Chapter 52: Struggle
“Take me out! Take me out! Take me out!”
The repeated words echoed in her mind like the loud ringing of a bell, and Nanling Yaohua was momentarily stunned.
Can he actually perceive my existence?
Earlier, the Black Emperor and that stinky woman were able to notice me, one because of their proficiency in divination and the other due to their insight into relationships—Luxianbei had already explained that…
So why can this guy perceive me?
After drifting in a daze for a few seconds, she realized that the spirit energy fluctuations around her had noticeably intensified by several levels. The situation for the being trapped here was still limited to expressing words filled with anger and strong commands in her mind, and Nanling Yaohua let out a sigh of relief, raising her willow eyebrows slightly.
Is that it?
That malicious entity in the void knows that to manipulate people, it needs to offer some enticing conditions. You give me nothing and expect me to take you—a clearly dangerous and mysterious guy—out? That’s just naïve!
Thinking this, Nanling Yaohua floated forward a distance and arrived within less than a meter of the shadow.
“Hey, can you hear me? If you can, tell me who you are, what you’ve been through, and who locked you up here. After I hear you out, I’ll decide whether to find someone to help take you out.”
Since this guy could send words into my mind, perhaps he could hear me too, Nanling Yaohua thought.
She had always been incapable of watching others suffer, whether it was the residents around the Jade Gate Desert, the wandering spirit ability users in Huacheng, or her classmates in Beijing—they had all received her righteous help…
This was also why Luxianbei gave her the nicknames “Heroine” and “Heroine Hua” when she was in Beijing.
The poor guy in front of her was clearly enduring unimaginable pain.
Although he looked ferocious and emitted a foul and decaying spirit energy, his way of “requesting” someone to take him out didn’t seem friendly at all.
But does looking fierce and having a bad temper automatically make someone a bad person?
After all, it doesn’t cost anything to communicate; at least I should hear him out first.
After posing her question, the whispers that had been repeating in her mind suddenly stopped. After quietly waiting for a few seconds, she finally heard words other than “take me out.”
“I am Tong Fengwu… If you can help me escape this place, I will surely reward you! I see your future is shrouded in dark clouds, likely entangled with evil spirits and misfortune. I might be able to help you turn your luck around.”
Hearing this, Nanling Yaohua’s heart raced.
She instinctively thought of that chaotic, pitch-black space, where a voice full of temptation seemed to come from nowhere.
Could the evil spirits he mentioned refer to the source of that voice? Nanling Yaohua wondered, her lips slightly parted, just about to ask more, but she then heard the words in her mind become chaotic and fuzzy, as if plunging back into that previous frenzied anger.
“Wealth disperses people together, wealth gathers people apart; to take it with righteousness, to use it joyfully…”
“The way is set by heaven, but matters depend on people…”
“Hahaha, wrong! All wrong! The outcome cannot be changed…”
What does that mean? Nanling Yaohua tilted her head.
At first, she was delighted to discover that there were indeed others in this world who could communicate with her in a certain sense, but before that joy could pass, she heard the other party’s muddled and fragmented speech, and her heart was shrouded in a cloud of doubt.
“Can you be a bit clearer? I don’t quite understand your meaning; if you keep this up, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
However, her request went unanswered, and the repeated words once again echoed in her mind.
“Take me out! Take me out! Take me out!”
Along with the resurgence of whispering in her mind, the shadow that had been firmly pinned to the metal chair suddenly began to struggle violently.
“Clang—clang—clang—!”
The metallic spikes that had restrained that figure just moments ago snapped one after another, sharp buzzing sounds resonating, and fragments of metal shot out, tracing lingering yellow-brown translucent trails in the air.
Soon, out of the dozens of dark spikes binding him, only two at his hips remained, desperately holding on and preventing his escape.
Watching the bizarre scene, Nanling Yaohua felt a tingle of unease.
When she first saw this emaciated figure fixed with dark spikes, she thought of specimens in production.
She had read relevant books in the library of her school in Beijing, which mentioned that during the making of specimens, one stage involved using nails to fix the joints.
Now, the scene she observed resembled a specimen halfway through production suddenly coming to life.
Chaotic thoughts caused him to scream madly, and the pain of his joints being pierced made him struggle violently, his already battered body being torn apart by the dark spikes, blackened broken flesh scattering across the ground.
Before long, that once frightening body became a bloodied, indistinguishable mess.
