Chapter 77 - Mastermo Is A Suspect?

Zhihao glanced at the demon king whose eyes had suddenly turned bright red as he glared at the vessel lying on the table.

Everything had been done exactly as it was supposed to so why didn't it work?

Why was Itsuki showing no signs of changing?

The crowd was stunned and in the next minute, they started murmuring among themselves.

"How can this be so?"

"Is it angry at Taki?"

"Maybe this one is a fake too?"

"I knew today wasn't a great day!"

"What's going to happen now?"

What was going to happen now?

Zhihao was curious to know the answer to that question. In any case, he flipped through his inventory and got ready to run away if the situation turned bad. It was always better to plan ahead, just in case.. 

"How could this be so?!" The middle-aged demon cried out in surprise. This guy seemed to be the only one who really cared about the festival this much. Just a small thing and he was ready to cause destruction all around, "Was the blood not enough?!" 

The demon moved forward with the knife in hand, getting ready to cut Li Ling and collect even more, but this time, Zhihao wasn't going to let him. 

Everyone saw Taki move forwards and block the demon from hurting the vessel any more. They were dating so this wasn't really shocking, but to stand up like this against this particular demon? Taki was considered to be a courageous demon, unafraid of death. 

"Don't you dare touch him again!" Zhihao glared at the demon. One move and he was ready to kill this demon. 

The demon who had never liked or felt the need to please this demon prince suddenly felt his heart go still in fear when he stared back at the glaring eyes of this demon. For the first time in his life, he felt like he had seen these eyes before. 

It was a replication of the demon king's glare, glowing a bright red. An apple doesn't fall far from the tree and the pair of father and son shared the same features. 

Zhihao didn't know that his eyes had changed color, all he knew was that he was angry with this demon, who he couldn't reason with, and now that he had stood up for Li Ling, he saw fear in the demon's eyes. This fear pleased him. 

[Wow.]

Zhihao didn't know why Alvi had suddenly commented something, he didn't even pay enough attention to hear it. He was too busy focusing his attention on the demon in front of him who wanted to hurt Li Ling. 

Alvi was amazed by this player. He had mastered the Taki role-play, be it unknowingly or knowingly. He was now acting exactly how the real Taki would have. To be able to understand this character with the little information given was almost impossible, and if it was done, it was praise-worthy and impressive. 

Alvi suddenly had high expectations from this player. 

Doji had originally wanted to say something but when he looked at the glowing red eyes of his brother, he didn't dare utter a word. 

Everyone instantly looked up, where, above the stairs, the demon king, who had always remained seated throughout the whole thing, suddenly stood up. This small action was enough to catch everyone's attention, even Zhihao's, who felt like, at this moment, he could even fight this demon king if he were forced to. 

"Such ruckus!" The heavy voice was heard and Zhihao instantly gulped back his words. 

No way! He wasn't going to fight this demon! He wasn't that suicidal!

The demon king was staring at Zhihao as he took a few steps forward and his face which was previously covered in darkness was now visible under the light emitted by the fire pit. 

Zhihao was stunned to see that face. It was somewhat like his own face, but the features were a lot more mature as they appeared fierce and sharp. 

Zhihao didn't think the face was identical to his, but he had seen it before. This was the face of his father. 

If this demon king was wearing his father's designer black suit, Zhihao would have really believed that his father had transmigrated into this game. 

He felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked at his father's face which was a bit different considering the fact that his father didn't have red-colored eyes. 

Was this just a coincidence or was this game playing with him by collecting his personal information?

"How did this happen?" The demon king asked and Zhihao gulped in fear. 

His father's voice wasn't so deep or demonic. He was already afraid of that voice but now that voice had an equally scary face to go with it. 

Zhihao had always been afraid of his father. There wasn't a big reason behind it but he was always scared of disappointing his father. He didn't necessarily hate his father, he loved him and looked up to him. His father was like a hero to him, a role model whom he'd look up to but their personality was just too different. 

His father was a business-minded person who hardly had time for his family. He was crazy about his work. If he had to work for six hours a day, he'd work for seven. That was the type of hunger he had for money and recognition whereas, Zhihao was the complete opposite. Zhihao only wanted to play games, nothing more, nothing less. If there was something he was hungry about, it wouldn't be money or recognition, it would the hunger to play something completely unpredictable, a game in which he is no longer able to guess anything or control things. The more his chances of losing, the more exciting it would become, and if he wins, he would be equally rewarded with just that. He was a gaming maniac. 

