Chapter 129: Thunder Command!

My hands and feet were stiff and freezing, as if I had been thrown into a Deep Well in the dead of winter.

"What is that thing?" The temperature in the corridor plummeted. Bai Qi's frantic barking echoed in my ears. I strained my eyes but could only see a blurry shadow.

An unknown entity was awakening in the darkness—bloodthirsty and eager to slaughter!

The crying in the corridor grew clearer, sounding as if it were drifting from far away, yet also as if someone were leaning right against my ear.

The darkness grew even thicker. My phone had fallen into a corner when Lu Xing ambushed me, but relying on its faint glow, I finally saw things clearly.

Pinned to the ground, Lu Xing wore a hideous grin. From his raised palm, a viscous mass resembling a woman's hair was slowly drilling its way out.

It was a bloodshot face with eyes as pitch-black as ink. There were no whites in them, only endless darkness.

"Die!" A shrill female voice practically pierced my eardrums as the terrifying ghostly face tried to burrow into my body.

I subconsciously swung my arm to block it, but Lu Xing grabbed my wrist in a death grip. He stared at me hysterically, his eyes filled with a sickly excitement. "When a Fate Ghost breaks its seal, a blood sacrifice is required! None of you will leave here alive today!"

The ghostly face drew closer and closer. The bone-chilling cold made the blood in my veins feel like it had frozen solid.

At that critical moment, a pale silhouette flashed by like lightning, tackling and scattering the terrifying face.

"Bai Qi!"

My heart pounded wildly. Having just narrowly escaped death, I seized the opportunity to slam my knee into Lu Xing's abdomen, rapidly putting distance between us.

My chest heaved violently. Even though I had been through multiple live broadcasts, that scene still left me with lingering fear.

'Judging from Lu Xing's words, this sudden monstrosity must be the Fate Ghost fed on human blood and essence!' I also had a Fate Ghost inside the Black Eyeball I carried, but it couldn't even begin to compare to this one. They were on completely different levels.

I carried the unconscious Tie Ningxiang to the corner, then Bai Qi and I stood on either side of her, warily watching Lu Xing.

"Gao Jian, this dog of yours is truly fierce. It even dares to bite a Fate Ghost." He unhurriedly picked up the dropped dagger from the floor. "But it's a pity. Such a good dog is about to die because of you."

I reached one hand into my pocket and fumbled inside my jacket with the other. There were still a few unused pieces of Talisman Paper in the Many Treasures Pouch left behind by Lu Jin. At a critical moment, they might produce a miraculous result.

"Still trying to struggle? There are many things in this world you cannot change with your own strength alone. Seeing as my sister likes you, I'll teach you a free lesson today and show you what true despair is!" Lu Xing held his palm containing the Black Eyeball flat against his chest, then raised his dagger with his other hand. Chanting an incantation, he plunged the tip of the blade straight into that eyeball!

The Black Eyeball throbbed in agony in his palm as if it were alive, spilling even more fresh blood. The wailing of ghosts echoed down the corridor, and an even more bizarre scene unfolded.

Lu Xing's shadow was forcefully torn open. A portion of it transformed into countless thin, foul-smelling strands of long hair that blended into the darkness. No light could pierce the corridor anymore; as far as the eye could see, there was only long hair flowing like a river.

I had never seen such a method before. Gripping the thunder talisman tightly, I didn't dare use it rashly. Let alone hitting the target accurately, I didn't even know the enemy's current position.

The corridor was thick with chilling Yin energy, mixed with Lu Xing's laughter.

The black hair closed in and suddenly wrapped around Bai Qi's ankles. The dog snapped his jaws at it, but even more black hair surged forward like a tide to entangle him.

"Once this dog is crippled, let's see what else you have to fight me with!" Lu Xing's voice drifted erratically; it was impossible to tell which direction it was coming from. As the black hair surged, the world spun around me.

