abnabooks Chapter 248 Killing Like Crazy! Nicholas Repair!
Chapter 248 Killing Like Crazy! Nicholas Repair!
Chapter 248: Gone Crazy! Nicholas Xiu!
The Tauren immersed himself in it, scenes from the book constantly swirling in his mind. His blood boiled, feeling as if he had become the young man in the book.
This work before him seemed to contain a unique charm, drawing him in and making him wholeheartedly believe in the world within the book.
A deep sense of identification arose from within.
"Hey hey hey!" Suddenly, the bookstore owner forcefully patted his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" He frowned, his breath visible in the cold air, not liking the feeling of being interrupted while reading.
"We agreed on a trial read, how long have you been reading?" The owner became impatient, as it was just a small business after all.
"How long?" The Tauren muttered, he had only read a few pages... huh?
He froze, realizing that he had already flipped through more than half of the book.
He looked at the sky again.
When he had arrived, it was only afternoon, but now the sky was completely dark, with stars dotting the streets.
So much time had passed?
Unconsciously, time had flown by so quickly?
"How much is this book? I'll buy it!" The Tauren snapped back to reality and decisively said.
"One crystal shard!" The owner responded, then curiously asked, "Is this book really that good?"
The Tauren was a regular customer, but such an outburst was rare.
"It's amazing, don't you even know the books in your own store?" The Tauren said without hesitation, excitement filling his large copper eyes.
"I have so many books in my store, who has the time to read them all?" The owner grumbled, not having much interest in a book by a new author. But seeing how the Tauren was praising it so much, he decided to read it when he had the time.
The Tauren bought the book and didn't leave, instead finding a corner and sitting down to read.
He held the book, engrossed in it, and unknowingly, it left a deep imprint on his soul.
He himself didn't notice that the once murky light in his eyes gradually became clear, the numbness that had oppressed him for a lifetime gradually dissipated, replaced by passion.
"Damn it... the Nalan family must be destroyed!!"
He became more and more invested, the plot in the book making him tremble with anger, and he suddenly blurted out a curse.
Then he turned to the next page.
Finally!
It was over!
"Boss, where's the next volume? Bring it out quickly!" He hurriedly got up and shouted.
"There isn't one!" The owner's voice drifted from afar.
"What?"
"There's no next volume, the nameless author only wrote one volume!" The owner repeated once again.
The Tauren asked several times, but the answer was always the same, and he finally gave up.
"If I were you, I wouldn't be concerned about the book right now. Look at the time!" The owner suddenly spoke up, pointing his mouth towards the outside.
"Damn it!" The Tauren jumped up in shock, his expression panicked. He was the attendant of a young master in the Earth Demon Elephant Clan, and if he didn't return on time, it would be considered dereliction of duty and he would be heavily punished!
"Why didn't you remind me earlier?" He was in a panic, scrambling to rush out the door.
"...Hey! Stop!" The owner watched his hurried figure leaving, feeling a surge of anger with nowhere to vent.
He hadn't reminded him yet?
He had said it more than ten times!
The Tauren had been immersed in the book the whole time, ignoring him, and now he was blaming him? What kind of sorcery was this?
He muttered a few curses, then his gaze suddenly fell on a book beside him.
Was this book really that good?
...
"Oh no... I've made a mistake, Master... please spare me this time... oh no..."
In a spacious and ancient courtyard of the Earth Demon Elephant Clan.
The Tauren was being punished, four tall Demon Race figures wielding steel whips, runes swirling around them, ruthlessly lashing him.
Although he was strong and had a powerful defense, in front of this steel whip, he was no different from paper. Soon, his skin cracked, flesh mangled, and his vitality weakened.
"Alright, stop!"
From a high place, a young man in a purple robe, with a long trunk on his head, leaned against a large chair, appearing indifferent.
The punishment below immediately stopped.
"In consideration of your many years of following this young master, I will spare your life today. But if there is another time, I will show no mercy!" The young man in the purple robe said indifferently.
"Thank... thank you, master, for your forgiveness!" The minotaur's voice was weak as he lay motionless on the ground.
"Hmm." The young man in the purple robe squeezed out a sound from his nose, sounding very arrogant. Suddenly, his gaze focused and he discovered something beneath the minotaur.
He raised his hand and instantly captured the object, which turned out to be a booklet.
"You are always indulging in such vulgar things, no wonder you neglect your duties! I will confiscate this item and burn it later. From now on, you will work diligently for this young master, do you hear me?" He glanced at him and reprimanded.
"Yes..." The minotaur's heart was bleeding.
