"Your turf?" Belles echoed Chu Feng's words, his mind racing.
The next second, as if realizing something crucial, his blood-red eyes widened.
"You are Chu Feng!"
His trembling voice betrayed his panic.
"Shouldn't you be in Texas right now?" Belles's legs kept moving backward as he desperately tried to distance himself from Chu Feng.
Hmm? I'm more curious about the organization behind you now! Chu Feng thought. In an instant, he vanished.
The next second, a loud BOOM echoed from the parking lot outside the building.
Amidst numerous shattered flagstones, a gaping pit over ten meters wide appeared in the center.
In the center of the pit, Chu Feng, who had been gripping Belles by the neck, released his hold and stepped firmly onto a dark, massive claw.
Accompanied by a sickening, teeth-grinding CRUNCH, the once-sturdy giant claw visibly turned into a pulpy mess.
The man's piercing scream was music to Chu Feng's ears. His foot lifted and stomped down again; the massive arm connected to the claw soon suffered the same fate.
While grinding his foot, he spoke, his voice icy and his face a mask of indifference.
"You have power. You could have lived well. Why choose to come here and die?"
"Heh... Heh..."
Belles's pale face was covered in cold sweat, but his crimson pupils blazed with hatred. "You forced this on me!"
His words had barely faded when a glaring fluorescent light erupted from his chest. The source, no bigger than a coin, radiated a peculiar energy fluctuation.
The light resembled Holy Power, yet its aura also bore similarities to Hell's Power.
Despite its repulsive nature, it somehow stirred the greed in people's hearts, compelling them to possess it.
Bathed in this strange light, Belles's body began to transform into a monster.
The claws and arm Chu Feng had just crushed regenerated at a visible rate, morphing into something even more ferocious.
Transforming? Dream on! Chu Feng scoffed. His hand instantly bypassed the claw's defense and shot towards Belles's chest.
With a RIP of fabric, a coin-sized object appeared in his grasp.
"No! Give me back the silver coin! ROAR!"
Just as Chu Feng discerned the true nature of the silver coin in his hand, the man at his feet, who had still been capable of shouting, suddenly let out a bestial roar.
I can't just let you die like this! Chu Feng thought.
Seeing the man's soul about to be consumed by the Bizarre within him, Chu Feng punched out without hesitation.
As an icon on his system panel lit up, a pitch-black mist erupted from the man's body, condensing in mid-air into a constantly shifting shadow.
Silvery-white flames reappeared between Chu Feng's palms.
A powerful suction tugged at the shadow, drawing it into Chu Feng's palm like a thin thread.
In just a few moments, the shifting shadow vanished into his hand.
Once the Bizarre within him was extracted by Chu Feng, Belles's body visibly withered.
His skin dehydrated, his muscles atrophied, and his once-thick hair rapidly turned white and fell out.
It seems the cost of a human body containing a Bizarre isn't small! Chu Feng mused.
"Kill me! I beg you, kill me!" Belles's voice was no longer youthful; his raspy tone resembled that of a man far beyond his years.
Watching the man writhe in agony, Chu Feng frowned. With a casual wave of his hand, a stream of True Yuan instantly entered Belles's body.
He can wish for death, but not until I've finished my questions! Chu Feng thought.
The True Yuan was like a clear spring to parched earth for Belles. Although it couldn't restore him to his original state, it at least halted the deterioration of his body for the moment.
Chu Feng idly toyed with the silver coin, which had reverted to its original appearance, a hint of puzzlement in his eyes.
This thing doesn't look like a modern product. It's more like a legendary artifact!
"Name?"
"Belles... Belles Clement!" The man, momentarily freed from his suffering, actually managed a relieved smile.
"What is this?" Chu Feng asked, holding the silver coin up in front of the man.
"A renowned Exorcist from America, the owner of an Exorcist agency, and you've never heard the story of the thirty silver coins?"
The man's pale face twisted into a mocking smile, prompting a cold glint in Chu Feng's eyes.
Chu Feng opened his palm, and the True Yuan he had just expended—about a third of it—instantly flowed back into his hand.
Deprived of the True Yuan's nourishment, the gaunt man on the ground let out a piercing shriek.
His aged flesh continued to shrivel, and his eyes grew turbid.
After three seconds, Chu Feng waved his hand again. The True Yuan re-entered the man's body, and the piercing shrieks abruptly stopped.
"Now you know how to speak, don't you?" Chu Feng's voice was icy.
Hearing Chu Feng's icy voice, the man shuddered. His turbid eyes filled with a dread of the pain, and he quickly croaked, "I... I understand!"
Chu Feng sneered internally at the man cowering at his feet.
These Western fools are all the same, a bunch of scum. They only learn to bow their heads after a taste of real pain.
"Next, I ask, you answer. Think carefully before you speak, or you'll experience that pain again..."
Chu Feng didn't finish his sentence, but Belles clearly understood his meaning.
"Yes... yes! Please, ask your questions..."
Belles already knew he was doomed. He had witnessed the fate of those who had a Bizarre forcibly stripped from their bodies; the scene was still seared into his memory.
An agonizing death was far worse than simply losing consciousness in an instant. If possible, he desperately wanted to avoid such a fate.
"Which organization are you from?"
"Yulei Sect!"
Belles was prepared for this question, so he answered without hesitation.
"Yulei Sect?"
Chu Feng frowned slightly, searching his memory for any information about this sect.
But evidently, this was the first time he had heard the name; his memory held no information about the Yulei Sect.
"If it weren't for my current state, you'd never have gotten any information about the Yulei Sect from me!"
Belles looked at his withered hand, a bitter smile on his lips as he continued.
"The church's upper echelons tampered with the Bizarre in our bodies. If we show any sign of betraying the church, the Bizarre will devour us immediately."
"Now that you've taken the Bizarre, I should have already turned into a dried corpse in endless agony, with no chance to be here answering your questions."