Chapter Forty-One: The Crisis Approaches

Inside the pitch-black corridor, the cold walls pressed close, deep and narrow. Mo Han leaned against the wall and immediately heard a faint rustling movement.

A chilling, spectral wind, strange and ghostly, brushed softly past, making his hair stand on end. Mo Han’s eyes flew open; he raised the firefly bone, its dim phosphorescence illuminating Tang Ruyan before him.

At this moment, Tang Ruyan was trembling all over. Her long lashes were furrowed, no longer curled; an uncanny, unnatural allure exuded from her lips. Mo Han was alarmed, a powerful unease spreading instantly through him. He called out to Tang Ruyan with all his strength, but she remained unresponsive, which only deepened his sense that something was terribly wrong with her.

The sinister wind continued to seep from the pitch-black, narrow corridor ahead, and the ghostly light of the firefly bone flickered in wavering ripples, casting their dancing shadows on the ink-black wall in a way that chilled the heart.

“My god, don’t tell me this place is haunted!” Fang He clutched the gold bars to his chest with both hands, his voice hoarse and trembling, panic written all over his face.

“Would it kill you to shut your mouth for once?” Mo Han’s face instantly darkened. Fang He’s big mouth could drive anyone to despair; whoever traveled with him was bound to suffer misfortune.

“Damn it, Mo Han, that’s not fair!” Fang He’s temper flared.

“Pah! Staying with you is just damn unlucky!” Mo Han spat defiantly on the ground, his face full of contempt.

“Say that again, I dare you!” Fang He, thoroughly provoked, jumped to his feet and pointed furiously at Mo Han’s nose.

“I said, you’re just damn bad luck!” Mo Han’s temper exploded; he yelled, waving his burly arms, ready to slap at any moment.

“Wait, let’s talk this out—gentlemen use words, not fists.” Fang He, confronted by Mo Han’s imposing physique, instantly wilted. If it came to blows, he’d be the one to suffer; his slight build was no match.

“Damn it, you’d better behave yourself!” Mo Han roared, spitting so much that Fang He had to shrink his neck in defense.

“Friend, you’re too domineering,” Fang He muttered with a forced tone of compassion.

“Damn it, do you believe I’ll shave you bald right now?” Mo Han glared, growing more irked at the sight of Fang He.

Fang He fell silent, not daring to make a sound. Poor Fang He—brilliant all his life, yet meeting this unreasonable Mo Han was the worst luck imaginable.

“Damn you, still glaring at me? Do you have a death wish?” Mo Han expected Fang He to quiet down, but instead, Fang He suddenly widened his eyes, his face turning an alarming shade of green, as though petrified by terror. He shook his head violently, covered his mouth, and pointed behind Mo Han, nearly turning green with fright.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The mood suddenly turned terrifyingly tense. In his rage, Mo Han finally realized something was watching them from behind.

Cold sweat drenched the back of his neck. His heart pounded in time with Fang He’s ghastly pallor, and even his ragged breathing sounded stiff and unnatural.

The sinister wind whipped through Mo Han’s fingers, making the firefly bone hiss and flicker. The shifting glow pressed heavy on his mind, a suffocating sense creeping in.

Mo Han swallowed hard; the sound of his Adam’s apple sliding was enough to make one shudder. He stiffly twisted his neck and slowly turned his head.

The sensation of being watched from behind was unbearable, and the unknown thing lurking there only compounded the horror.

But as Mo Han finally saw what was behind him and prepared to strike with the firefly bone, he froze in utter shock.

Before his eyes was a face devoid of the slightest color, not merely pale but utterly lifeless. Blood-red eyes blazed with an unearthly light, reflecting Mo Han’s own image in their pupils.

A mane of black hair whipped wildly in the ghostly wind, writhing like a nest of serpents. Her lips were a demonic red, twisted in a sinister smile. Clad in a white dress that, under the eerie phosphorescence, looked horrifyingly spectral, she seemed the very image of a ghost swaying before them.

“Ghost! There’s a ghost!” At last, Fang He could no longer contain his terror; his scream echoed through the corridor.

Standing so close, Mo Han simply froze, his eyes bulging in disbelief at the scene before him.

It was unmistakably Tang Ruyan, who had been unconscious for so long, yet now she appeared utterly transformed. The sinister aura about her made it impossible for Mo Han to believe this was the woman he knew.

“You—” Mo Han’s voice trembled as he managed a single syllable, but before he could finish, icy slender fingers clamped around his dark neck.

Even now, with his mind still reeling, Mo Han could hardly believe that such a delicate hand could wield such terrifying strength. In moments, it had left a deep red bruise on his throat.

“Uh… you, you—” Mo Han stammered, barely able to force out a few broken words. His large hands gripped the slender hand at his neck, but he couldn’t pry it open in the slightest; it was as if that delicate hand had turned into a vice, pinning him in place and choking the breath from his lungs.

Mo Han was in shock—was this really the Tang Ruyan he knew? The person before him was utterly changed, terrifying beyond belief.

In the dark corner, Fang He crouched numbly, the scene before him too overwhelming. A strong, burly man was now being throttled by a frail woman, as helpless as a fish on a chopping block. The stark contrast and terror made his legs quake uncontrollably; before he realized it, he’d collapsed onto the floor, gold bars spilling from the bundle in his hands.

Meanwhile, hundreds of meters down the corridor, Guan Qian’s sense of Tang Ruyan was growing fainter and fainter. Desperate, he teleported again and again, knowing she must be facing unimaginable danger. He had to reach her, or the consequences would be dire.

The icy wind sliced past Guan Qian’s ears like knives, but nothing could slow his stride. With his genetic lock activated to the third stage, he glided through the dark corridor like a phantom, his speed and agility pushed to their utmost limit.

His explosive strength was on full display, and in a flash, he arrived before Mo Han and the others.

But when Guan Qian saw the horrifying transformation of Tang Ruyan before his eyes, his white pupils flared with sudden light.