This booklet was bought with a crystal shard, equivalent to half a month's salary for him.
And now it was gone just like that.
The people around dispersed, their footsteps fading away. The minotaur remained prostrate for a long time before mustering a bit of strength to struggle to his feet.
He looked towards the palace where the young man in the purple robe resided, and for the first time in his life, a flame of defiance surged in his eyes: "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, do not bully the young and poor!"
But soon, he snapped back to reality and quickly covered his mouth.
Damn, what was he thinking?
Fortunately, no one heard him, otherwise he would lose his life!
...
The young man in the purple robe was named Xiangshan.
The ninth prince of the Earth Demon Elephant Clan.
He returned to his own palace and found someone waiting for him.
"Father?" Xiangshan was surprised and quickly bowed.
"Where have you been?" Xianglou's voice was heavy, exuding an imposing aura even without anger.
"A servant made a mistake, so I punished him!" Xiangshan lowered his head, feeling somewhat fearful.
"For a servant's mistake, do you need to personally punish him?" Xianglou turned around, staring at Xiangshan, and said with frustration, "Even such trivial matters distract you. No wonder your performance in the recent assessments has been getting worse!"
He scolded and threw a sheepskin scroll onto the ground.
Xiangshan lowered his head even further, remaining silent.
"Do you still remember when you were born, the whole clan celebrated, thinking that you would be the one to lead our Earth Demon Race to a new glory? Even the ancestors appeared and personally baptized you! But look at you now, what have you become?"
"Look at your sixth brother, who was originally inferior to you. Now he is so glorious. He was chosen to participate in the divine and demonic ritual, and our entire Earth Demon Elephant Clan is proud of him, filled with glory!"
"Don't you feel ashamed? If I were you, I would smash my head on the ground!"
Xianglou's scolding became more and more severe, his face twisted in anger.
Xiangshan still remained silent, but his clenched fist trembled.
His mind was in chaos.
Back then, during his moment of glory, with pure bloodline, he was the greatest in the Earth Demon Elephant Clan for hundreds of years. Everyone revolved around him, like stars surrounding the moon.
But because his sixth brother had a stroke of luck and his bloodline density greatly increased, he used dishonorable means to severely injure Xiangshan during an internal clan competition, leaving him bedridden for years.
In the Demon Race, there was no concept of honor or dishonor.
The winner was the one standing.
In terms of ruthlessness and means, he was obviously inferior to his sixth brother.
Since then, his era had passed, the curtain had fallen, and all that remained were cold mockery and ridicule.
Including his once loving father.
Who now found fault with him wherever he went.
Whenever he felt unhappy, he would come to scold him and even resort to physical violence.
After a long time, Xianglou, having vented his anger, snorted and left.
Xiangshan numbly saw his father off.
Returning to his own room, he planned to adjust his mindset as usual and swallow everything.
But at this moment, he suddenly realized that he still had a booklet in his hand.
It was completely distorted by him.
Did he forget to burn it earlier?
He threw it on the ground, conjured a ball of magic fire in his hand, and planned to burn the booklet directly.
Suddenly, he saw a few words from the booklet.
"...fallen genius?"
He was stunned, feeling as if something had struck his heart. Wasn't this referring to him?
As if driven by some inexplicable force, he picked up the booklet, spread it out, and started reading it page by page.
...
Midnight.
The Minotaur was lying on a crude bed, having finished applying medicine and resting with difficulty.
He looked at the ceiling, lamenting why his own fate was so miserable.
"If only I had an ancestral ring!" A thought suddenly appeared in his mind, yearning for an old man to help him escape the Sea of Bitterness.
Just then, a head popped out, quite suddenly, and a pair of eyes stared at him intently.
It startled him.
"What the hell—" he exclaimed, raising his fist the size of a sandbag to strike.
Unexpectedly, the other party had astonishing strength. With a palm strike, he shook the Minotaur and the bed down to the ground.
Already severely injured, he opened his mouth, wanting to let out a scream of pain.
But it was covered.
"Don't make a sound!"
"Master...?" He was surprised. The one who broke into his room in the middle of the night turned out to be Xiangshan.
"Where's the second volume?" Xiangshan stared at him, his eyes bloodshot, as if some kind of light was flickering.
"What second volume?" The Minotaur was in a half-dazed state.
"The book, where's the second volume of the book?" Xiangshan was almost hysterical, in a frenzy.
He exerted force on the Minotaur's head, causing him pain. Finally, the Minotaur reacted. Xiangshan was referring to the book they had confiscated earlier today.
"I... I don't have it!" The Minotaur said with difficulty.
