Chapter 3: Death Coercion

“Clap! Clap! Clap!”

Several clapping sounds rang out within the bloody camp, signaling that the terrible nightmare was finally over!

The smell of blood began to spread everywhere as the sea breeze blew into the camp. The rain also fell at just the right time onto this open-air camp. It slapped against the faces of the trembling children, watered the small corpses that had lost their lives lying in pools of blood, and washed away the blood on their bodies.

The ground of the camp began to turn muddy as rainwater and blood mixed together…

The cruel Fang Wolves were recalled by their Soul Pet Tamers. After the slaughter, exactly fifty children remained. The others, at the moment of death, had probably already had their souls devoured by the Nightmare Devils inside their bodies. Their bodies would soon be dragged to another place. After the well-fed Nightmare Devils were extracted, the bodies would be thrown into the vast sea.

“Starting tomorrow, you will be free to move around this island. There are many suitable Soul Pets for you on this island. Choose for yourselves, form Soul Pacts with them, and then train them here on the island.”

“Three months later, you will have a battle. The top ten will be sent to another island to continue Nightmare Devil training. As for the rest, hmph, they’ll all be thrown into the sea to feed the hunting sharks!” the middle-aged man said loudly, pointing at the surviving children.

After speaking, the middle-aged man showed a cold smile and continued, “Of course, you’d better not ignore that devil inside your bodies. If you don’t quickly increase your own Soul Power, you will become its pitiful food…”

When he mentioned the devil inside their bodies, the children’s faces immediately turned much paler. They all looked gloomy, filled with a sense of helplessness and despair, as if being chased by death.

“Get back to your huts. Be glad you survived… It’s just a pity, tomorrow you’ll face new death challenges! Also, a piece of advice for you: do not enter the Inner Island area. For you, that place is a death zone!”

There was not a trace of pity, only mocking voices. The thirteen Stewards turned their backs and left, leaving behind fifty corpses in the bloody camp…

The rain continued to wash away the blood from those thin corpses. The surviving children could only step over their bodies to leave this camp and head to the other living quarters camp.

…

There were twenty-five Wooden Cabins in the living quarters camp. The cabins were quite sturdy and neat, arranged in an orderly fashion near the seaside part of the camp. The environment could be considered not bad.

Of course, the decent environment wasn’t because those cold-blooded creatures wanted to give the children good living conditions. It was because this island was a long-term Nightmare Devil training camp. After this batch of children died or left, other children would be sent to repeat their bitter history of blood and tears.

…

Chu Mu’s back was split open. It was very difficult for him to walk back to his Wooden Cabin.

As soon as he opened the door, Chu Mu felt someone splash water onto his back, causing his wound to sting with a burning pain.

Chu Mu immediately turned his head angrily and saw Zhou Shengmo wearing a disgusting, grinning face.

“You’re really lucky, surviving something like this!” Zhou Shengmo said mockingly.

Chu Mu sneered, too lazy to engage in a war of words with this fellow. In Chu Mu’s eyes, Zhou Shengmo was already a dead man sooner or later. Even if he wasn’t killed by the Stewards’ soul beasts, Chu Mu would personally kill this scoundrel!

“Actually, I was helping you in the camp. Maybe after some time, when the Nightmare Devil devours your soul, you’ll regret why you didn’t simply die under the claws of the Fang Wolf, sparing yourself the pain of having your soul consumed! Hahaha!” Zhou Shengmo burst into laughter. After finishing his words, he swaggered off.

Chu Mu watched that somewhat fat and burly guy but still sneered, showing a cunning mind not typical for his age.

Chu Mu’s cunning came from his family’s education, but it was also forced upon him by this hellish life. The heart of any child sent here was dark, unclear, cold, and merciless.

Chu Mu opened the door and entered the Wooden Cabin.

Originally, three other people lived in this cabin, but obviously, they were not coming back. After all, those three were too weak.

Chu Mu hadn’t interacted much with them. He only remembered one of them was a girl. A girl’s body was naturally weaker than a boy’s, so the chance of surviving under the Fang Wolves’ claws was extremely slim. Therefore, it seemed this Wooden Cabin was now Chu Mu’s alone.

