Chapter 50: Enchanting Songs, the Mermaid Demon!

“Let me tell you quietly, Lin Yi—actually, all these assignments in the Demon Prison are distributed automatically by an intelligent system, not by our administrators. I’ve heard that other branches of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau have their demon prisons set up the same way. So, if you end up with some dirty or exhausting task, you should blame the system, not our leaders, understand?” someone confided to Lin Yi in a low voice.

Soon after, Lin Yi decided to stroll around and observe. His personal information had already been sent to the wardens’ work phones, so whenever he bumped into any of them, they’d nod and greet him as if he wasn’t a stranger at all.

But what surprised everyone was that Lin Yi was wandering around in their territory. It was obvious he was a rookie—most veterans could hardly patrol their own areas thoroughly, let alone wander about in someone else’s.

Each time he met someone, Lin Yi would strike up a conversation, and he soon realized that everyone in the Demon Prison lived a wretched life. People here were either being punished, serving a mandatory term, or had simply signed a life-and-death contract. Meanwhile, the number of demons and monsters was increasing, the baleful energy thickening by the day. An ordinary person would fall seriously ill after just a day inside. Even those with some skill weren’t immune—the wardens’ health was predictably abysmal after years of exposure.

The tasks here were perilous in the extreme, which was why, throughout the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, wardens of the Demon Prison were spoken of with dread.

“Lin Yi, please proceed to the first level of the Demon Prison, to the Well of Ominousness, to collect your badge directly.”

Lin Yi wasn’t sure which area he’d wandered into when he heard this announcement.

The Demon Prison was vast, and the ever-present baleful energy made it easy to get lost; every level had numerous arrows pointing the way to the Well of Ominousness. Find the Well, and you could clearly see the route back, making it possible to enter and exit the prison freely. The Well was, in fact, the most distinctive landmark of the entire prison.

Lin Yi knew he was about to meet the person in charge. Following the arrows, he made his way toward the Well.

A gentle, lingering melody suddenly sounded beside him. “You are the one I love most. I’m willing to give you everything. Yet I am imprisoned here. My heart loves you, but I cannot see your face. Come to me, I am waiting for you. I am yours to do with as you wish. Love and hate, I am unafraid. Come, I await you, to give you all of myself. You are my master. I am willing, utterly…”

The voice was soft and enchanting, like a woman abandoned, pouring her heart out in sorrow. It also carried the plaintive tone of a wife resenting her husband, but loving him still, hoping for his return. The sound was faint at first, but soon it grew louder, swirling closer to Lin Yi’s ear.

The song grew ever more melodious as he approached, its beauty beyond the power of words like “heavenly music” or “lingering in the air for days.” The voice was dreamy, alternately tranquil and tumultuous.

Lin Yi was, after all, still too young. Earlier, he’d nearly lost himself to the allure of the seductive Drowning Ghost, and since then, he’d been surrounded by the likes of An Miaoyi and Mu Yuqing—both unrivaled beauties, the latter constantly flirting and flaunting her charms. The ambiguous atmosphere had already left Lin Yi, so young and hot-blooded, struggling to control himself. If not outright possessed by inner demons, he had certainly grown many wicked thoughts.

At this moment, Lin Yi was relaxed, but the previous fire still burned within him. He had been resisting the baleful energy for some time, and though the “Great Hollow Sutra” had cleansed his body, that fire sprang from desire itself. The ever-rising baleful energy in the prison, completely suffusing the air, shook Lin Yi’s core when he relaxed, and even a trace was enough to cloud his mind.

In short, the voice now was striking at Lin Yi’s weakest point. At first, it was like gentle zither music, then it rose to a fevered crescendo, stirring his blood and fanning his inner flames. Unconsciously, Lin Yi moved forward.

As he drew closer to a particular cell, he found himself standing before a heavy iron door. Straightening, he peered through the slot where meals were delivered.

The sound by his ear grew more suggestive, the moans laced with a resonance that could not be described, a harmony of forbidden sound waves.

