Chapter 067: This Is What It Means to Triumph with Words

The wreckage of the plane shook violently, the stench of mold and rust intensifying with each tremor, filling their nostrils and making their stomachs churn. Fatty Bi had witnessed firsthand the power of Li Tianque’s glove, yet he ignored Li Tianque’s threat, not even bothering to glance back at him.

Fatty Bi’s eyes were bloodshot as he gripped Wu Liangjin’s tongue with all his strength, refusing to let go. Li Tianque had lost patience; he had already warned Bi Youqian, but since his warning was disregarded, he was now prepared to act in earnest.

Crackling sparks began to gather on Li Tianque’s thousand-volt glove, each spark like a twinkling star converging into a terrifying cluster in the darkness, making the scene even more menacing.

Just then, the stone wall behind them was struck again, this time with a force greater than any before, as if a rocket had blasted it apart. Immediately after, dreadful growls echoed from the other side of the wall.

Wu Liangjin’s face had long since turned ashen with fear, and he thrashed his tongue frantically, wailing, “Fatty… big brother, have mercy! I’m not the killer—I’m a victim too, I’m innocent!”

“Innocent, my ass! Even if Old Wang wasn’t killed by you, you clearly intended to kill the both of us just now!” Fatty Bi roared furiously.

“It’s not true! There are all sorts of strange, slender shadows here—you’ve seen them too! I thought you were one of those things, so I attacked you by mistake. I never realized you were still alive…” Wu Liangjin protested in agony.

Seeing the stone wall behind them on the verge of collapse, Li Tianque knew he had no time left to waste on these two. He closed in on Fatty Bi, this time with clear intent to attack.

Fatty Bi cursed, but at last released Wu Liangjin. Freed, Wu Liangjin scrambled to his feet, and from inside his clothes, he suddenly produced a cloth pouch. He flung it into the air, where it burst mid-flight, releasing a cloud of pitch-black powder.

Caught off guard, Fatty Bi took the black powder full in the face. Wu Liangjin let out a shrill laugh and slid down the slope, fleeing in a frenzy.

The black smoke Wu Liangjin had unleashed covered such a wide area that even Li Tianque couldn’t avoid it entirely. His nose instantly began to itch unbearably, and every patch of skin touched by the powder burned with an excruciating itch.

Nevertheless, Li Tianque grit his teeth through the pain and took up his flashlight to give chase. Wu Liangjin moved with astonishing speed—though his leg had nearly been broken under Fatty Bi just moments before, now he fled like an unbridled steed.

No matter how hard Li Tianque tried, he simply couldn’t catch up, while the ghostly shadow haunting Wu Liangjin crept ever closer.

Fatty Bi, now blinded by the black smoke, continued to curse Wu Liangjin as he groped about in place, furious but helpless.

Li Tianque glanced back at him and, seeing no sign of the ghostly shadow of death, judged that Fatty Bi was temporarily safe and paid him no further attention.

Still, he couldn’t be certain. So far, every deathly apparition Li Tianque had seen had been attached to only one person—never more than one at a time. He didn’t know whether the shadow conjured by the Eye of Night could ever target more than a single victim. If not, then even if Fatty Bi was in danger, Li Tianque wouldn’t be able to see a shadow on him.

But Li Tianque had no time to ponder this further. The stone wall behind them had finally collapsed completely. Though he couldn’t make out what sort of monstrosity lurked within, its terrifying howls and the sheer power with which it broke through stone left no doubt that this was a foe to be feared.

Ignoring the agony and itching on his face, Li Tianque pressed on after Wu Liangjin. Despite his speed, Wu Liangjin was running blind in the darkness. Ordinarily, he should have been stumbling, forced to rely on instinct or memory, but instead he ran smoothly, never tripping on the rocks.

By the light of his torch, Li Tianque watched Wu Liangjin’s frantic escape and suddenly realized how the man could run so easily in such pitch-black conditions. As he ran, Wu Liangjin flicked his long tongue constantly, using it to feel his way—much like a snail uses its antennae to sense its surroundings. It was grotesque and absurd.

But as the chase continued, Li Tianque grew less anxious. He saw that the deathly shadow clinging to Wu Liangjin was now almost upon him; within a minute, it would merge with him completely, and there was nothing Li Tianque could do.

At this point, Li Tianque could not discern from the shadow what manner of death awaited Wu Liangjin. Back when they had been standing atop the plane wreck, hearing the monstrous sounds from beyond the stone wall, Li Tianque had thought Wu Liangjin’s end might come from that creature—perhaps he would be devoured from the waist down. But now, with both of them far from the wreck and the creature still struggling to break through, that seemed unlikely, given the beast’s size and the barriers in its way.

Thus, Wu Liangjin’s demise would not come from the monster.

Of course, Li Tianque did not want Wu Liangjin to die just yet. The man still harbored many secrets, and since he had lured Yang Tianshu here, he might be the only one who knew Yang Tianshu’s whereabouts.

With this in mind, Li Tianque called out loudly, “Stop running! You’re about to die! I’m not lying to you!”

Even as he ran, Wu Liangjin let out a shrill, mocking laugh. “I’m going to die? Ha! You’re the one who’s doomed! That black powder I threw at you was corpse dust scraped from an ancient mummy in the Blood Tomb. It’s smeared all over your face now—within three days, your body will rot, you’ll die of poisoning, and not even a hospital can save you! Hahahaha…”

Li Tianque’s heart clenched, his legs weakening at the words. He could indeed smell a strange, sinister stench from the black powder stuck to his face—a stench he had never encountered before, one that filled him with a deep, visceral disgust. The agony and itching on his face was like nothing he had ever felt.

Realizing this, Li Tianque gave up the chase. He hurriedly pulled out a tattered tissue from his pocket, trying to wipe the powder from his face, but the corpse dust had already mixed with his sweat. It was impossible to clean off, and the more he wiped, the stronger and fouler the stench became, making him even more miserable.

“You disgusting bastard!” Li Tianque cursed, feeling as if countless insects were burrowing into his skin, unable to resist the urge to claw at his own face.

Wu Liangjin’s laughter grew even wilder. “Serves you right! The two of you idiots had it coming! You dared come here to court death—now you’ll end up as that creature’s next meal!”

But his laughter was abruptly cut off as misfortune struck. Because of the monster’s rampage behind him, a massive stalactite suddenly broke loose from the cave ceiling just above Wu Liangjin’s head.

Such is the fickleness of fate.

Wu Liangjin, unable to see anything and relying solely on his tongue to navigate, could never have sensed what hung above him. With a thunderous crash, the stalactite struck him, splitting him cleanly in two. His shriek, for a fleeting instant, even drowned out the sound of the stone’s impact.

And so, his fate was sealed.