been flirting with Peggy two days ago, whispering sweet nothings in the ballroom.
Now, half of his body was already swallowed by one python, while the other half was clamped firmly in another's wide, muscular jaws. Peggy watched the scene with fascination, her eyes glittering in the dark like polished stones. This, apparently, was her favorite pastime.
Then, in fluent Chinese, she turned her head toward Jing Shu. "You saw everything, didn't you?"
"I didn't see anything." Jing Shu shook her head quickly, her hands held up to show she was unarmed. "I just went the wrong way. Sorry, I will leave now." It wasn't the time to cause trouble, especially not tonight while she was deep in the ship's belly.
"No, you saw it. You saw me kill him." Peggy suddenly burst into laughter, her voice shrill and echoing against the metal walls. "Die! You should all die! Eat her!"
Knowing this woman had strange powers, Peggy immediately backed away and yanked down a heavy metal lever on the wall. A thick glass door slammed down between them with a deafening bang, sealing Jing Shu and the two giant snakes inside the narrow, blood-stained room.
Now, Peggy was safe on the other side of the reinforced partition. Whatever tricks Jing Shu had, she couldn't get close. And as far as Peggy was concerned, there was no way anyone could survive two enraged, hungry pythons. Unless this woman was Superman, she was dead meat.
"Luo Fei," Peggy sneered at the half-eaten man, her face pressed near the glass, "someone is joining you in heaven. Go on, scream all you want. No one is coming to save you. No one even knows you are on this ship. Who told you to dream of running away with me? In your people's words, that's called a toad lusting after a swan. Still, thank you for the inheritance—I will be sure to enjoy it."
She waved her hand impatiently at the serpents. "What are you waiting for? Eat her!"
Normally, her "darlings" would obey instantly, devouring whatever she pointed to with mindless hunger. They were known as intelligent mutant serpents, bred for loyalty and aggression. But this time, they just stared blankly, their slit pupils fixed on Jing Shu. They didn't even finish off the half-dead man twitching in their coils.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Peggy shouted, her palm hitting the glass.
Jing Shu's eyes gleamed faintly, a strange, oscillating light flickering within her pupils. A faint smile tugged at her lips despite the danger. "You mean like this? You want them to eat me?"
The moment she spoke, both pythons lunged straight for her, their jaws wide open to reveal rows of needle-like teeth.
"Yes, eat her!" Peggy screamed, her face contorted with excitement.
But before their fangs could reach Jing Shu's skin, she raised both hands, palms open. The giant snakes froze mid-strike, their bodies suspended in the air like statues. Then, slowly, they lowered their massive heads and nudged her palms gently, their scales cool and smooth. They acted like oversized pets afraid of hurting their master.
Peggy's jaw dropped. her voice trembled as she backed away from the glass. "You... you can control them? You can control my darlings? No, that's impossible! They don't accept anyone else!"
Jing Shu's mind throbbed painfully, a sharp heat radiating from the center of her forehead. Controlling one high-intelligence creature was already hard, but two at once? These snakes had developed a frightening level of awareness. The mental strain hit her like a hammer, a roaring pressure that made her feel like her skull would split open under the weight of their alien consciousness.
Yet beneath that pain, something inside her shifted—like a heavy stone wall breaking apart, a sealed gate bursting open. Her vision sharpened until she could see the individual scales on the snakes' snouts. Her senses expanded, and the world suddenly felt wider, clearer, and more vibrant.
She didn't know how to describe it. It was as if she had just unlocked an entirely new world that had been hidden in plain sight.
The only downside was the blinding, rhythmic headache.
Holding her head, Jing Shu pointed a trembling finger at Peggy. "Eat her."
Peggy stumbled backward, her heels catching on the uneven floor as she crashed into the far wall. The two pythons slammed into the glass door with a thunderous crack that vibrated through the floorboards.
Boom!
The reinforced glass shattered like thin paper, shards flying in every direction. The snakes shot forward with terrifying speed, and before Peggy could even scream, they tore her apart. Blood sprayed across the grey wall as her beloved pets devoured her alive, the sound of tearing fabric and crunching bone filling the small space.
Across the room, the mutilated man finally saw her die. His eyes softened, the tension leaving his bloodied face, and he exhaled one last, contented breath before going still forever.
Jing Shu, meanwhile, collapsed to her knees, utterly drained. It took a while before she managed to stand again, her legs shaking and her head still dizzy, but she felt strangely elated. She could feel it—she had leveled up. It wasn't the Rubik's Cube Space this time, but her illusion ability.
And when that happened, it usually meant the Cube Space was about to evolve too.
Before, the space always upgraded first, followed by the manifestation of new powers. But this time, it was the opposite. She had unlocked a new level of illusion first, and that in turn triggered the signs of an upcoming upgrade.
Maybe it was time to study how to unlock new functions in the Cube Space through her abilities instead.
"Nullity" and "Phantasm." Those words echoed in her mind, appearing like imprints in her consciousness. They weren't new powers exactly, but a deeper understanding of illusion—a natural evolution of her craft that felt as though it had always been there, waiting.
Her illusions had changed. They were no longer something she had to activate deliberately with a focused thought. They were constant now, flowing like breath, woven into her very existence and the air around her.
But what did that mean for her in practice?
She would think about that later, once her head stopped spinning.
For now, she glanced at the mess around her. The two pythons were still coiled in the corner, sluggish and heavy after their meal. Jing Shu picked up Peggy's torn, blood-stained clothes, searching through the silk and lace until she found her ID and room card.
"Inheriting Peggy's assets doesn't sound like a bad deal," she muttered, slipping the cards into her pocket and turning away from the carnage.