Chapter 121: A Fortuitous Encounter

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Snap!

The entire Divine Furnace was shedding fragments continuously, as if the magma were cracking, with flames constantly erupting from within.

Immediately after, a beam of fire shot straight into the sky.

With a loud crash, the whole furnace collapsed.

"Haha, you didn't expect this, did you? I've destroyed the Divine Furnace!"

Kong Jia, who had just been sprawled on the ground after having his demon core extracted, jumped up in joy at the sight.

His efforts had not been in vain. What a dramatic reversal of the plot! You guys thought you were so tough, but now the furnace has exploded. In the end, I won. You went to such great lengths to lay traps and schemes, but in the end, it was all for nothing.

However... just as he was about to stand up to take a picture and post it on his social media—feeling great about the weather, having just survived a desperate situation, and wondering whether he should drink kidney-nourishing tonic or eat kidneys to recover his strength—the furnace suddenly emitted a blinding light.

It was so bright he couldn't even open his eyes. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands, trying to peek through his fingers to see what was happening. Since when did a furnace explosion come with special lighting effects?

Yet, when he saw what was before him, he was left speechless for a long time.

"Hey, could you turn off your phone flashlight?"

Through the gaps in his fingers, Kong Jia saw a figure standing atop the furnace, holding a phone and illuminating the surroundings. He knew this person all too well: Li Changluo, the little demon who had ruined so many of his plans.

Why was he here? Who was he shining the light for? And besides... if you're going to use a flashlight, what’s with the posing? Could you be a bit more serious? There is a mutiny happening here, for heaven's sake!

Looking again, the furnace behind Li Changluo was still crumbling and falling apart. Kong Jia felt relieved. Regardless of how he got here, he had won, and everything was coming to an end. He thought to himself that all that was missing now was the sound of an explosion to make it perfect.

Boom!

Sure enough...

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Whatever one wishes for, one gets. The furnace truly fulfilled his wish and exploded.

However, the sound was not loud—not at all what Kong Jia had expected. It was quieter than a popcorn machine. Yet, along with the sound, a shockwave blasted outward. The kitchen, already in shambles, was now an even more catastrophic sight.

...

After a long while, the smoke from the explosion finally cleared. The gazes of all the demons converged on the furnace.

Not only had the furnace not been destroyed, but it also looked brand new. Its design was identical to the blueprint Li Changluo had drawn; the craftsmanship was exquisite and shimmering, a world of difference from the earthen stove it had been before.

"How can this be?"

Kong Jia stared blankly at the furnace before collapsing weakly. Having lost his demon core, he was already a dying creature. Perhaps it was the abnormality of the furnace that gave him a momentary burst of energy, but seeing it restored to such perfection, he finally collapsed, his spirit completely broken.

In the kitchen, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the magical furnace, except for the proprietress, Bai Lianhua, who didn't even glance at it. It wasn't because she knew it would be repaired and found it unremarkable; rather, in the blast, Li Changluo had been thrown toward her and had accidentally swallowed the demon core she was holding.

"You..."

Bai Lianhua frowned, her face grim as she stared at Li Changluo, who was picking himself up from the floor.

"I was planning to continue the trial, but who knew... I got tricked by that little girl. She pushed me right in."

Li Changluo seemed to sense that Bai Lianhua’s murderous expression was connected to his accidental ingestion of the item in her hand. "Heh, isn't it amazing? Such a tiny girl, and she managed to shove me over here..." He laughed it off, trying to change the subject while intentionally avoiding any mention of the furnace. He knew that any task assigned to him privately by the boss was strictly confidential. He had enough sense to keep his boss's secrets.

"LI! CHANG! LUO!"

Bai Lianhua clenched her fists, trembling with rage as she glared at him, looking as if she were about to unleash a barrage of "little fists hitting your chest" on him.

"Boss, calm down, please calm down." Lin Dandan hurried over to soothe his infuriated boss—not out of concern for Li Changluo, but because he was terrified that the "other one" inside the boss would wake up, and that one was much harder to deal with.

"Lin Dandan, go beat him up..." Bai Lianhua gritted her teeth, her expression so terrifying that there was no trace left of the sweet neighborly girl.

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"Oh, right, I'll go beat him up..."

Lin Dandan trotted over to Li Changluo. He wanted to comfort the boy, who was posing nervously out of fear, and pat his shoulder to tell him not to worry, but he couldn't reach. He ended up patting Li Changluo’s backside instead, gave him a wink, and gave his foot a light kick.

Li Changluo froze for a second, then realized what was happening. He fell to his knees in agony and started rolling around.

"Ouch, it hurts!"
"Oh, you're killing me!"
"Please, have mercy!"
"I'll beat you to death, you—"

Li Changluo rolled around on the floor in an exaggerated fashion, while Lin Dandan, expressionless, went through the motions of kicking him as if it were a routine chore. The two began a cringeworthy performance. Even Zheng Qiguai, standing to the side, let out a cold snort and turned her head away, unable to watch any longer.

"Enough, both of you..."

Bai Lianhua clutched her forehead. After a long moment of brewing her emotions, she looked up at Li Changluo with a forced smile. "I lost my temper just now. Did it taste good? Remember to regulate your breathing and integrate that demon energy, or you’ll choke to death." She finished with a sweet smile—one that would normally warm a person's heart.

However, Li Changluo clearly felt the tone of the latter half of her sentence turn icy.

After giving him one more meaningful look, Bai Lianhua put her smoking pipe into her pocket and traced a line in the air with her finger, preparing to open the barrier.

"Boss, what about Kong Jia? Should we throw him in?" Lin Dandan asked cautiously, gesturing to the man lying on the ground.

"No need. Besides, I'm not the one who ate the demon core." She smiled at Li Changluo again.

"..."

Li Changluo felt a bit confused, but he felt an ominous chill whenever the boss smiled like that.

"Let's go and see what's happening outside."

The proprietress tore a few large holes in her own clothes, took out a small packet of ketchup, put it in her mouth, and let it slowly spill out... only then did she head toward the tavern's main hall.

Li Changluo was left stunned.