18: Chapter 18 Real or Fake VIPs? The Skinner's Invitation VS Qin Shi Huang's Jade Pendant

That piece of hot-stamped black invitation letter fell lightly into the bloodstain, like a death warrant, yet it heavily struck everyone's heart.

"Cough, cough... Hahahaha!"

The Skin Flayer laughed until his rotten flesh trembled, blood foam surging out from the gums corroded by strong acid. His appearance was three parts more terrifying than a malevolent ghost just crawled back from hell.

He used the wrist whose tendons had been severed to shakily point at the pale-faced Xu Mo, his eyes vicious enough to drip water:

"Stupid, aren't you? In this manor, only those with an invitation letter are true VIPs! You group of undocumented illegals, you had a good time beating people up just now, didn't you?"

Xu Mo tightly clutched his chest, his heart instantly sinking to the bottom.

He had calculated everything, missing the most fatal link—the logic of identity.

He had initially assumed the jade pendant triggered some hidden mechanism that made the system deem them 'Honored Guests'.

But now it seemed that was a loophole the butler exploited between 'rules' and 'fear'!

The Skin Flayer held a system-certified invitation letter; he was the real one. They, however, were 'stowaways' borrowing prestige with the jade pendant.

Now that the rightful owner was here, how could they pass the 'rules' test?

The bullet comments in the livestream instantly flashed a wave of despairing gray.

[ (IP: USA) Oh No! The plot has reversed! That pervert is the real VIP? ]

[ (IP: Japan) So Sad! The Dragon Country people are impostors! Now let's see who the butler helps! ]

[ (IP: Dragon Country) It's over... Xu Mo's face has gone white. This is like being caught red-handed by the official GM for exploiting a bug! ]

"Butler!"

The Skin Flayer roared like a mad dog, full of confidence: "Are you not going to clear out these bugs who offended a VIP? Do you also intend to defy the will of the Count?!"

In the shadow, the butler, who had arrived at some unknown time, finally let a thread of meticulous cold sweat trickle down his temple.

On the left was the guest personally invited by the Master, representing the 'rules' of the instance.

On the right was the 'Great Terror' holding the jade pendant that made his soul tremble, representing an irresistible 'power'.

This wasn't a multiple-choice question; it was a death trap!

"Before the Lord Count returns to pass judgment..."

The butler's voice was dry. Without showing any emotion, he stepped back half a pace, completely giving up: "Maintain the status quo."

This sentence was tantamount to tacitly acknowledging the Skin Flayer's status!

"It's over..." In the corner, the Lean Tall Man and his two companions looked ashen, a large patch of their trousers instantly wetting.

"Did you see that? Even the dog servant dares not touch me!"

The Skin Flayer became even more arrogant. He wriggled his broken body, staring fixedly at Pei Duo, his eyes full of vengeful pleasure: "Little girl, your jade pendant could block the butler once, but can it block the master of this place? This is the manor, the Count's absolute domain! When he arrives, I will slowly peel off your perfect skin, bit by bit, to make a lampshade..."

"Dong—!!"

A dull, distant bell sound exploded in everyone's minds without any warning.

Midnight had arrived.

The candlelight in the entire second-floor corridor instantly shifted from warm yellow to eerie green. Scarlet blood beads seeped out from the walls as if capillaries had burst.

The elegant scent of powder vanished entirely, replaced by the nauseating smell of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"Boom!"

The double doors at the end of the corridor burst open.

A mist of red surged in, countless vampire bats shrieked and circled, and the BGM seemed to carry the sound of an extremely oppressive pipe organ.

A tall figure dressed in a retro black tuxedo, holding a ruby cane, stepped out elegantly from the red mist.

The final BOSS of the s-rank instance, the Vampire Count.

Just standing there, a crushing pressure terrifying enough to shatter bones instantly swept over the entire area.

This wasn't a numerical attack from the system; this was pure soul-crushing pressure emanating from a high-ranking fierce ghost!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

There was no buffer.

The Lean Tall Man and the others didn't even manage a scream before their kneecaps shattered. Each person looked as if they had been pressed by a hydraulic press, collapsing prostrate on the ground, spitting up fresh blood.

Lin Sa bit her tongue hard, trying to hold on, but the oppressive force was like Mount Tai pressing down.

