After turning off the livestream, Qin Jingzhou carried the tentacle of the Evil God’s juvenile form and headed out.
Ling Jing took the phone off the tripod and held it, relaying a message for Qin Jingzhou to the mixedly worried and relieved members of the Qin family. “He’s fine for the most part. If you’re still concerned, you can take him to Anding Hospital for a couple of days. But after all he's been through, he’s prone to attracting other Evil God progeny and juveniles.”
Anding Hospital up front, Evil God attraction in the back...
The Qin family couldn’t quite put their finger on what felt wrong. But looking at the uneven marks on the wall and the pool of blood in front of the altar, it all seemed to make sense.
The head of the Qin family reacted the quickest, hurrying over to support his deeply shaken and dazed second son. “So he can act as... an Evil God radar, is that what you mean?”
Ling Jing gave him a look as if to say “the kid’s got potential” and let him work it out for himself.
Qin Jingzhou and the others, after being showered with relentless flattery, pulled the clearly distracted Zhang Qingxing along with them, piling into the car to go home.
Incidentally, under the influence of the Evil God’s juvenile form, Second Qin really had planned to use Zhang Qingxing as a ritual sacrifice, instantly striking up an evil alliance with He Qingya and her son. He had even roped in some of his cousins as accomplices—those same cousins who’d been found kneeling on the ground when Qin Jingzhou’s group arrived. But after the rest of the Qin family realized something was off, they paid no heed to He Qingya’s objections and persuaded Zhang Qingxing to leave at once.
Which was why Qin Jingzhou didn’t blame the rest of the Qin family for anything.
As for Second Qin and his group of cousins... the endless, ever-present murmurs of the Evil God’s juvenile were punishment enough.
Sitting in the car on the way home, Zhang Qingxing finally seemed to process everything that had happened. “You really were thinking of sending me to the mental asylum! Even if you did want me in a mental hospital—it was for my own good, wasn’t it?”
Ling Jing was totally absorbed in chatting with a Supreme VIP elder on the phone, but looked up at this and said immediately, “You fool, go online and check how much it costs for the psychiatrist your dad hired, or the mental health facility he booked for you. With those prices, there’s no way you’d still be uncertain. If your adoptive mother spent even a tenth as much on you as your dad, I’d actually start believing she cared.”
Qin Jingzhou found his “cheap son’s” logic refreshingly unconventional, but thought he was missing the point. So he gave a single piece of advice. “You absolutely have to see the therapist. And you must keep studying, too.”
Ling Jing chimed in, “Think about how powerful and influential your dad is, and how everyone else acts around him. Let me put it this way—no matter what happens, you’re still his biological son. He’d never harm you.”
After a while, Zhang Qingxing responded with a barely audible, “Mm.”
Qin Jingzhou reached out and gave his cheap son’s head a gentle pat.
The boy just hung his head, his shoulders trembling slightly, but didn’t try to move away.
Ling Jing, seeing this, sent Qin Jingzhou a private message: “A little admiration for the strong is a good thing, too.”
Qin Jingzhou only smiled and said nothing.
When they got back to the Zhang family mansion, there were two sets of guests waiting at the door. One was an official delegation led by Li Director, who had come calling yesterday. The other was the same Supreme VIP elder who had just secured rights to the Evil God’s juvenile, along with three friends and family members.
That’s right—just after a private message, Ling Jing allowed the VIP to bring a few trusted friends to “broaden their horizons.”
When they stepped out of the car, both groups were already lined up neatly at the door, as if welcoming the triumphant return of some great big boss.
Zhang Qingxing, seeing all this, immediately fell back into self-doubt.
Ling Jing tugged at Qin Jingzhou’s hand and whispered over the communicator, “They’re really putting on a show of respect. Still, no one ever comes to the temple for nothing.”
Qin Jingzhou just smiled and told the young driver to fetch something from the trunk.
The driver, the picture of calm, opened the trunk as instructed, pulled out the portable cooler, and followed his boss into the villa—carrying it with equal composure.
They all sat down in the living room. In full view of the visitors and the curious household staff, Qin Jingzhou opened the cooler and, without gloves, pulled out the Evil God’s juvenile form. He set it directly on the table, which he’d already lined with kitchen paper.
Up close, everyone’s most immediate reaction to the dead Evil God juvenile was: ugly as sin.
Qin Jingzhou waved the Supreme VIP elder over. Once the man was happily standing across from him, he said, “Don’t eat the eyes. The average person can’t digest them.”
It was instantly clear: whatever goes in comes right back out. The image of those things winding up in the toilet was enough to make everyone’s stomach lurch.
Qin Jingzhou patiently used a Western kitchen knife to scoop out dozens of eyeballs before smoothly cleaving the juvenile in two. “You got lucky. This one is an attribute-less Evil God juvenile.”
The elder’s grin grew even wider. “So that means anyone can eat it?”
Qin Jingzhou nodded.
Ling Jing, lounging on the sofa, suddenly asked, “Want my boyfriend to give you a cooking lesson, so you can try it on the spot?”
The elder rubbed his hands in excitement. “Can I really?”
Qin Jingzhou smiled. “My girlfriend finds you agreeable, so yes.”
He had the elder cut off a tentacle the length of a finger himself. “About this much per day for an adult—halve it for children. Too much won’t hurt you, it just won’t digest.”
