Chapter Thirty-Four: Another Taste of Euphoria

Old Lady Xiao resumed her dignified and graceful posture. Seeing the burly man still prostrate, she aimed a kick at his groin.

“Hurry up and stand before your mother! I spent a fortune training you—not just so you could do these lackey jobs. Get over there and kill him for me!”

A piercing pain shot through the burly man’s crotch, causing his legs to clamp tightly as he lay on the ground. Hearing her words, he hastily replied with respectful obedience and prepared to rise.

“Wait!” Old Lady Xiao suddenly barked.

The burly man froze halfway up, not daring to move.

“Who told you to get up like that? Have you forgotten the rules I taught you?”

At her admonishment, the burly man seemed to recall something. He cast a sheepish glance at Mu You, but nevertheless crawled back onto the ground, positioned his head toward Mu You, and raised his hips high.

Only then did Old Lady Xiao nod with satisfaction, stepping behind him with what she believed to be graceful elegance. She placed both hands on his hips, arched her body, and lifted her right foot high.

“Mother, your son is ready. Requesting launch!”

“Permission granted!” Old Lady Xiao declared, and her right foot delivered another vicious kick to the burly man’s groin. He immediately sprang high, launching himself at Mu You.

Their movements were so practiced, it was impossible to count how many times they’d rehearsed this scene.

“Boy, you can barely save yourself, yet you meddle! Ribbit!”

With that leap, the burly man soared into the air, blocking the pale moonlight. His limbs curved, his jaw expanded several times its size, and with each breath, a frog’s croak echoed.

“Ribbit! Kid, I’ve been transformed too! The number of condemned souls who died at my hands is countless—you’ll be next!”

As the shadow above Mu You grew larger, he slowly raised his head. In the darkness, a cold gleam flashed in his eyes.

He rotated his arms, and every muscle in his body instantly tensed. Swinging his fist, the earth beneath his feet sank half an inch.

“Die!” The burly man, now morphed into a frog-human, shouted arrogantly.

“Get lost!” Mu You roared, and with a single punch, pierced the burly man’s chest, ripped out his heart, crushed it before Old Lady Xiao, sending blood spraying as his gaze radiated murderous intent.

“Ribbit...” The burly man’s eyes bulged and filled with blood, hanging limply like deflated sacks outside their sockets. The air sac beneath his jaw burst, and as blood splattered, a blood-red worm, as thick as a thumb, shot out.

“Eat it, big brother! It’s a great tonic!” the young girl exclaimed with delight.

Mu You opened his mouth, bit down on the blood worm, and swallowed it in a few quick motions.

“Ribbit...” The burly man croaked again, seemingly too stunned to speak, staring at Mu You in utter disbelief.

He’d been... finished in one move.

“Sorry, I wanted to let you enjoy your confidence a bit longer, but I’m pressed for time,” Mu You said, slowly retracting his hand. With a gentle push, the frog-man collapsed.

The icy countdown had only five seconds left.

Mu You locked eyes with Old Lady Xiao. At this moment, nothing stood between them.

Old Lady Xiao had finally recovered from the total annihilation of her assassins. She never imagined that even her trained mutant killer couldn’t withstand a single round against Mu You.

“You free people, your greatest flaw is...” Mu You said, casually kicking up a dagger at his feet. He caught it mid-air and charged at Old Lady Xiao.

“You’re all too damn confident!”

In the darkness, a flash of silver gleamed. Old Lady Xiao’s left Achilles tendon was severed. Another shadow darted back with blade in hand, slicing her right Achilles. Before she could comprehend Mu You’s movements, a sharp agony shot through her left hand—she looked down to see her left hand tendon exposed and cut.

“We condemned prisoners fight for survival, treating every round as a battle to the death! Amidst your scorn, we cling to life, waiting for the moment to turn the tables—just like now!”

Old Lady Xiao tried to flee, but as soon as she landed, pain shot through her ankle. She howled, attempting to stabilize herself with her other foot, only for the same agony to follow. Unable to keep her balance, she crashed to the ground, instinctively trying to support herself with her hand—only to collapse in despair from the pain in her left hand.

She wanted to escape, but all around her was the net she herself had woven. There was no way out.

Old Lady Xiao lay prone, her right hand stealthily reaching toward her chest.

Mu You noticed and stomped on her right hand, twisting it deep into the earth with his heel. Old Lady Xiao’s screams filled his ears, but to Mu You, it was the most beautiful requiem for a sniper’s end.