Suddenly, there came a rapid “flip-flip-flip-flip”—the sound of pages turning.

The “Demon-Slaying Scripture” had activated.

A surge of warmth jolted Lin Yi fully awake, dispelling the last traces of confusion that had clouded his mind.

“Demon, how dare you!” Lin Yi flushed, angered as he regained his senses.

With a whoosh, the energy of the “Great Hollow Sutra” surged through him—pure, positive energy washing away every trace of balefulness that had threatened to invade his body. Though the seductive music still echoed in his ears, it no longer held sway over him.

A surprised sound came from within the cell.

Only then did Lin Yi glance at the “Demon-Slaying Scripture” on his desk, now opened to a new page. On it was a grayish illustration:

“Mermaid Demon: Cultivated for one hundred and thirty-five years; five hundred and six kills; skilled in illusion song enchantment; sharp teeth; fond of swallowing victims alive; cruel and violent; hideous in appearance.”

The picture depicted a creature with the lower body of a fish, covered in dense scales that gleamed even in black and white. Its upper body was that of a beautiful woman, with all the alluring curves and creamy white skin, but the face was terrifying, utterly unworthy of the word “beauty.” The features were regular enough, but the mouth was especially horrifying—packed with rows upon rows of needle-like teeth, unmistakably that of a carnivore. In the image, the mouth gaped wide, the teeth spinning and writhing like a gyroscope, flesh and all.

No wonder the scripture called it ugly.

As Lin Yi stared, he could almost hear the crunching as those jaws expanded unnaturally wide to devour prey. He realized why the mermaid demon preferred to swallow victims whole—it resembled a snake in some ways, its jaws unhinging at will.

Just then, a faint cry for help drifted from within the cell.

“Help me… save me…”

This time, the voice was a rough male’s, utterly different from the earlier seductive song. But the mermaid demon was a master of enchantment—Lin Yi knew he couldn’t trust what he heard.

“This mermaid demon is imprisoned on the first level, meaning its strength is limited, probably at most A-rank. Why should I be afraid? Maybe I’ll have a chance to kill a demon today—I’ll just claim I was bewitched, open the door, slay the thing, and see if there’s some reward for it! If the ‘Demon-Slaying Scripture’ hadn’t warned me, I’d have fallen for its tricks!”

“Damn it, my mental strength is still lacking. If only I had a cultivation method to bolster my mind!”

With that thought, Lin Yi feigned confusion as he reached for his staff card, about to open the cell door.

Inside, the mermaid demon grew excited at the commotion.

Lying on the ground within was a middle-aged man in a warden’s robe, steel knife clutched in hand. Blood trickled from his ears and nose, his consciousness fading, his body twitching now and then. His face was deathly pale, his neck riddled with puncture wounds from rows of teeth. The blood no longer flowed from the wounds—it had all been drained by the mermaid demon.

Inside its mouth, ring after ring of bloody, needle-like teeth glistened, a sight to chill the soul.

At the main entrance to the Demon Prison, inside the monitoring room—

Lin Yi had entered from the back door, which faced the World Trade Center lobby, not the main entrance. The true entrance lay in the opposite direction, beside an unfinished high-rise—a slaughterhouse.

The monitoring room was hidden beneath the abandoned slaughterhouse, which served as cover for transporting demons and monsters. The infamous “Butcher Zhang” had earned his name here. The entrance was rebuilt in this way to avoid any ties to the Paranormal Investigation Bureau.

Inside, staff wore grave expressions.

“This is the eighth injury incident in the Demon Prison this month. The warden Mi Sitian, who was wearing his badge, is likely dead. The AI system has triggered an alert—dispatch a response team immediately to the first level, Area D, Room Twenty-Seven!”

The alarm blared, heard by every badge-wearing employee. Their work phones buzzed with the same message.

A nearby patrol team of seven rushed toward Area D, Room Twenty-Seven—the very cell where the mermaid demon was held.

In the monitoring room, staff began adjusting the cameras around Room Twenty-Seven. The monitors hummed to life, all turning to focus on Lin Yi’s position.