What was going on? Wasn't the new character a perfectly decent devil in the last chapter? He had even helped the protagonist revive his sister. So why was he acting like a villain again in this chapter? What did they mean by "power scaling collapse"—what had he done?
Wen Nian closed the bullet comments with a head full of questions and began reading the manga update.
The title page depicted a pair of enormous hands—black, covered in rough, craggy lines, their tapered fingertips sharp as a monster's claws.
A glass bottle floated at the center of those palms, the manga's protagonist trapped inside it. In the surrounding darkness, a pair of jade-green bestial eyes were faintly visible, watching the bewildered protagonist within the bottle.
Amid the [Trisolaran] [Trisolaran] bullet comments scrolling across the screen, the image looked especially horrifying.
The imagery of a devil in a bottle was easy to interpret. A devil, sealed away for thousands of years, initially promised boundless wealth and glory to whoever freed it. But after millennia, that anticipation gradually curdled into a vicious curse, and the person who finally released it would bear the full weight of its malice and murderous intent.
It seemed like this should be that kind of imagery—but the roles appeared to be reversed.
"You Shuo freed the devil imprisoned in the bottle, so the devil locked him inside it?" Wen Nian tried to analyze, silently cursing the spoiler-laden bullet comments that had left her heart racing with anxiety.
Her impression of the new character wasn't bad. After all, she was a protagonist stan—as long as someone could pull the protagonist back from the brink when he was breaking down, she couldn't possibly dislike them.
Wen Nian turned to the first page. She remembered that the last chapter had ended with You Shuo trading away his soul.
And at the beginning of this chapter, You Shuo held his sister's body in the rain, head bowed.
【"I was deceived after all."】
Wen Nian's heart lurched.
Wasn't this supposed to be a resurrection? What was going on?
Wen Nian couldn't stomach the heartbreak. Her fingers flew across the screen, skipping ahead past the opening.
In the end, she still saw those tightly shut eyes open amid the downpour.
The panel gave a close-up of those eyes—raindrops falling into bewildered pupils, trailing from the corners down her cheeks as she murmured groggily: 【"...You Shuo?"】
The gloomy color palette was swept away in an instant, the entire panel rippling with the hues of skies clearing after rain.
As if the artist had drawn a miracle.
"Thank god, thank god," Wen Nian said.
Even though she had already guessed the outcome, actually seeing this part still filled her with joy, tears threatening to fall alongside the characters in the manga.
That devil—frightening as he looked—had truly fulfilled You Shuo's wish.
The dead... had come back to life.
How was that not a miracle?
"So the deal went through? You Shuo traded away his soul?" Wen Nian turned to the next page.
Then she jumped again.
A pair of green eyes appeared suddenly out of the darkness—exactly like a ghost's.
City's Edge was a full-color manga. No one had ever questioned how such an enormous workload still allowed for rapid updates—but regardless, those full-color panels hit Wen Nian like a truck at this moment.
"A ghost!" Wen Nian now understood why some of the bullet comments at the beginning had called the new character "Edge's number-one male ghost." A sudden appearance like that was genuinely unbearable.
She scrolled down while grumbling, "The new character really is like a ghost—appears and vanishes without a trace." She paused, studying the figure the manga had rendered, and added, "But the looks are seriously top-tier."
Based on her current understanding, the new character felt like the first cheat the author had given protagonist You Shuo. Otherwise, how could you explain it? The most psychologically devastating villain to date, 【Jiao Tu】, had discovered You Shuo's true identity. His real information was exposed, and his sister had suffered a brutal attack.
Without the new character, You Shuo might have truly fallen apart.
Wen Nian felt the new character was You Shuo's cheat—and the more she read, the more it seemed that way.
"He doesn't act high and mighty at all!" Wen Nian genuinely couldn't understand why earlier readers were calling him a villain.
The previous chapter hadn't fleshed out the new character's personality in detail, but this latest chapter seemed to exist solely to develop him.