Not only did the Supreme VIP elder and his friends pay close attention, but even Li Director and his group were mentally jotting notes as fast as they could.
After that, Qin Jingzhou carried the small tentacle segment to the kitchen.
Cooking an Evil God juvenile required only the simplest methods: add spices and cooking wine, simmer for fifteen minutes, season with salt, then discard the broth. Slice to serve once slightly cooled.
The elder sat at the dining table, eyed by everyone with rapt curiosity and anticipation. He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and tasted it thoughtfully.
Boiled Evil God juvenile had an utterly unique texture—at once soft and crunchy, with plenty of bite. As for the flavor…the elder was brutally honest. “To be honest, it’s kind of stinky.”
Qin Jingzhou laughed. “That’s due to several unique proteins in its body.”
Li Director asked, “So it tastes bad, but is incredibly nutritious?” Seeing the big boss nod, he went on, “With your livestream, there’ll probably be a global craze for hunting Evil Gods… I wonder, just how many of these juveniles are hidden around our planet and beyond?”
Qin Jingzhou answered every question directly. “This world’s spiritual energy density isn’t high enough for a true Evil God. So usually, they linger in subplanes or highly stable spatial gaps, leaving their offspring nearby to bide their time. An ordinary Evil God lays eggs at least as prolifically as an ocean sunfish. The more unusual ones are like several ocean sunfish combined. At present, the total of dormant and active juveniles already outnumbers us humans.”
Everyone: …So Evil Gods were actually here to benefit humanity?! On second thought, if Chairman Zhang hadn’t taught everyone how to hunt their juveniles… the implications were chilling.
Li Director was torn. He was happy that the “Evil God hunt” might actually work, but worried that with another surge in spiritual energy, if a real Evil God ever manifested, what hope would humanity have?
He had a sense, hard to explain, that the next stage of spiritual resurgence was close at hand.
Qin Jingzhou answered him as well. “When the time comes, everyone can gear up and go Evil God hunting.”
Leaning against Qin Jingzhou’s shoulder, Ling Jing said, “Let me be frank. Ordinary people can’t cultivate because they either lack or nearly lack the ability to channel ambient spiritual energy into themselves. But just because they can’t channel it doesn’t mean spiritual energy won’t enter their bodies. They simply can’t digest or absorb it. Does that make sense to you?”
Spelled out so plainly, even background character Zhang Qingxing understood, let alone the savvy elders all around.
Ling Jing went on, “But if ordinary people with no cultivation ability take in some spiritual energy, it’ll either heal their illnesses—once cured, whatever they’ve absorbed will fortify a particular organ depending on their innate talent. This is different from cultivators, who can, with consciousness and technique, use vast amounts of spiritual energy to strengthen and transform their bodies in a controlled and comprehensive way.”
Everyone present looked positively radiant.
Ling Jing and Qin Jingzhou exchanged a smile, then made their heartfelt key suggestion. “Evil Gods are edible, so eat up. If you find a small one, eat the small one; if you get a big one, eat the big one.”
Li Director gave a knowing smile.
After midnight, past twelve o’clock national time, the young couple and a plumber’s suction cup had sent the Evil God juvenile straight onto the trending searches. By 2 a.m., the authorities had released an announcement: Citizens are encouraged, after proper education, to hunt Evil God juveniles on their own. You're also encouraged to sell any Evil God juveniles you catch to the authorities, and especially encouraged to create cooking and tasting videos.
The announcement included details on gauging a juvenile’s strength, what to prepare before hunting, how to handle and cook the carcass, and—most crucially—two key facts: first, an estimate of the Evil God juveniles' true numbers; second, the benefits of consuming them.
Thanks to Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing’s passionate livestream, the “cultivation” crowd currently in feverish debate online took the time to read every word of the official announcement.
The top hot comment read: So, basically, the authorities are telling us that eating Evil Gods is the best way for regular people to get stronger.
Comment number two: This reminds me of that old invasive crayfish story…
Comment number three, even funnier: It’s only a matter of time before Hua Country starts a Evil God farming project.
Meanwhile, far away, He Qingya—who had already fled the country to join her beloved grandson He Jiuping—was scrolling through the trending topics, feeling bound for a heart attack.
After “channeling spiritual energy,” she hadn’t grown much stronger, but her mind and body showed definite signs of “rejuvenation.” It was a less than comfortable feeling, especially because she’d just found out her dear grandson He Jiuping’s backer was an Evil God himself…
As for He Jiuping, he wasn’t deaf or blind. News this earth-shaking was impossible to miss.
Right now, he was at a secret underground gathering, discussing strategy with his companions.
The benefits of eating Evil God meat were hard to deny, and they were certainly tempted. Still, the Evil God they worshipped was no two-bit, mass-produced spawn you could snag with a toilet plunger.
When it was He Jiuping’s turn to speak, he considered his words carefully. “Which of us could take on Zhang Jingzhou? All we need to do is stir up trouble in the Supernatural World. He clearly favors ordinary people, and the Supernatural World already resents him. Besides, Zhang Jingzhou’s eldest daughter married into the Ross family.”
One companion leered. “Aren’t the Rosses a Lich family? Just have the Ross family transform his daughter and recruit her to our side. I’d love to see how Zhang Jingzhou reacts to that.” As he spoke, he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tentacle, which he used to suck up and drink a cup of reeking, gelatinous tea.