Unlike the cramped space in the dark chamber earlier, this area was spacious. With these three unexpectedly sharp and sturdy short swords, the three of us went all out and quickly chiseled open a hole in the stone slab large enough for someone like Sun Fatty to crawl through.
After leaving the burial chamber, we continued moving forward. We hadn't gone more than two hundred meters before encountering another massive stone slab blocking the path. This time, we didn't even need Yang Jun to say anything. The three of us got right to work and chiseled away at it with everything we had. Along the way, we encountered similar slabs every two or three hundred meters. Even though our short swords were practically spiritual weapons, after repeating this effort several times, we were utterly exhausted. Hao Zhengyi and the Crow offered to take over multiple times, but Sun Fatty and I firmly refused.
After we broke through the fifth slab, what lay ahead was the suspended plaza beneath the sea that we had seen earlier. The flashes of lightning reflecting white arcs through the seawater had vanished. The entire plaza was now cloaked in darkness. Sun Fatty raised his flashlight and shone it into the plaza, and there, in the murky depths beneath the sea, stood a figure.
The person was originally facing away from us. Upon hearing our approach, he slowly turned to face us and said languidly, "What took you so long? I thought you'd found some secret passage and left me behind. Can't believe you're still dawdling here." As he spoke, he bared a mouth full of blackened teeth and flashed a crooked grin.
It was Zhang Rantian… But wasn't he supposed to be swarmed by his 'cousins'? His body didn't look badly injured either, though his skin was covered in scratches and bite marks from various creatures.
The plaza was semi-enclosed. The front entrance loomed dark and deep, probably blocked by yet another stone slab. The only viable exit was the tunnel we had just opened behind us. Even Yang Jun looked puzzled at how Zhang Rantian could have appeared so quickly. He fixed him with a cold stare and asked, "I didn't expect you to be able to stand. I'm really curious—how did you get out?"
Zhang Rantian chuckled and replied, "Well, I guess I should thank you all. Honestly, I thought I'd be flayed alive, if not killed. But apparently, once I got truly angry… all it took was a single shout to end the whole mess."
Right after saying that, his eyes bulged wide, and his Adam's apple quivered up and down. His lips remained tightly shut, but his cheeks puffed up like a balloon, as if he were holding in a breath that could burst forth any second.
Sensing what was coming, Yang Jun suddenly flung the black cat he had been cradling in his arms directly at Zhang Rantian. The moment it left Yang Jun's grasp, its fur stood on end again. I blinked—and a shadow shot toward Zhang Rantian like a dart.
Just as Zhang Rantian realized it was the black cat flying toward him, a piercing scream burst from its mouth: "Nyeh!…" Zhang Rantian's eyes rolled back. His body swayed and then dropped to his knees, and the next moment he collapsed face-first to the ground.
None of us had expected Yang Jun to pull a move like that. Just like the previous times, my heart suddenly clenched—like it had skipped a beat. My legs gave out, and I toppled to the ground. Though my consciousness remained clear, I saw that almost all of us, except Yang Jun, had fallen. The most bizarre was Hao Zhengyi—his body merely trembled and then returned to normal.
Even Yang Jun looked a little surprised, but there was no time to ask questions. He stepped over to Zhang Rantian, pried open his eyelids, took a look, and then turned away, leaving the black cat pacing around the body.
The plaza was filled with puddles. Yang Jun bent down beside me, scooped up a handful of murky black water, and poured it into my mouth. The salty, acrid water flowed straight into my windpipe, and I began to cough violently. But to my surprise, the numbness in my body receded with the coughing. After I could finally breathe again, I gasped, "Yang Jun, couldn't you have picked a less disgusting method?"
Yang Jun ignored me and used the same approach to bring Hugo and Sun Fatty back to their senses. Just as he was about to help the Crow, he saw that Hao Zhengyi had already helped him up. He had been too busy with us to notice how Hao had revived the Crow—none of us had.
Yang Jun gave the two of them a glance but didn't say anything. Just then, behind us, the black cat let out a string of rapid cries: "Nyeh—Nyeh—Nyeh—." Although it was still yelling "Nyeh," the intensity had faded; the scream no longer carried the soul-tearing force it had before.
Turning back, we saw Zhang Rantian's body trembling violently. Thick black fluid was leaking from his mouth, and the black cat—its fur once again bristled like a puffball—was circling him nonstop.
At that moment, Zhang Rantian's hand suddenly twitched. Slowly, he pushed himself up and staggered to his feet. Just as he steadied himself—without needing any command from Yang Jun—the black cat leaped again, aiming for his face, clearly ready to unleash another scream.
But just as it was midair, Zhang Rantian struck. He snatched the cat by the neck and hurled it hard against the wall. With a sickening thud, the black cat slammed into the stone. It didn't even make a sound before falling limp to the ground.
At first, I thought the black cat was done for this time. But less than a minute later, it suddenly rolled over on the ground and bounced right back up. Then it darted toward Yang Jun. Halfway there, it spotted Sun Fatty standing beside him, and suddenly changed direction mid-run, shooting like an arrow straight into Sun Fatty's arms.
Zhang Rantian glanced at the black cat nestled in Sun Fatty's arms and said, "Looks like I misjudged it. All this time, I thought it was just a half-formed Nyeh. Never expected this little thing to be a true Sacred Body. I always thought I was the only one of my kind." He then turned to Yang Jun and added, "Regretting it now? You had your chance back in that dark chamber—could've cut off my head, or at least hacked off my limbs. Pity. Now even if I offer my neck to you, you no longer have the power to take it."