"If you bring it out, I won't blame you! I'll even give you a precious medicine for your injuries!" Xiangshan hurriedly said.
"I really don't have it, Master! I didn't buy it. The author hasn't written it yet!" Xiangshan's offer was tempting, but the Minotaur was also helpless. He wanted the next volume, but there simply wasn't one.
Hearing this, Xiangshan fell silent, confirming that the Minotaur wasn't lying, and then released him, grumbling in his mouth.
He finished reading the first volume of the booklet.
He watched it repeatedly, becoming more and more obsessed with it. Flames seemed to burn in his heart, and his fighting spirit surged.
He felt that this story was tailor-made for him.
He was the protagonist of the story.
Do not underestimate a poor youth... It was really well said!
Unfortunately, this volume was too short, not enough to satisfy him. It made him itch, and not to mention cultivation, he couldn't even sleep properly.
...
At the same time.
Back at Meng Dream Pavilion.
"Boss, do you have any new book recommendations lately?"
"You've come at the right time. I highly recommend 'Battle of the Azure Sky.' It's absolutely fantastic, guaranteed to be the best book you've ever read~" The boss was extremely excited. He had spent several nights reading the first volume repeatedly, never getting tired of it. The more he read, the more invigorated he felt, as if his soul had been elevated.
"'Battle of the Azure Sky'? What a strange name. Who's the author?"
"A newcomer named Nicholas Xiu. Although he's a newcomer, I can guarantee it's worth every penny!" The boss said enthusiastically.
Upon hearing this, the customers in the shop were all surprised.
This was because the boss had never made such bold claims before. He was considered somewhat of a scholar, and even when he praised his own things, it was at most something like "rare masterpiece." This attitude was rarely seen.
"Now that the boss has spoken, let's take a look!"
"We can still trust the boss's taste..."
Hua Ben, or "Storybooks," could be said to be one of the most popular entertainment activities on Sea Demon Island, second only to the brothels.
But most people didn't have that much money, so they couldn't go to the brothels often.
Therefore, storybooks were still the most prevalent.
Today, it was still early in the day, and there were many customers in the shop.
With the boss's recommendation, many people started reading right there in the shop.
"I'll be damned, this story is actually quite new, I've never seen it before!"
"It's quite interesting..."
"It's got me all fired up, boss, where's the second volume?"
Soon, discussions broke out one after another, and pairs of eyes were ignited, shining brightly.
"The second volume hasn't been released yet! But you can pre-order it!"
"I'll pre-order a copy!"
"I want one too!"
"Save one for me too!"
"..."
The scene was incredibly heated. The news spread, and the Demon Race in the city who were usually fond of storybooks flocked over.
They wanted to see "Battle of the Azure Sky."
The boss was ecstatic and quickly found the people in the workshop. "Print more, print more for me!"
The workshop assistant asked, "How many copies?"
"One million copies!" After thinking for a moment, the boss gritted his teeth and made this decision.
"One million?" Everyone was shocked, their eyes wide open. They had never seen such a large print run before. Wasn't he afraid of losing money?
"Yes, one million!" The boss insisted. He believed in his own judgment. This book, "Battle of the Azure Sky," would definitely become a bestseller, an unprecedented one.
And indeed it did.
As the news spread wider and wider, "Battle of the Azure Sky" became a sensation, known by everyone, becoming the topic of conversation for everyone after meals.
Countless people were eagerly anticipating the second volume.
...
In a certain high-level tavern, in a private room.
A volume of "Battle of the Azure Sky" was placed on the table, surrounded by four or five Demon Race individuals with unpleasant expressions.
"You all must have read this book, right?" A demon with blue-tinted skin, goat horns on his head, and a goatee spoke up, his voice cold.
"How could we not have read it? It's driving everyone crazy!" Another short Demon Race individual said sarcastically.
"I really can't see what's so good about this book that so many people like. Nowadays, readers really have no taste, liking such shallow things..."
"..."
The few of them exchanged words, their words filled with rejection of this book, or rather, envy!
They were all well-known authors in this city, having written many storybooks.
They were famous at the time, with countless fans.
But as soon as this book came out, their works suddenly became unwanted, not even worth picking up from the side of the road. The gap was huge.
"No matter how we look at it, the fact is, if we let this book continue to exist, the few of us won't even have food to eat!" the demon with the goatee said gloomily.
"What does Brother Gongyang mean?"
"Now that this book has only released one volume, there will definitely be a second volume, a third volume. No matter what, we need to know who our competitors are, right?"
Upon hearing this, the demons looked at each other, and the temperature in the room dropped, filled with killing intent.
(End of this chapter)