Chapter 220: The War Ghost's Trap (3)
"Zhongming, has your brain also been burned by the fire?" Du Lanbai's face turned pale with anxiety. "You still have a chance of survival if you are alone. Take me with you, and we will die together!"
"Are you willing to die here?" Chongming said lazily, "We killed the Nightmare King. When we get back, you'll be a legend in the world of Shendong. The girl you like won't ignore you anymore. She'll pester you to tell her stories about your battles with the heretics and pass on messages to the bard to compose a new epic for you. Think about such a bright future. Are you willing to rot here?"
After that, I was speechless. At the funeral, they asked me about Knight Duranbai's heroic end, and I could only say that he was reduced to a dozen pieces and waiting to be digested in the goblins' stomachs. It was probably an unprecedented funeral, because everyone was laughing so hard that no one had time to cry for you.
Duran's eyelids rolled up, he wanted to roll his eyes but he didn't have the strength.
"For your own sake, can you please stop being so sarcastic?" Du Lanbai said with a wry smile. "You're still talking about a legendary? You're at 7 and I'm only 5. When you were fighting Vansalar, I was fighting two Rainbow Evils. What a legendary bullshit."
Chongming took several steps forward and remained silent. Talking to him was like torture, especially since he was dragging Du Lanbai along with him.
Unseen by his friend, the cords of his cloak chafed against his muscles and became lodged in his half-broken shoulder joint. Chongming's remaining strength wasn't enough to carry another adult, so he used his own bones as a stabilizing force, forcing the body forward with his will.
Chu Hengkong felt admiration just by watching from the side. Even the Desire Demon would marvel at the creativity of such torture, but Chongming remained calm and was even talking to his buddies.
"Whether you like it or not, they'll spread the word about you when you get back," Chongming said. "They'll say you're the hero who defeated the demon king, the brave paladin Duranbai, just like they did in Volcasto."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Du Lanbai also laughed, "Such a great achievement is simply attributed to me?"
"Because they don't want to believe that it was a wild warrior who defeated the Demon King. They think that the hero who slew the evil god should be a knight!" Zhongming sneered, "What you say is irrelevant to the 'truth'. They will say that you deliberately gave up the victory so that your friend could succeed. They will weave this generosity into songs and sing loudly the story they want to hear!"
Du Lanbai's expression changed instantly, and his handsome face became extremely ugly.
"Don't save me." He whispered in fear, "Let go! Let me die here! Die here!"
Chongming suddenly kicked Du Lanbai aside and yelled, "Fuck you! Which is more important, life or reputation?"
"Reputation is important!" Du Lanbai shouted, "We've been fighting till today just to let them know you're not a heretic!!"
"We've been fighting for so long, why don't you understand yet?" Chongming said with a half-smile, "There's no such thing as a bullshit righteous path or an unrighteous path. If they like you, you're righteous. If they don't like you, you're an unrighteous path!"
Du Lanbai struggled desperately to get closer, but he had lost his legs and could only stay where he was, like a useless burden. The narrow cave further restricted his vision. He could only see Chongming's back, but not the ugly dwarfs who walked in silently.
A rotten short arrow lodged in the ground. The strange ghosts were already chasing him. If Chongming hadn't thrown Dulanbai away earlier, Dulanbai's throat would have been pierced by the short arrow by now. The rescue knight's actions temporarily weakened Chongming. He plopped down on the ground, leaning on the murderous knife like a crutch.
Control returned to Chu Hengkong.
Chu Hengkong stared at the approaching dwarfs, feeling a sudden urge to laugh. He had finally grasped the pattern of this longing. This wasn't a game created by the murderous blade, but a movie it replayed. Those people and events you cherished were inevitable events. You were trapped in them, unable to interfere; all you could control were the insignificant battles and suffering.
This knife fundamentally resists interference from others. It uses the lightest and most vicious part of longing to create this trap, to mock everyone who tries to wake it up.
"Okay." Chu Hengkong chuckled, "Then I'll show you."
He sat cross-legged, motionless, his left thumb thrust forward, advancing his blade inch by inch as the strange ghosts watched. The blade unsheathed two inches, and a terrifying surge of murderous intent erupted, instantly freezing the strange ghosts' movements. But this time, the leader of the herd shouted, shielding them from the murderous onslaught with a pale purple energy shield. Its power emboldened the strange ghosts to fight.