Look at how good-tempered the new character was in the manga. Aside from saying some cryptic things, he was genuinely a wonderful person.
Powerful characters always had their quirks, and among the major players who had appeared so far, the new character's temperament was exceptionally mild.
See? He didn't even demand that You Shuo address him with some formal title. How considerate was that?
He just wanted someone to keep him company!
【"A title? Whatever you like. If you insist on calling me 'devil,' I don't mind."】
The panel sketched his sly, mischievous features. Wen Nian clutched her chest, and the words "Green-eyed kitty!" burst from her lips.
How adorable was that? Look at the way he hopped onto the table the moment he saw one—exactly like her cat at home.
Devil? This was clearly a little angel sent to rescue You Shuo from dire straits!
The green-eyed kitty sat on the tabletop, tilting his head as he watched You Shuo.
Those eyes seemed to glow—part divine, part demonic. The full-screen panel enveloped both figures.
【"Your eyes are like gemstones."】
An impossibly beautiful green that seemed to flow with shifting light. Dense lashes lowered, reflecting tangled lines in those pupils—sealing time, life and death, and the vast unknown within jade-green amber.
The glow of the computer projected from behind, sinking him into shadow, yet those eyes remained so brilliantly bright.
In many narratives, the one who bestows a name holds the position of power—but here, the dynamic was completely inverted.
You Shuo faced the light, having to tilt his head back to meet those eyes. Just as in this relationship, he occupied the subordinate position—the one being controlled.
Even though at this very moment, he was naming the one who held power over him.
【"Can I call you Bi Xi?"】
Against the black background, golden and crimson threads intertwined, coiling around each other as if linking the fates of two people, raising the curtain on a story yet to unfold.
The devil accepted the entangled fate: 【"Of course you can."】
Wen Nian thought: indeed, it was You Shuo who first opened the dust-sealed bottle. He gave the devil a name and let the devil fall into the mortal world.
And the devil accepted the invitation that would bring about his fall.
Wen Nian patted both her cheeks with her palms, the skin beneath them burning hot.
"How is this a villain?" she murmured.
How adorable! This was clearly a cheat given to the protagonist!
Once you found someone cute, there was no way to hate them anymore.
That was exactly where Wen Nian stood now.
"Bi Xi, Bi Xi—what a beautiful name!" As she kept repeating it, she couldn't resist tabbing out to post on the forum.
【[Character Post] Am I the only one who thinks the new character Bi Xi is adorable?】
City's Edge was simply too popular—even first thing in the morning, her post received instant replies.
[I agree! Between fox archetype and snake archetype, snake archetype wins!]
[Our green-eyed python just coils tight around Shuo-ge until he can't breathe!]
She had no idea what that meant, but Wen Nian excitedly replied: [Yes yes yes, adorably explosive!]
[But I'm on team cat archetype.]
The other person replied: [??? You're going with cat archetype for a character THIS creepy? Leave the kittens out of this—come join us snake archetype fans! An ice-cold, suffocating, big-eyed cutie snake!]
Creepy? Where?
Wen Nian was utterly bewildered. Sure, Bi Xi's sudden appearances were ghost-like, but no matter how she looked at it, he was a good-tempered green-eyed kitty.
Before long, her post filled with fans rallying behind the snake archetype. Wen Nian figured there must be something in the parts she hadn't read yet, and returned to the manga with lingering doubt.
Perhaps because the earlier plot had been so tightly paced, the night market outing felt comparatively relaxed—like a fan-service chapter.
When Bi Xi ate tanghulu, Wen Nian couldn't stop murmuring, "So cute, so cute."
He even had a sweet tooth—didn't that make him even more of a green-eyed kitty?
Wen Nian hadn't paid attention to what they were saying. Her eyes were glued to the details.
"Bad kitty—only eats the sugar coating and doesn't like the hawthorn." Wen Nian's gaze was fixed on the tanghulu stick. She was certain she had seen Bi Xi eat all the sugar coating off, then wrinkle his nose when only the hawthorn remained.
