The Great Demon Lord of the American Comics World

Chapter 31, Selena's Wavering

Dream Bar.

In a small private room.

Selena stared at the empty wine bottle in front of her and began to doubt her willpower.

She had agreed to drink only three cups, but before she knew it, she had already downed the entire bottle.

It wasn't red wine, but spirits.

Even as a vampire, she was a little tipsy.

Li Xingzhou, sitting opposite her, opened another bottle of strong liquor for her.

Selena wanted to stop it.

But Li Xingzhou's deep, magnetic voice was so pleasant to listen to, and the stories he told were so captivating and moving. Selena was so engrossed in the story that, before she could even fully appreciate it, Li Xingzhou had already poured her a glass of wine while continuing his tale.

then……

The story accompanied the wine, and before I knew it, another bottle of strong liquor had been downed.

Only then did Li Xingzhou's story come to an end:

"...Victor executed Sophia, his only daughter, with 'Sun Punishment' right before Lucien's eyes. Lucien watched helplessly as Sophia was burned to ashes by the sunlight, unable to do anything but wail in agony... He was consumed by grief; the pain of losing his beloved and his boundless rage towards Victor unleashed an unprecedented power within him... He broke free of his restraints, transformed into a werewolf, and summoned hundreds, even thousands, of wild wolves and intelligent werewolves, who surged into the vampire castle like a tidal wave..."

After telling the story, he looked at Selena with a smile and said leisurely:

"This is the story of how the wolf clan rose to power centuries ago. The slaves broke free of their shackles, overthrowing their former slave owners who had dominated their fate, and thus gained their freedom."

Selena downed the remaining wine in her glass in one gulp, her delicate, snow-white cheeks flushed red, and her usually calm, icy blue eyes became hazy and unsettled.

She snorted softly:
"A Romeo and Juliet version of vampires and werewolves, with a touch of Spartacus stitched in. I must admit, you're a great storyteller with a lovely voice. The way you told this story really captivated me, making even a vampire like myself feel sorry for Lucien and Sophia... Unfortunately, werewolves are my enemies, and in this story, you've portrayed them as tragic heroes who have been persecuted... That's not very friendly to me."

Li Xingzhou chuckled softly, his tone subtle and meaningful:
"But the problem is... are werewolves really your enemies?"

Selena frowned, her tone turning cold:

"What do you mean?"

Li Xingzhou picked up his wine glass, took a small sip with elegant grace, and said in a low voice:
“Victor treats you very well, he practically treats you like a daughter. But have you ever thought about why, if he loves you so much, he never gives you real power? He just uses you as a sharp knife to fight werewolves?”

Selena's tone was displeased:
“The werewolf is my blood feud. I hunt the werewolf with my own will, and have never stopped for hundreds of years, not because I am driven by him.”

"So, how did your blood feud with the werewolves come about?"

Li Xingzhou asked and answered himself:
“Victor told you that the werewolves attacked your village and killed your parents… Your centuries-long hatred for werewolves stems from all that Victor told you. But have you never doubted that Victor… might be lying?”

“Impossible.” Selena said without hesitation, “Victor wouldn’t lie to me!”

"really?"

A smile played on Li Xingzhou's lips, his voice low and deep, seemingly possessing a captivating power:
“Victor, for the sake of his face and power, could publicly execute his only daughter… What wouldn’t such a power-hungry animal do? He does value you, because you resemble his daughter so much; he uses you as a substitute for her to satisfy his hypocritical guilt. But at the same time, he fears you, fears your unparalleled fighting talent… He always worries that one day, when you learn the truth, you will, like his daughter, embark on the path of rebellion without hesitation…”

"Enough!" Selena interrupted him sharply, her chest heaving, her eyes blazing with anger as she glared at him and shouted.

"What exactly do you want? Why are you trying to drive a wedge between me and Victor?"

She looked so angry that she lost her usual calm and composure.

But given her cold exterior and warm interior, if anyone else had tried to sow discord between her and Victor in front of her, she would have pounced on them and snapped their necks long ago.

But when facing Li Xingzhou, her anger seemed more like a cover for her inner turmoil and doubt.

Indeed, Li Xingzhou used a story as a starting point and two bottles of fine wine as a catalyst, and with just words, he easily shook Selena's deep-rooted trust in Victor that had lasted for hundreds of years, making her vaguely suspicious of the truth about her parents' deaths, a suspicion that she herself dared not admit.

This is what makes inner demons so terrifying.

of course.

Li Xingzhou wasn't deliberately malicious—what he said was the truth. The truth was that Victor destroyed Selena's village, killed her parents, and deliberately instilled hatred in her towards werewolves, training her to be a deathwalker and using her to hunt down the werewolves that Victor hated most.

The source of all the tragedy was her lord, Victor.

Li Xingzhou was merely revealing the truth. Even if he used a little bit of inner demons, he was still doing a good deed and accumulating merit, wasn't he?

"Where did you hear these stories? Or are they just made up?"

“Selena, I am not Victor. I will not lie to you. I will only tell you the truth. If you do not believe me, you can investigate for yourself and find out the truth that Victor has deliberately concealed.”

Li Xingzhou's eyes were calm and deep as the night, meeting Selena's seemingly angry but actually deeply unsettling icy blue eyes:
"I remember your Victor clan had a historian who specialized in recording your clan's history. He was imprisoned by Victor because he knew too much. You can go find him and ask him for the truth of history. The story of the rise of the wolf clan, the story of Lucien and Sophia, and your story—you can learn the truth from him."

“If you find it too troublesome, you can go to Craven. This man should be someone you know, right? He has been following Victor since the Middle Ages and is more trusted by Victor than you are. He also knows everything.”

Selena is certainly very familiar with Craven.

Craven was indeed deeply trusted by Victor because he had once brought back a piece of pelt belonging to Lucien, the leader of the werewolves—a piece of pelt bearing a special mark—as proof that he had killed Lucien.

In recent decades, Craven has held power in the clan, and under his leadership, the Victor clan has become increasingly decadent and corrupt.

Craven continued to pursue Selena.

Selena, however, looked down on Craven, a hypocritical and vain political animal who only knew how to pursue power, and had always disdained him.

"I will find out the truth."

Selena stood up, snatched the half-full wine glass from Li Xingzhou's hand, tilted her long, slender neck back, and downed it in one gulp. She then slammed the glass down on the table, leaned forward, and stared intently into Li Xingzhou's eyes with an intensely cold and commanding gaze:
"If I find out that everything you said today was a lie... I will never let you get away with this!"

After saying that, he turned and strode away, his trench coat billowing in the wind.

Li Xingzhou leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring. Before she opened the door to leave, he said leisurely:

“If you run into trouble, remember to call me. Victor… he’s not one of those corrupt nobles; he’s still very strong. You can’t handle him alone without help.”

(End of this chapter)