Along with the scattering, the spirit energy fluctuations exuded a strong decaying aura, as if countless mosquitoes were flying in a thick yellow-brown mist, spreading visibly within this closed spherical hidden space.
Initially surrounding the fierce shadow, within a few breaths, the mist enveloped the entire space.
Immersed within it felt like being at the center of a massive plague, an indescribable sense of oppression and uncleanliness quietly spreading in her heart.
Due to the effects of the mist, Nanling Yaohua’s vision became somewhat blurred, but she still vaguely saw that after the figure sat up, a ghastly wound appeared on his back.
The reason was simple—the wound was too large and too obvious.
Running the length of his back, the wound, approximately three fingers wide, was crudely sewn up with the same dark metal wire that had stitched his mouth, resembling a worm with asymmetrical legs crawling across his back.
Through the gaps of the partially sewn wound, she could see the emptiness inside, as if a large piece of bone and bl**d had been forcibly removed, leaving behind a long, strip-shaped cavity.
Staring at that wound for a few seconds, until the increasingly thick fog completely blurred her vision, Nanling Yaohua suddenly snapped back to her senses, realizing something was off.
Where’s his spine? Was it pulled out? Even in such a state, he’s alive and can still move? Nanling Yaohua pondered.
Just as she was thinking, a sudden alarm blared within the spherical space.
Following that, the sound of grinding stones echoed.
“Boom—!”
On the ceiling, on the walls… countless dots of ghostly green light appeared on the intricately carved curved walls, resembling eyes.
Accompanied by the roar, the curved wall facing that shadow slowly opened, revealing a gap, sparks flying from the overloaded mechanical structures, releasing a thick cloud of smoke.
In the next second, a sharp slicing sound pierced the air.
Countless glowing gold coins shot out from the gap, as if a huge bag filled with treasure had been torn open from below, the coins pouring out like a torrent, spilling over the shadow.
In an instant, flesh was mangled, and bl**d flew.
What baffled Nanling Yaohua was that although the number of coins scattered seemed astonishing, once they landed on the figure’s body, they appeared to be absorbed into him, disappearing without a trace—only intense spirit energy fluctuations spread out.
The collisions of spirit energy fluctuations stirred up waves of air, creating rings of pale golden arcs that surged outward violently, tearing through the pervasive mist.
A few breaths later, when the coins ceased to fall, the shadow stopped struggling, lying back on the metal chair like a corpse.
The wounds from his earlier violent struggles and the falling coins had somehow restored to their original state.
He lay quietly, surrounded by the mist.
After the thick and sticky sound faded, dark spikes began to grow out of his body, piercing through his vital joints.
After yet another failed “prison break,” he was once again imprisoned.
Nanling Yaohua, “…”
————
Meanwhile, as Nanling Yaohua was underground, peeking at the enigmatic figure struggling, Luxianbei, who was waiting backstage, was affected by the intense spirit energy fluctuations rising from below, her eyes uncontrollably burning with pain.
As if her brain were about to turn to ashes, the burning sensation surged from deep within her eyes to her brain, causing her consciousness to become hazy.
In such a state, under normal circumstances, she would have been uncontrollably drawn toward the illusions caused by the powers that provoked her eye abnormalities.
Fortunately, Luxianbei now possessed the North Spirit Seal, and after forcibly activating it several times, she finally managed to suppress her restless eyes, avoiding the risks of gazing directly at terrifying entities.
However, while suppressing her eyes, she couldn’t help but glimpse some strange scenes.
She saw a man dressed in shabby, plain clothes, immediately giving the impression that he had endured many hardships in life, pounding the ground with both hands at the hospital entrance, crying heart-wrenchingly, “d*mn thief, that was money for my life! What should I do now, waah!”
She saw a beautifully decorated study, where two people sat facing each other, the lights off, discussing chilling words.
“That’s your father. Are you sure you want to go after him?”
“Hehe, he’s still your husband, right? Don’t you want him dead too?”
“Enough nonsense! We all know that if he doesn’t d*e, we won’t get a single cent from this vast family business!”
She also saw a bright, elegant office where a tall man swayed slightly, his tone cold.
“Just do as I say!”
“But CEO…” The female secretary behind him looked bitter, “This decision of yours could bankrupt tens of thousands, ruin families. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Did you not understand my words?” The man turned around and said fiercely, “If they don’t go bankrupt, then I’ll be the one going bankrupt!”
Luxianbei, “…”
How strange! What the hell is going on here!