The crowned leader leaped up first, clawing at the scabbard with his sharp claws. Greed gleamed in his eyes, realizing the blade's power. Past experience with plundering taught him that to kill the remnant, he had to seize the blade first. At that moment, Chu Hengkong reached forward with his right hand and grasped the scabbard. He pulled with all his might, but the blade didn't budge, and he pulled the useless scabbard free.
The sharp blade crashed straight into the leader's claws!
The leader was split in two mid-air, the wound so neat it looked as if the world around them had been severed. The moment it touched the knife, it lost all life, the ferocious blade forbidding its touch. The other strange ghosts screamed and retreated. Chu Hengkong stood up comfortably, grabbed the corpse of the strange ghost leader, and stuffed it into his mouth.
He dragged the sword forward, making no attempt to strike, simply moving it casually. The weapons or bodies of the strange ghosts collided with the sword. Before the murderous sword, the bones of the beasts were nothing but air. Anything that touched the blade was obliterated by the murderous intent, and in half a second, only corpses remained on the ground.
The bodies of the strange ghosts fell to the ground, but there was no blood. Their blood had been sucked dry by the murderous knife, and the blade, black as ash, had a touch of blood, like petals falling on the blade. Chu Hengkong sat down to save energy and bit the bloodless corpse.
Only then did Dulanbai see what was happening. He groaned, "The Strange Ghost is intelligent... Many Dust Islanders mistake it for a subhuman..."
"They were just eating you." Chu Hengkong said coldly, "You don't want to eat it?"
"I'm not a subhuman!" Du Lanbai said unconvincedly, "Besides, I don't have your good teeth... You can't even swallow the magic..."
Chu Hengkong chuckled, then grabbed the useless knight again, dragging him forward with one hand. The previous conversation had exhausted them both, and they both fell silent, listening to the distant tremors. The source was drawing closer and closer, and they were almost face to face with whatever was out there.
"Did we take the wrong road?" Du Lanbai broke the silence. "I feel like we're...sinking."
Chu Hengkong felt it too. Unbeknownst to him, the ground's texture had subtly changed. With every step, he felt a slight springiness. It wasn't the sticky sensation of stepping into a swamp, but rather like crawling on a soft, warm mat. A layer of translucent slime coated the mountainside. Strange mushrooms and fine grasses were increasingly common, and small pebbles resembling tumors were everywhere.
He quietly lowered the murderous knife, and the blade penetrated the ground without any hesitation, oozing out black liquid.
"There is abundant groundwater in this place," said Chu Hengkong.
"You insist on calling this groundwater, don't you?" Du Lanbai struggled to look up. "This cave is alive."
"right."
"You've fallen into a trap."
"It seems so."
Du Lanbai took a long breath. The noise of running rats flashed by.
"I remember a terrible story. When I was little, adults used it to scare children." Du Lanbai slowly took a breath. "It's said that deep in the First Abyss, there exists an abnormally large creature. When it flies over Dust Island, the entire sky turns black. People think it's the mad moonlight.
This creature is enormous yet adept at concealing itself, allowing you to slip into its belly without even realizing it. It's so vast that an entire ecosystem has formed within it. Those exotic beasts you rarely see on Dust Island... like the Strange Ghost and the Eyeless Stone Demon... live within its belly, like its cells.
"Are there any things in these cells that look like mice?" Chu Hengkong asked. He saw a mouse running across the fluorescent grass.
"Among them is a particularly frantic beast called the 'Black Rat.'" Du Lanbai closed his eyes. "They have no emotions, no intelligence, but are always hungry. When that creature flies over the Dust Island, the Black Rat will quietly descend. When it leaves, the Black Rat will fall into the Sea of Illusion. By then, there will be no Dust Island, and all matter will have been devoured by the Black Rat. When I was a child, my parents used this story to scare me, telling me not to go out alone at night, because you never know whether you'll see the night or hungry Black Rat."
"It's a very interesting bedtime story." Chu Hengkong stared at the mouse, and the black mouse looked back at him. "What's the mass of that thing?"
"Particle 6," Du Lanbai said, "They are immortal 'ghost gods'."
(End of this chapter)
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