“Three, two, one—countdown complete. Execution commencing!”

The cold electronic voice finally finished its count in Old Lady Xiao’s pleading gaze.

A sharp pain struck her neck. Mu You kept her pinned beneath his foot, looking down with a strange smile.

Old Lady Xiao’s heart skipped a beat. Something felt off.

But when she heard Mu You’s agonized screams, she relaxed, realizing she’d been overthinking.

Luckily, at the last second, he finally executed the sentence; otherwise, she would surely have died.

The rules of the Condemned Playground were peculiar—execution required a countdown, clearly giving condemned prisoners a chance for last-minute retaliation.

She resolved to reconsider everything once she returned, determined never again to stumble in the gutter.

With that, Old Lady Xiao tried to withdraw her hand, trapped beneath Mu You’s foot, hoping to contact her other subordinates.

“Did I give you permission to move?”

To her shock, Mu You’s cold, resolute voice exploded overhead, frightening her out of her wits.

“You... you... you, you, you...” Old Lady Xiao stammered.

“I should be dead, right?” Mu You replied calmly, pressing down harder with his foot.

“Ah...” Old Lady Xiao screamed, abandoning all pretense, and begged for mercy.

She couldn’t fathom how Mu You survived the execution. In the Condemned Playground, nothing against the rules was permitted. Even people of her status had to play by the rules here.

How could he ignore the rules and become an exception—an exception she happened to encounter?

“I’ll give you one chance, your final struggle.”

Mu You said this, suddenly lifting his foot and releasing Old Lady Xiao.

She wasted no time, rolling aside and quickly reaching into her chest. After a moment of searching, she froze, dumbstruck.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed overhead, snapping Old Lady Xiao back to her senses.

“Looking for this?” Mu You spun the gun in his hand, sneering at her.

“You’re not allowed to bring firearms into the Condemned Playground. You broke the rules.”

“Hmph.” Old Lady Xiao sniffed, regaining her usual aloofness. “For people at our level in society, breaking the rules only requires paying a steep fine. One bullet, a hundred million—I can afford it. If you let me go, I’ll redeem you. Just think: life here is so cruel, worse than death; your nerves are stretched to their limits every day.”

“Shut up.” Mu You closed his eyes, frowning as he spoke.

“All you need to do is let me go, and you’ll gain the status of a free person, restore all your rights. The world outside—how splendid! Don’t you crave it?”

Bang!

Gunfire thundered, abruptly silencing Old Lady Xiao. The bullet struck the earth before her, sending dust flying.

“I told you to shut up. Did you not hear me?”

Mu You’s eyes snapped open, now bloodshot.

“I’d rather struggle with hope in hell than sink into numb decadence in heaven. Right now, I only want you dead—dead! Dead!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each time Mu You shouted ‘dead,’ he fired. After three shots, Old Lady Xiao’s body was shattered—only her right hand remained intact.

“You demon!”

Old Lady Xiao stared at Mu You’s suddenly savage face, knowing it was over, and cursed him in despair.

Mu You responded with a smile, lightly pushing his devil mask at the corner of his mouth. “That’s right. I am a demon from hell—the demon who can slaughter angels!”

With that, he slowly raised his pistol, aiming at Old Lady Xiao’s brow.

Facing that resolute, icy gaze, Old Lady Xiao knew he would kill her. In the Condemned Playground, her influence couldn’t reach, and no one would dare provoke it for revenge.

After a lifetime of navigating storms, she’d finally capsized in the gutter.

“No, please, don’t!” Old Lady Xiao tried to block Mu You’s gun with her remaining hand, then crawled madly toward the burly man, muttering crazily, “I don’t want to die like this—I won’t accept this ending! Even in death, I’ll make a man pleasure me to death!”

Mu You aimed at her moving head in disgust.

Such a person was rotten to the core.

He waited. Just as Old Lady Xiao’s hand was an inch from the burly man, he fired.

The scene froze—the bullet’s trajectory pierced the aged skull and exited through the other side, burying itself in the earth.

“Your final wish—I won’t let it happen. Consider this the price paid in advance for your sins. Repent well in hell.”

Old Lady Xiao’s movement halted midair; all color drained from her face. Gazing at the burly man’s corpse, her eyes grew vacant, yet a bitter smile lingered.

“To climb up, I let men have their way with me half my life. In the end, I died at the hands of a man. None of you men are any good...”

Vitality drained completely from her aged body. With her last ounce of strength, Old Lady Xiao’s finger touched the burly man, then she froze, unmoving.