Jangxia entered the KTV box.
Aside from Ran Mouri, Suzuki Sonoko, and Conan, there were four other people already inside.
They were Tatsuya Kimura and the members of his band—two men and two women in total.
Among them, a short-haired beauty calmly handled food orders, song selections, and guest greetings. She was gentle and composed.
Jangxia looked at her with admiration—not for her manners, but for the intense murderous aura radiating from her.
This was the band's manager, Mari Terahara.
Terahara didn't notice Jangxia's stare and casually gestured for him to sit wherever.
The group was fairly outgoing, and in just a few minutes, the box was buzzing with energy.
After a few songs, Suzuki Sonoko grabbed the mic and looked around. Her gaze fell on Conan, who was sitting there like a tiny grandpa, cheek propped in hand, exuding pure boredom.
Sonoko glanced from Conan to Jangxia, who was sitting beside him, then narrowed her eyes in sudden understanding.
A moment later, she swooped over, scooped up Conan, and stuffed the mic into his arms. "You're too young to be acting like an old man. Go on, sing something!"
Then, like a perfectly natural transition, she spun around and sat down in Conan's former seat.
Her eyes slid sideways, and her face turned subtly pink.
Conan: "…" Just admit you wanted to sit here.
Still, credit where it's due—Sonoko had a real talent for making things seem reasonable. It wasn't unusual for adults to sing, but now the band members were genuinely curious. What kind of songs could a first-grader sing?
So, Conan picked one.
He was famously a tone-deaf disaster—off-key and off-beat. But he still liked singing. It was just that no one ever wanted to listen, so he'd been suppressing his passion for years.
But now…
Conan clutched the mic and glanced around the box.
These people asked him to sing, so really, what happened next wasn't on him.
Jangxia wasn't paying much attention. His focus was still on Terahara Mari. He already knew Conan was tone deaf. How bad could it really be?
Then Conan sang.
Jangxia's hand froze mid-biscuit.
…Sorry.
He had underestimated the Son of Destiny's audio-based attacks.
Ran took out her phone, clearly planning to record.
Then she froze in place.
Hair standing on end, her expression locked in horror. Across the room, the band members stared at Conan, wide-eyed. None of them had imagined that something could sound this... cursed.
Jangxia took a deep breath.
Before the song reached the chorus and its lethal range expanded, he summoned Xiaobai with record speed and transferred his hearing to the shikigami.
The plan was for Xiaobai to take his precious eardrums and flee.
But before Jangxia could even give the command, Xiaobai let out a pained "squeeeak"—like it had been crushed in a closing door—and shot off like a bullet, squeezing out the window and tumble-rolling onto the street.
Silence returned to Jangxia's ears.
He exhaled deeply and leaned back on the sofa, savoring his survival.
With the soul-melting audio blocked and everyone else stunned into statues, Jangxia finally had the clarity to focus on his real objective: Mari Terahara.
Her murderous aura carried the strong smell of raw green peppers.
Although that was technically a rare and special aura, Jangxia's enthusiasm plummeted once he got a good sniff.
He remembered this woman now.
Mari Terahara and that spiky-haired wannabe star, Tatsuya Kimura, had… complicated feelings.
A few years back, when Kimura was signed by a major label, he'd invited Mari to be his manager.
Mari read between the lines: Kimura likes me.
Overjoyed but also insecure about her plain looks, she went and got plastic surgery.
After the transformation, instead of being delighted, Kimura got weirdly mad and started insulting her—calling her ugly and treating her worse and worse.
Mari's heart fell from cloud nine to the Mariana Trench. She felt deceived. And as the years passed, her simmering resentment morphed into full-blown murderous intent. Tonight's celebration was her chosen execution date.
…But actually, Kimura had liked her all along. Unfortunately, tsundere venom rarely leads to happy endings.
So now Jangxia faced a difficult decision:
Should he harvest Kimura's soul or Mari's murderous aura?
If Mari's aura had been any flavor but green pepper—especially the raw kind that punches your brain—this would've been easy.
Jangxia sighed and decided to leave it up to fate.
Heads, he'd take the soul. Tails, the murderous aura.
This wasn't indecision—this was just the default coping method of a true European Emperor: let luck handle it.
He sat up slightly, reaching into his pocket for a coin.
But then a hand suddenly reached toward him.
Jangxia instinctively caught the wrist, raised his arm, and slammed the "sneak attacker" onto the sofa. At the same time, he picked up an ashtray, ready to give them a couple smacks to calm his startled heart.
Then he looked down and realized…
It was Conan.
…So he finally finished singing?
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 15/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
Glossary:
European / European Emperor – A fan term meaning extremely lucky; someone who always wins games of chance.