She laughed. "But he's not wasteful—finishes the food anyway. Points for that!"
What was she supposed to do? The more she looked, the cuter he got.
"But he shouldn't have said that about You Shuo's sister." Wen Nian disapproved of only one thing Bi Xi had said. "Why would he call his sister a burden?"
You Shuo, that sister-complex of a man, would absolutely get angry.
And in the manga, You Shuo did get angry—but he had no time to argue with Bi Xi, because something had happened.
"A prisoner held by the Nightwatch actually escaped?" Wen Nian was shocked. "Who was on duty—Xiaoxiao or Luoqi? How did they screw up again?"
This was the very prisoner who had killed You Shuo's sister—how could they let him get away?
The tension surged back, and Wen Nian's thoughts followed protagonist You Shuo once more. But unlike You Shuo's own feelings, she still found Bi Xi adorable.
"Like a big companion pet." No matter how Wen Nian looked at it, she found him cute.
The facts proved that Bi Xi really did have a good temper. Look—You Shuo had said he would take him to the night market, then ditched him halfway through to go handle work, and Bi Xi didn't even get mad. If that wasn't good-tempered, what was?
Sure, he had said the wrong thing, but it was only that once. He probably didn't mean it—so why blame him?
That wave of infatuation lasted until those inhuman black hands closed in around You Shuo from behind.
【"Consider this my apology."】
In the full-color panels, the depiction of blood splattering carried extraordinary impact.
The crimson barrier and the blood spraying within it, and in the panel, 【Quick Blade's】 face contorted in terror.
He had not done this willingly.
He had thought he had escaped to safety—thought that once the barrier rose, he would be secure. But the devil needed only a single finger, and that dream shattered.
From behind You Shuo's neck, the devil revealed just one jade-green eye. So beautiful—just as You Shuo had said, like a gemstone.
And so utterly cruel.
"Are you kidding me? He killed someone over a single remark?" Wen Nian was stunned.
The shadow of death hung over the hearts of the characters in the story, and over the hearts of its readers as well.
It was practically butchery. 【Quick Blade's】 terror-stricken eyes as he mutilated himself were enough to become anyone's nightmare.
And for what? Just because Bi Xi had said something and You Shuo got angry—so he went and killed the man for him?
Narration boxes in the panel conveyed You Shuo's inner thoughts: 【If Bi Xi can see through me, how could he possibly not know what I actually want?】
【I shouldn't have trusted him. This was my mistake.】
【A devil is still a devil in the end.】
Wen Nian thought: indeed, Bi Xi was no green-eyed kitty. He could be considerate. He could lower himself. He could be indifferent to You Shuo's attitude, amuse himself on his own, play the part of a big companion pet and let You Shuo do as he pleased.
But in the end, he was the strongest being by his own admission. When he wanted to do something, no one could stop him.
He was indeed a villain. His indifference toward life meant he would never become an ally of justice.
Wen Nian detected in him a certain naive cruelty.
"He really is the snake archetype," Wen Nian said, admitting she had been wrong before. "Cold-blooded, suffocating, yet possessing a lethal beauty."
She understood now why the earlier bullet comments had been so frenzied. Overwhelming power and terrifying cruelty—Bi Xi's arrival had shattered the rhythm City's Edge had maintained from its very beginning until his appearance.
The inviolable 【Red Moon】 rules had been broken, and protagonist You Shuo had already traded his soul to this very devil.
What would the future hold? Wen Nian didn't know.
And yet—she still found Bi Xi adorable. Maybe because that hawthorn really had been too sour for him.
...
【[Discussion Post] With Edge at this point in the story, can we even debate power levels anymore?】
OP:
The moment Bi Xi showed up, every power level collapsed. We're in the age of Ragnarok now!
And you, my friend Bi Xi—you are the sole executioner!