"Crack."

The sound of a leg bone snapping was clearly audible. She fell heavily onto one knee, her fingernails digging deeply into the carpet, her body trembling violently, yet she couldn't even lift her head.

Xu Mo was even worse off, bleeding from all seven orifices, pressed flat against the ground, his mind a complete blank.

This was the strength of an S-rank BOSS? Even just looking at him required paying a price with one's life?

Everyone knelt down.

Like ants worshipping a deity.

Only one spot was an exception.

In the red mist, Pei Duo fiercely clutched that dirty black jade pendant. Although the muscles in her calves were cramping wildly, she remained standing.

The gravitational force capable of crushing rock seemed to hit an invisible bronze wall one meter in front of her and automatically diverted.

Amidst a flock of quails begging for mercy on their knees, she stood stubbornly, like a sudden white crane, or like a thorn stuck in the Count's eye.

[ (IP: Dragon Country) Holy crap! Duo Duo is still standing?! The only true god in the whole place! ]

[ (IP: Japan) This is impossible! Under S-rank pressure, how can a human stand? What kind of divine artifact is that jade pendant? ]

"Lord Count!!"

The Skin Flayer let out a piercing howl, like seeing his own father, crawling towards the Count's feet with all four limbs.

"You have finally returned! Look! These lowly bugs! They don't have invitations; they are invaders!"

The Skin Flayer wept profusely, pointing at Pei Duo and falsely accusing her, his tone full of venom: "I am your noble guest, a worshipper of the great Lord of Skinning! But these ants dared to hurt me! This is slapping your face!"

The Count stopped walking.

His scarlet eyes, like blood, swept indifferently over the mud on the ground, then his gaze sharpened, landing on the Skin Flayer's crippled limbs.

A wave of tyrannical killing intent shot skyward.

"In my manor, you harm my guests?"

The Count's voice was elegant and icy, carrying an unquestionable arrogance, "Who gave you the guts?"

He slowly raised his hand, and the hand wearing the white silk glove accepted the invitation letter.

Real.

It was indeed an invitation he had sent.

Someone actually dared to harm his invited 'artist' on his territory? This was challenging the dignity of an S-rank Ghost King!

"All of you, die."

The Count waved his cane with disgust, and the red mist instantly turned into tangible blades, about to shred these ants into meat paste.

"Kill! Kill them all!" The Skin Flayer was ecstatic, his eyes gleaming with malice, as if he could already see the scene of Pei Duo being torn apart.

However.

The cane he swung halted abruptly in mid-air.

It was as if the pause button had been pressed, creating a sense of profound incongruity.

The Count's pupils, which were originally filled with killing intent and viewed all living things as dust, suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks.

His gaze passed over the people kneeling on the ground, passed over the arrogant Skin Flayer, and fixed tightly on the only standing girl.

To be precise, it fixed on the cracked, even slightly muddy, black jade pendant in her hand.

The Count's hand holding the invitation letter was now shaking as if he suffered from advanced Parkinson's.

As an S-rank fierce ghost who had lived for a century, although he maintained a Western demeanor—drinking red wine and wearing a tuxedo—he knew something clearer than anyone else in his heart: Where this place was.

This was the territory of the Dragon Country!

This was the Underworld governed by that 'Fengdu'!

He was merely an outsider renting space here to make a living!

Two years ago, the Yin-Yang order of this land was rewritten by the Great Emperor of Fengdu who suddenly appeared.

That formidable figure who suppressed the eight-thousand-mile nether sea alone had beaten the Western Underworld's major powers into signing a truce agreement before carving out this small area for them to run their 'manor'.

And now, the aura emanating from that jade pendant...

Carried the imperial pressure from the deepest parts of the Nine Hells.

That was... the personal token of the Underworld Son of Heaven?!

The Count felt his ghost heart was about to explode, and cold sweat instantly soaked his expensive tuxedo.

He looked at the Skin Flayer still shouting wildly by his feet, trying to incite him to kill the 'person of the Underworld Son of Heaven', and his eyes instantly shifted from rage to extreme terror and resentment.

You are an Outer God's believer, so you don't know the rules here...

I am f***ing trying to make a living in the Dragon Country's territory!

Are you trying to wipe out my entire clan?!