Chu Mu’s back was still bleeding. He first changed out of his wet clothes, rinsed off the filth on his body with water, cleaned his wound a bit, and then took out the wound medicine left here by the Stewards from a drawer.

It was clearly difficult to apply the medicine to the wound on his back by himself. Chu Mu lay on the bed but seemed to struggle painfully. He worked up a sweat, hurt the wound several times, but still couldn’t successfully apply the medicine.

“Let me help you…”

“Ah~!”

Both sounds appeared very suddenly. The first voice was rather delicate, but because Chu Mu hadn’t realized someone else was in the room, he jumped up from the bed very alertly. The cry of pain naturally happened because the movement was too violent, causing the wound on his back to tear painfully again!

“It’s you… you didn’t die…” Chu Mu said with a bitter smile after seeing the drenched girl.

“I barely survived… Let me apply it for you…” the girl said.

The girl’s name was Ting Yu. She also lived in this Wooden Cabin. Chu Mu thought she had died, but surprisingly, besides some minor scratches, this girl didn’t have any obvious wounds. She seemed to be a clever girl too.

Chu Mu nodded, lay on the bed, and let Ting Yu help him apply the healing medicine.

While the girl helped him with the medicine, Chu Mu still maintained some vigilance. After all, only ten people would survive after three months. If this seemingly delicate girl was ruthless, she might very well kill him now while applying medicine to reduce competition later!

Ting Yu applied the medicine carefully. Throughout the process, she didn’t make any suspicious moves, making Chu Mu gradually feel the pain lessen.

“I helped you today. If I’m in trouble later, you have to help me too, okay?” Ting Yu said after she finished bandaging Chu Mu’s wound.

The girl was very pragmatic, but it also showed she held no hostility towards Chu Mu. She just wanted to maintain an allied relationship.

Chu Mu nodded and said lightly, “I’ll try my best…”

“My Green Nightmare Devil is growing very fast. It might reach the third stage in ten days. I’m worried my Soul Power won’t be enough to sustain it, and my soul will be devoured by it.” Ting Yu sat on her own bed, hugging her knees and trembling as she spoke.

“Just work hard. If you don’t want to die…” In response to Ting Yu’s lament, Chu Mu could only offer simple comfort.

All Soul Pets had a process of improving their own strength. The evil Soul Pet, Nightmare Devil, was the same.

Just like the Fang Wolves Chu Mu faced earlier. When a Fang Wolf was first born, after progressing from infancy to childhood, it would begin the so-called growth, starting from the first stage…

The Stewards’ Fang Wolves on Nightmare Devil Island had all grown to the fifth stage. They were very aggressive. Children with no strength to fight back definitely could not oppose them.

The Nightmare Devils inside Chu Mu and the other children on the island were also growing stage by stage. Right now, probably everyone’s Nightmare Devil was around the second stage.

Every time a Nightmare Devil advanced a stage, its appetite increased. Before, at least two to three hundred people had their souls devoured alive when their Nightmare Devils grew to the second stage because their own Soul Power was insufficient to sustain them.

“You don’t seem worried at all. Are you very confident in yourself?” Ting Yu asked.

Chu Mu shook his head bitterly but didn’t speak to Ting Yu again.

In fact, Chu Mu was the child with the lowest chance of surviving from the shadow of his Nightmare Devil among all the children.

Because all the other children here had formed a pact with a Green Nightmare Devil. Only Chu Mu had a White Nightmare Devil inside his body, which was much more terrifying than a Green Nightmare Devil!

Even at the same second stage, the White Nightmare Devil’s appetite was much larger than a Green Nightmare Devil’s. And the higher its growth stage, the more its appetite multiplied. It simply wasn’t something a youth could bear. Precisely for this reason, the Stewards considered Chu Mu already a dead man.

Those who survived the curse of the White Nightmare Devil were extremely few. One could say the White Nightmare Devil itself was a killer. Chu Mu’s fate was sealed the moment he formed the Soul Pact with it.

This death coercion could only force Chu Mu to push his potential to the limit to improve his own strength!