I Can Copy the Talents of All Creatures

The night was quiet and still. A summer evening should have been brimming with life. On any other night in Riverfront Village, old men reluctant to go home would gather by the small convenience store, playing chess on stone stools.

Middle-aged men, weary from a day of labor, would drink beer and tell dirty jokes. They’d complain about their exhausting lives and boast about their legendary victories at the mahjong table. Inevitably, someone would call their bluff, recalling a time and place where they lost so badly they couldn’t even afford to go home, triggering a roar of laughter from the crowd.

Children played in the fields, along the roads, and by the creek, making summer memories they would perhaps treasure for years to come.

The yellow dog at the village entrance barked. Someone’s cat had gone missing. A brazen goose was chasing children again.

The peaceful days of Riverfront Village had passed, one year after another. But today, it faced an unprecedented disaster.

More than fifty cultists, all at least at the Second Realm, attacked the village. In less than ten minutes, everyone had been rounded up and their communication devices confiscated.

Then, hell descended...

Three hours later, the last villager died in despair.

In the village’s central square, a massive, twisted Array had been carved. Bodies were piled haphazardly upon it, layer after layer. Blood filled the Array’s grooves, then overflowed, forming rivulets that streamed away.

All two hundred and sixty-one souls of Riverfront Village, men and women, young and old, had become spirits of the unjustly dead.

In the village, a pack of savage-faced beasts reveled with abandon.

"The quality of this batch of Life Soul Blood might be poor, but there’s certainly more than enough of it. KHEKHEKHE..."

"Not bad. Gimpy Six’s handiwork is impressive."

Miss Lanhua carried a basket and a small knife. She selected "mushrooms" of various sizes, cutting them off and arranging them neatly in her basket. Blood pooled on the ground around her. Her face was flushed as she hummed an unfamiliar tune under her breath, her expression a mask of twisted satisfaction.

Di Yunliang and Cheng YuanYu sat on a raised platform, smoking.

The former looked calm and relaxed, while the latter kept his head down, his face grim. He chain-smoked one cigarette after another, and the ground at his feet was littered with a pile of butts.

Di Yunliang glanced at Cheng YuanYu’s troubled expression and sneered.

"What’s wrong? Is our Mr. Cheng getting squeamish? Did you suddenly grow a conscience? Want me to rip it out and see how much it weighs?"

Cheng YuanYu crushed his cigarette butt and immediately lit another. He looked up, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Di Yunliang, and snarled in a low voice,

"Bullshit! I refuse to believe you can’t see it. Committing a crime this brazen is no different from asking for a death sentence!

We’ve survived this long not because we’re so powerful, but because the harm we caused was minimal. We’re like rats in the gutter; as long as we only steal a few grains of rice, it’s not a big deal. No one can be bothered with us."

Cheng YuanYu grew more agitated. As he spoke, a thick wave of bad breath and stale smoke washed over Di Yunliang, nearly making him gag. He waved a hand in disgust and leaned back.

Cheng YuanYu paid him no mind, continuing in a low roar, "But look at us now! Fucking slaughtering an entire village out in the open! You really think those hounds at the Security Bureau are getting paid to do nothing? Once we’re on their radar, which one of us is getting away?"

Di Yunliang leaned back and said dismissively, "And here I was thinking it was something serious. I almost thought you, you old dog, were having a crisis of conscience. Turns out you just don’t have the stomach for it."

Cheng YuanYu stared at him coldly, saying nothing. ’He couldn’t believe it. This cunning old boss of his had to see the danger. He’d followed this old fox all the way from Shenjing. The man was always so seasoned and calm, nothing like the other brainless, twisted lunatics in the cult.’

Di Yunliang grew uncomfortable under his stare. "Alright, alright. Give me that ’Black Emperor’ and I’ll break it down for you."

Cheng YuanYu’s expression instantly froze, his earlier agitation gone.

After a moment’s thought, he reluctantly pulled out an exquisite black sandalwood box. It was topped with a bright green jade knob.

Di Yunliang was suspicious. ’Where the fuck did he pull that from? That’s weird... Don’t tell me he had it shoved up his ass!’

’From his point of view, Cheng YuanYu was just wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of flip-flops. He only had two shallow pockets on him. The ’Black Emperor’ box was at least twenty centimeters long. Where could he have hidden it? It was impossible!’

Cheng YuanYu grinned smugly. "Want to learn how? Give me back the ’Black Emperor,’ and I’ll teach you."

"Hmph. Like I care."

"Look, I’ve always admired your foresight, Mr. Liang. Just give it to me straight, so I can be mentally prepared."

Di Yunliang laughed, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction as he stroked the ’Black Emperor’ box.

"I’ll tell you what, Cheng YuanYu... our dear Mr. Cheng!"

He bit out the two words "Mr. Cheng" with heavy emphasis. After a pause, he continued,

"The fifty or sixty of us all escaped from Shenjing together. It’s bullshit to say we’re all brilliant. Some of those lunatics were just lucky to have survived this long, but how many are actually idiots?

Forget everyone else. Let’s talk about you, Cheng YuanYu. You really think I believe you can’t see what’s really going on?

Fine. Since you’re playing dumb, I’ll play the smart one.

The truth is, ever since that bunch of psychos in Fengtai County got exposed, we’ve been living on borrowed time. The Security Bureau aren’t fools; they just couldn’t spare the manpower before. If we had managed to lie low for another year or more, we might have had a chance.

Now? It’s all down to who gets lucky!"

"Luck?" Cheng YuanYu looked puzzled.

"Hmph! That’s right. Luck." Di Yunliang was annoyed by the act.

"There’s only one path left: launch a full-scale assault on Tianning and open the road to Mingchuan Province. That place is vast and sparsely populated, full of mountains. We can dive in there, hide for a few years, come out with new identities, and who would recognize us?

But who’s going to survive the journey? Who’s going to put their life on the line without a fuss? What the fuck kind of people are we? You expect us to be united? Bullshit!"

"So..." A glint flashed in Cheng YuanYu’s eyes.

Di Yunliang fiddled with the ’Black Emperor’ box, took one last, long drag from his cigarette, and continued.

"That’s why we have to commit an atrocity like this. We have to be crazy, leave ourselves no way out. If we don’t fight like our lives depend on it to break through Tianning County, staying here is just a death sentence!"

Cheng YuanYu was still confused. "But staying here was already a death sentence. There was no point in exposing ourselves. And why do we have to storm the county seat? Can’t we just sneak away?"

"Idiot!" Di Yunliang slapped him on the head out of frustration.

"This group has plenty of clever people, but it’s all petty, selfish cunning. More than that, it’s full of psychos and deviants. If you tell these madmen they’re going to die in a year, they’ll just go looking for death. But if you tell them they’re going to die in a week, then they’ll finally fight for their lives.

Besides, if we don’t storm the county seat, how are we supposed to prepare for a grand sacrificial rite? Without the rite, how do we increase our power? And without that power, do you really think we can survive even if we make it to the next province?

Besides, since everyone’s about to risk their lives, shouldn’t they get a last meal? That’s what this banquet was for..."

Cheng YuanYu fell into a thoughtful silence. ’He mulled over his own plan, wondering if it was even feasible. The cult was acting more and more unhinged. Even if they succeeded in offering up the essence of an entire county as a blood sacrifice, would he be able to get away?’

’He had to make his own plans, and soon. He needed to fade from everyone’s view, to lower his profile.’