The pair of father and son didn't have any bad blood between them, although they were really different from one another, they would still be able to sit at the same dining table and would enjoy the same dinner in a peaceful manner. 

Zhihao didn't know why he feared his father, maybe it was because he looked up to that man so much that he was afraid of becoming a disappointment. 

When he came face to face with his 'father', he was scared to utter a single sentence. It was kinda ironic how different he was from the real Taki. 

Taki hated his father and would fake all his expressions and feelings in front of the man whereas Zhihao loved and respected his father and always looked for his validation.

Doji stepped forward, "Your highness, it seems that the vessel is not compatible."

Zhihao snapped out of it and looked at Li Ling who was still lying on the table. 

He had a dangerous thought that confused him. 

Did Li Ling already know it was going to fail? Was that why he was so ready to take Hasumi's place?

If that really was the case, how did he know it? What did Li Ling notice that Zhihao didn't? The chances of Li Ling noticing something that Zhihao had missed was near zero. It was really impossible so if that was not it, how did he know this was going to happen?

Zhihao was too scared of the answer so he was not willing to randomly guess. He would rather wait and ask Li Ling. 

"Is this a curse?!" The middle-aged demon cried out in worry. 

The demon king glared at him and scoffed, "Tch- you are a demon, why are you afraid of a curse?!"

Doji, "What do we do now?"

"This should not have happened." The middle-aged demon once again commented. 

The demon king came down the stairs and stood in front of the fire pit, "I see."

"???"

Nobody knew what was going on, at least nobody except for the demon king who stood in front of the fire pit and suddenly understood everything others were unaware of. 

Zhihao decided to push his fear aside and ask, "What happened?"

The demon king looked at his son and responded, "There is no soul here so what is the use of the vessel?"

"No soul?!"

Everyone was once again shocked to hear this. If this had been someone else claiming such a thing, they would not have believed it but right now, it was the demon king who personally said something like this, they dare not question him. What he said was the law here and if he said there was no soul here, there would not be any soul here. 

It was as simple as that. 

The crowd once again came to life as they whispered amongst themselves. Zhihao tried to grasp as much as possible but he really could not understand it. 

"Where did the soul go?"

"If the soul is not there, where is it?"

"D-did it escape?!"

"Stop saying such ominous things."

"If the soul really escaped then..."

"We are all as good as dead."

"What utter bullsh*t. The soul can never escape by itself."

"Did someone do it on purpose?"

"Who would do something like this?"

"Whoever that f**ker was, I'm going to kill him."

"If he's from around here, he is already dead."

"Then I'll kill him twice."

"Someone who helped the soul escape cannot be a simple guy, you'll die before you get to kill."

"You think I'm afraid?!"

"I do."

"..."

"If someone did help the soul, it could only be..."

The crowd suddenly stared at the demons who were gathered in front of the fire pit. 

Ghosts would never go near the pit and they would naturally not have the guts to even go near the soul so why would one of them try to help it?

Someone had freed the soul and let the monster on the loose, but it couldn't possibly be a ghost so all facts considered, it was one of the demons in front of them. 

The demons were higher in ranks than them so there was no way they'd openly point their fingers at them but their eyes said everything their mouths dared not. 

One of the demons had betrayed them all and the question was: Who was crazy enough to do something like that?

Doji, "Your highness, h-how could the soul not be there?"

"It has already found a vessel." The demon king answered and this response was much more shocking than the previous one. 

"H-how? No... That's not possible. W-we need the royal blood to-" The middle-aged demon who was speaking suddenly came to a halt as he snapped his head towards Zhihao. 

Zhihao had a bad feeling about this. 

There were only three people here who had royal blood coursing through their veins, the first one was the demon king, the second was Taki himself and the third was Doji. So if anyone was to help the soul escape, the perpetrator had to be one of them. 

The demon king was clearly not the one because of obvious reasons which was basically just the fact that everyone was scared to call him a suspect. They were dead but that didn't mean they no longer feared for their life. If one was too courageous and would point his finger at the demon king, who knew what type of horrible death he'd be seeking? 

And so the two suspects were Taki and Doji. 

Zhihao stared at Doji who was no longer faining his expressions. This demon was really scared and stunned so there was no way it was him and as long as Zhihao knew, he had never given his blood or kissed someone so there was no way it was him. Although Zhihao knew that the three possible suspects were all innocent, not everybody shared the same thoughts.