Free Web NovelChapter 181: Chapter 173: It’s Time to Repay the Junior Brothers!!
"Sigh, those little bastards..."
Li Chunfeng braced himself against the cold stone wall, his chest heaving violently. Sweat beaded on his chin.
He stared into the dark passage where the others had disappeared, then glanced at the retreating backs of the two mortals. In the end, all he could do was sigh.
He really couldn’t run anymore. With every movement, the muscles and bones in his legs screamed in protest.
He leaned against the wall and scanned his surroundings, trying to find a glimmer of hope for survival.
Suddenly, his gaze was caught by an inconspicuous, narrow crack in the stone wall nearby.
The instinct for survival overpowered his body’s exhaustion. He mustered his last ounce of strength, staggered over, and pulled out his Wooden Sword, using it like a crowbar to dig and pry.
Finally, he widened the crack just enough to fit one person.
He all but rolled inside, curling up in the narrow space and pressing himself tightly against the rock.
Outside, the "RASP... RASP..." sound grew closer, as if it were right next to his ear.
Fear made his body tremble uncontrollably, his teeth chattering.
He began to repeat a single motion, almost compulsively.
Drawing his sword, and then sheathing it.
"CLANG... CLANG... CLANG..."
It was the only thing he could do at that moment. It was as if this was the only way to prove he was still alive, the only way to drive away the darkness and fear that threatened to consume him.
’Heavens, protect me! Heavens, protect me! What comes next will be good... It must be good...’
Just then, the silhouette of a Cursed Spirit flickered past the entrance to the passage.
It stopped.
Li Chunfeng’s heart stopped beating.
Through the shadows of the crack, he saw the thing turn its half-rotted head in his direction.
A foul stench mixed with the aura of death washed over him.
Li Chunfeng was so terrified he almost screamed, but he bit his own tongue.
The sharp pain kept him sane, while the motion of his hands became pure survival instinct, more than twice as fast as before.
The Cursed Spirit tilted its head, a hint of confusion seemingly showing in its rotting eye sockets.
It seemed to sense something, but the continuous "CLANG" seemed to interfere with its judgment.
In the end, it gave up investigating. Its form flickered, and it continued its pursuit in the direction the others had fled.
"Huu... Hah... Hah..."
Only when the "RASP... RASP..." sound had completely faded into the distance did Li Chunfeng collapse limply in the crack, gasping for air.
He didn’t dare stop the motion of his hands. This seemingly absurd repetition was his lifeline.
’This is the supreme Sword Dao obtained from the Sword Tomb!’
’This isn’t some Sword Technique, it’s clearly a life-saving Divine Technique!’
’If I hadn’t had this technique to protect myself, I... would already be a corpse today!’
...
And so, time passed, little by little.
But the two mortals running ahead of him weren’t so lucky.
As the two of them ran, it seemed the immortal masters clearing the path ahead had missed something.
Suddenly, a black cat shot out from the shadows at the feet of the man in front!
"MEOW—!"
The black cat let out a piercing shriek as it was tripped over, then darted back into the darkness.
The man, however, was sent sprawling by the sudden interruption. A sharp pain shot through his ankle—he had sprained it!
As he fell, he happened to trip his companion as well.
"Oof!"
"What are you doing?!"
The other man also took a nasty fall, but he reacted instantly, scrambling to his feet to keep running.
However, a hand seized his ankle in a death grip!
It was the man with the sprained ankle!
"Don’t... don’t leave me, you bastard!"
"You... you can’t go!"
The man with the sprained ankle had a look of terror and madness on his face. He held onto his companion for dear life, roaring,
"You can’t leave me!"
"If you leave, they... they’ll come back and eat me!"
"I’ll become a ghost! And I won’t let you go even as a ghost!"
"Get off! Get the hell off me!"
"You fucking let go!"
The man who was being held panicked completely. He desperately used his free foot to kick the other man’s face and hands.
"If you want to die, die alone! Don’t drag me down with you!"
One kick, two kicks, a few more...
He kicked relentlessly, but the man with the sprained ankle was like a madman, his fingernails digging into the other’s flesh, refusing to let go.
’If I’m going down, you’re coming with me!’
Just as the trapped man landed another vicious kick on the other’s face, he suddenly felt the hand gripping him... loosen.
’Hmph, should’ve done that from the start...’
He thought he had finally kicked the other man off. A surge of joy went through him, and he quickly turned, scrambling to get up and run.
Instead, he ran headfirst into a cold, sticky, and foul-smelling embrace.
He stiffly, slowly, raised his head.
The face of a female ghost was pressed against his.
The lower half of its face was completely rotten. A murky eyeball had popped out of its decaying socket and was dangling before his eyes, connected only by a single sinew, swaying gently.
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
A strange, bubbling sound came from the female ghost’s mangled mouth.
The next second, countless hands shot out from the darkness, grabbing his limbs, his head, his torso...
"AAAAAHHH—SAVE ME!!"
He let out the last, agonizing scream of his life.
And behind the man who had let go, at some unknown point, a crowd of twisted, screeching Cursed Spirits had gathered...
Endless terror consumed them completely.
The remaining Cursed Spirits ignored the two corpses on the ground, which were about to transform into Cursed Spirits themselves. They looked in the direction Dong Changsheng and the others had fled, then melted into the shadows.
...
Meanwhile, Dong Changsheng and the others, who were desperately trying to break through ahead, were suddenly forced to a halt by a wide-open vista.
A massive, bottomless chasm stretched out before them.
On the other side of the chasm was the only entrance to the next area, but a considerable distance separated the two.
A cold, sinister wind howled up from the abyss below, as if countless hands were trying to drag them down.
"This... How are we supposed to get across?!"
"It’s over... We’re dead meat!"
"I’m only at the fourth level of Qi Refining! There’s no way I can make this jump!"
For Cultivators at the fourth level of Qi Refining like them, this distance was an absolutely insurmountable barrier.
Dong Changsheng was panting heavily, his chest heaving, but he quickly calmed his mind.
He estimated the distance. With his Cultivation at the eighth level of Qi Refining, he could probably make the jump by circulating his Spiritual Qi.
He listened closely. The hair-raising "RASP... RASP..." sound from behind didn’t seem to have followed them.
The crisis was temporarily averted. As the panic subsided, Dong Changsheng looked at the scene before him and his junior brothers, whose faces were ashen. A sense of responsibility welled up inside him.
’I can’t just leave by myself. Wouldn’t that make me a villain?’
’Besides, it’s just crossing a chasm, not facing death head-on. I can do this!’
’So, I have to save them. I must save them!’
’My junior brothers have always looked out for me. Now, it’s my turn to repay their kindness!!!’
