Chapter 24: Three Thousand Strands of Black Hair 【Second update. Please recommend and check if you have voted for me.】

Before Luffy spoke, he threw out a Transformation Talisman. The color of the underwear had long since ceased to be red; it was now black.

“Of course. My wife likes wearing black lace underwear—what of it? Are you planning to police that as well?” The man, who appeared to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, looked impatient and somewhat timorous as he spoke.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Take another look—what color is the underwear now?” Luffy sneered.

“It’s just red... How is that possible? Wasn’t it black just a moment ago?” The man’s eyes widened, as though he’d seen a ghost.

“This is just a trick of mine, an illusion to change the color of the underwear. I didn’t expect you to reveal yourself so easily. You don’t even know what color your wife’s underwear is; you can’t possibly be the owner of this villa.” Luffy exposed the truth in an instant.

“You… it was too dark in here just now, I couldn’t see clearly. Why do you care if I know the color of my wife’s underwear or not? Get out!” The man hadn’t expected to be exposed so quickly, and in his panic, he could only bluff.

“Take him down. Cut off one of his hands,” Luffy said, glancing at Zeng Hongsen.

“Yes…” Zeng Hongsen replied, charging forward with the Scarlet Flame Sword in hand.

“Have you people no regard for the law? To threaten violence at the slightest provocation?” The man’s whole body was drenched in cold sweat, yet he still tried to hold his ground.

Zeng Hongsen lunged, swift as the wind, and slashed down with his sword.

“Aah…” The man fell to his knees in terror. “Fine! I confess! This isn’t my villa. I’m a thief—I broke in, slept with the lady of the house, locked her in the bedroom, and have been having my way with her daily. It’s the apocalypse—if you don’t enjoy yourself, you’ll die miserable and fast. I figured if I enjoyed enough, even dying wouldn’t matter.”

“Impressive—a true madman. Drag him out and behead him,” Luffy said, not wishing to dirty the place with the man’s blood.

“Haha… You hypocrites are just like me, aren’t you? Dreaming of sleeping with a beautiful woman—wouldn’t that satisfy you for life?” The thief screamed wildly.

“Screw you! Who’s as twisted as you?” Zeng Hongsen flung the thief into the garden and, with a single stroke, ended him.

Then he hurried back inside.

Following Luffy, they climbed to the second floor and stopped before a room from which faint sobs could be heard.

…

…

Half an hour earlier.

Jiuzhou City. In a luxurious chamber, Silver Eight descended from the sky into the room. “Greetings, young master.”

“Rise. How was your visit to Yongchun? Did Qin Bailing show any unusual behavior?” The man sat in an armchair, smoking a cigar. His voice was that of a young man in his twenties, but with his back to the light, his face was hidden. He had a good figure—about 1.8 meters tall and weighing roughly 70 kilograms.

“Bailing misses a classmate dearly. Their relationship is quite close, and he’s already arrived in Jiuzhou by train,” Silver Eight reported respectfully.

“Oh, so she has friends. Not bad. You can go now,” the man said.

“Yes.” Silver Eight bowed and left.

“From now on, report everything concerning Bailing to me,” the man said gravely.

“Yes.” Silver Eight flew out through the window.

The man picked up a satellite phone, pondered for a moment, then dialed a number.

“Where is Three Thousand Strands of Hair?”

“In the suburbs, hunting zombies,” came a cold female voice.

“Is there a train station or railway nearby?” the man asked in a deep tone.

“There is.”

“I have a task for you. Go to the nearest train station or any place with tracks. There’s a train from Yongchun to Jiuzhou—kill everyone on it.”

“Yes!” Three Thousand Strands of Hair replied, and hung up without another word.

She made her way to a banyan tree, and upon seeing her targets had defeated a Tier Three Tree Spirit, she followed them into a villa.

…

…

Luffy and his companions reached the door on the second floor, behind which quiet sobbing was heard.

They opened the door.

Inside, a disheveled woman was huddled in the corner, her clothes in disarray.

Through the dim morning light, Luffy looked at the woman.

“How pitiful. There’s nothing decent left in this world,” Zeng Hongsen shook his head.

A few women wanted to step forward to help the victim, but Luffy stopped them.

“Master, the room’s perimeter is covered with black hair. Ordinary people can’t see it; only my spirit form can,” suddenly came the voice of Little Dragon Maiden in Luffy’s ear, her breath fragrant. That was why Luffy had stopped them.

“All of you, leave,” Luffy said to the women, then stepped forward.

“You’ve set a clever trap,” Luffy said, half-smiling at the woman.

Did he see through it? The woman in the corner frowned slightly. She thought the room was too dark for even the strongest to notice the strands of hair. “What do you mean?”

“Still pretending?” Luffy drew the Scarlet Dragon Sword from his back, igniting flames that illuminated the room. Countless strands of black hair became visible everywhere.

“Heh… I didn’t expect you to notice,” the woman said.

Her hair hung over her face, making her features unreadable. She slowly stood up, her clothes fluttering as if in a breeze.

Luffy frowned—he couldn’t sense any power from her, which was uncanny.

Swish, swish—countless strands of black hair shot toward Luffy and Zeng Hongsen, slicing through the air.

Luffy spun in a 360-degree slash, his sword blazing with fire. All the black hair was severed and ignited instantly.

Flames crackled as the hair burned.

Zeng Hongsen’s sword, also of fire, set the strands alight with a single cut.

The woman was astonished—she hadn’t expected to meet her nemeses.

“Consider yourselves lucky to use fire.” She tried to flee, but Luffy wouldn’t let her.

Cross Flame Slash blasted out in an instant.

With a dull thud, the attack struck the woman. Flames engulfed her, burning many of the hair strands.

The woman collapsed.

“What’s going on? She shouldn’t have been so weak. Those black hairs were still growing just now,” Luffy frowned.

“It’s because she wasn’t the mastermind—just a corpse controlled by those black hairs,” Little Dragon Maiden said, holding a little girl, with the divine beast Teddy perched on her shoulder.

“I see.” Luffy approached and examined the corpse. As Little Dragon Maiden said, the woman had been dead for at least half an hour—her body cold, not at all like someone recently killed.

“Wow… Little Dragon Maiden, you’re amazing,” Zeng Hongsen gushed.

“Call me sister-in-law,” Little Dragon Maiden laughed.

“Sister-in-law.” Zeng Hongsen obediently complied.

“You little punk,” Luffy glared at him.

“We have a child together—shouldn’t he call me sister-in-law?” Little Dragon Maiden teased.

Luffy was speechless.

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Author’s note: Please check if you have any recommendation tickets and vote for me. Thank you. It’s very important to me.

Clear rivers, bright moonlight; cherishing love and sending distant blessings.

Wishing you peace on the Hungry Ghost Festival.