Yang Jun had been watching him coldly the entire time. When Zhang Rantian finished speaking, he replied, "You don't strike me as someone who just stumbled upon this place by chance—like you claimed. That seal in the well outside wasn't something you could've broken open so easily."
"Oh?" Zhang Rantian smiled at him and said, "Buying time for reinforcements? Don't bother. Between here and that dry well are at least fifty stone gates. Even if your people are already on the way, they won't get here until tomorrow." He then looked at the black cat again, then back at Yang Jun. "You're all practically dead men anyway. No harm in chatting a bit more before the end. But even if you want to die informed, there's always a price."
He raised a finger and pointed at the black cat. "I'll tell you everything—on the condition that the black cat is mine. Once I'm done, I'll send you all on your way. Quick and clean."
Before Yang Jun could respond, Sun Fatty cut in, "Wait, so no matter what, we die either way? Then we might as well release the cat and let you try your luck catching it. And besides, if it's a fight to the death, we'll see who comes out on top—"
Yang Jun interrupted, "Fine. We'll do as you say. You explain everything, and I'll hand over the Nyeh." With that, he walked over to Sun Fatty, took the black cat, gave Zhang Rantian a quick flash of it, then held it in his arms.
Zhang Rantian gave the cat a glance and began, "I told you before—I grew up in a Daoist temple. I dreamed every day that my master would teach me some real skills so I could avenge my family. But the old fool insisted I was cursed and refused to teach me any spells. Since he wouldn't teach me, I had to learn in secret.
"One day, while rummaging through the scripture chamber, looking for killing techniques, I stumbled upon several letters from Dong Qichao to a friend. The letters were all about the Yin Convergence Point and the Sacred Body. One of them even invited his friend to visit and included detailed descriptions of the hidden passages in this Yin site, along with the locations where he'd stashed his spell manuscripts.
"By some miracle, when I came to this island searching for the Yin site, I found out that the Xie family's patriarch had already claimed it. Perfect—I could study as I went and slowly send every last Xie family bastard underground."
He let out a bitter chuckle before continuing, "Sadly, most of the spells and arrays here were beyond me. The few I could understand were useless to me. Especially the ones about the Sacred Body—the Nyeh. Dong Qichao must've worried his friend wouldn't understand, so he wrote that section in plain language. But I thought it was just folklore. I didn't believe such a thing could exist.
"I had a mountain of treasures but couldn't use any of it. I spent years playing servant to those Xie bastards—waiting on them like honored guests. My mother killed herself, and they just lived better and better. For a while, I even thought about giving up on the arcane revenge. Figured I'd just grab a gun or a knife and kill as many of them as I could—at least that would give me some peace.
"Maybe Heaven finally had enough. Late last year, that little bitch daughter of Xie Laoda got herself pregnant. After a brief fit of rage, Xie started planning her wedding—gathering Xie family members from all over the country. You have any idea how rare that opportunity was? My first thought was poison, but where was I going to find a fast-acting toxin in time? Left with no choice, I came back here to try my luck.
"I swear, Heaven heard my prayers. I wasn't expecting anything, but I actually found a spell in the scripture room that I'd overlooked before. It was like it had been written just for me. All it required was that I go all in—and if I did, none of the Xie bastards would escape."
He paused to catch his breath, then continued, "You already know about the Blood Curse. I won't explain it again. Everything was under control—until your two groups showed up. That changed everything. At the pier earlier, I thought it was over. Live or die didn't matter anymore—but letting the Xie clan off the hook was unacceptable. Especially Xie Pang—Xie Laoda. If he didn't die, I'd never rest.
"At the dock, all I could think about was taking him down with me. But Heaven showed mercy again. Remember what you saw there—how countless lightning bolts struck the sea surface? That triggered a memory. Dong Qichao once wrote two lines about the birth of the Sacred Body: 'Ten thousand bolts guide the way; the Sacred Body shall appear.'
Zhang Rantian lowered his head, glanced at his now pitch-black, bare body, and let out a twisted laugh. "Dong Qichao never managed to create the perfect Sacred Body because he didn't know how to summon endless lightning. But I did it. You all call this Sacred Body the 'Nyeh,' right? What a fitting name. All those thunderbolts—weren't they drawn by me? I'm the bastard child who killed his own mother. I slaughtered Xie clan members, guilty and innocent alike. If I'm not a 'Nyeh,' then what the hell am I?!"
Just as he shouted that final sentence, a blinding arc of white lightning flashed overhead, followed by a deafening BOOM. The seawater above the vaulted ceiling suddenly churned and boiled. Bathed in that flash of lightning, Zhang Rantian's expression twisted into pure terror.
Yang Jun immediately sensed something was wrong and shouted, "Get back!" Before the words even finished echoing, another white bolt shot down from above. This one pierced the seafloor in an instant, a jagged streak of divine retribution racing straight for Zhang Rantian's head.
The blinding flash forced us to look away. When the light faded, the spot where Zhang Rantian had been standing was completely empty. Sun Fatty scrambled to his feet—he'd been the first to hit the ground and cover his head when the lightning struck—and looked around in disbelief. "What just happened? Did the lightning vaporize him?"
I coughed and pointed to a dark shape in the corner. Sun Fatty followed my finger—and there he was. Zhang Rantian was lying there, completely still. Whether dead or alive, no one could tell. Once he was sure of the identity, Sun Fatty didn't dare approach. He turned to Yang Jun and muttered, "Yang… not saying I told you so, but… I think that's game over for Zhang Rantian, yeah?"