'If this keeps up, I'll only be pushed further onto the defensive.' I took out Lu Jin's Many Treasures Pouch, which still held a few unused pieces of Talisman Paper. Flipping through them quickly, I pulled out a Suppression Talisman and formed a hand seal with both hands. "Five Directions Divine Generals, lend me your dharma might to suppress all things. Haste, like a righteous decree!"

A golden light flashed, radiating an imposing, unyielding majesty. "Suppress!"

I flung the talisman toward Bai Qi to help him break free, but before it even left my hand, it was blocked by several foul-smelling strands of black hair. The golden light consecutively tore through four layers of the woman's hair before its power was finally exhausted, turning the talisman into flying ash.

My face turned even uglier at this sight. "A Lower Vehicle Talisman can only break through a few strands of hair?"

"You actually know the Profound Truth Dao Method too. It seems I have yet another reason to kill you."

Before his voice even faded, a sudden cold wind brushed past my ear. With my five senses enhanced, I pushed off the ground with one foot and dodged to the side, just in time to see the dagger slice right past the tip of my nose.

'That was close!'

Missing his strike, Lu Xing immediately retreated into the darkness. I could only hear his voice, but I couldn't see him. 'Fighting here puts me at a severe disadvantage. I should lure him somewhere else.'

My brain rapidly formulated a countermeasure while I stalled for time. "Lu Xing, this is the city center! My people will be here any second. If you leave now, you still have time."

"Threatening me? If I hadn't depleted my essential blood to subdue that pale-faced Daoist priest, do you really think you'd still be alive right now?" Lu Xing shouted arrogantly, his voice seemingly echoing from all directions.

I wanted to use the thunder talisman, but I was agonizing over the fact that I couldn't locate his real body. Just as Lu Xing and I were locked in this stalemate, Tie Ningxiang slowly woke up in the corner.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she was terrified by the dense darkness. The surging black hair packed densely together looked like a massive monster.

Her face was pale as paper, and her lips trembled. Her beautiful, delicate features now held nothing but sheer terror.

"Don't move! Stay in the corner!" I noticed Tie Ningxiang waking up and wanted to go to her, but Lu Xing, hiding in the shadows, seemed to have seen through my intentions long ago.

"Still thinking of playing the hero saving the beauty?" Lu Xing's sinister voice rang out once again. "Since you're so worried about her—since you like her so much—I'll torture her to death right in front of you!"

Setting aside her Fate Pattern, Tie Ningxiang was just an ordinary person. Facing a Fate Ghost, she had no power to fight back.

Black hair resembling giant pythons coiled around her limbs, yanking her arms and legs apart. Then, slender strands of dark hair cut into her flawless, pale skin, leaving behind shocking, bloody gashes.

"Stop!" I gritted my teeth and desperately tried to rush over, but the moment I took a step, the black hair tripped me.

The strands wrapped around my legs like dead souls from the abyss, holding me firmly in place.

Tie Ningxiang was right in front of me, but at this moment, I was powerless.

"So you can make such an agonized expression too? So you can get this frantic as well? Gao Jian, you truly disappoint me. And to think I initially considered you my rival."

Lu Xing's laughter echoed in my ears. Hidden in the darkness, he unscrupulously tortured Tie Ningxiang's body, tormenting my spirit.

Blood splattered, dripping onto my face. That warm sensation was more real than ever before.

I lifted my head. The battered and bruised Tie Ningxiang was looking right back at me. She opened her mouth as if trying to say something, but she was too weak; the physical pain made her lips tremble uncontrollably.

She was enduring the agony of death by a thousand cuts, yet this resolute female police officer didn't scream or cry. She merely looked at me and forced out a gentle smile I had never seen before. "Gao Jian, don't worry about me."

I clenched my fists, my knuckles popping. Looking into those beautiful, bright eyes, the cold, hard scab over my heart slowly melted.

My hand slipped quietly into my pocket, pinching the thunder talisman!

"Trying to play tricks on me again?" The long hair whipped the back of my hand like a leather belt. As a sharp pain hit, my hand jerked out of my pocket, clutching the talisman. Perhaps due to the excessive force, I accidentally dragged another object out with it.

It was a black embroidered pouch, its mouth not tightly secured. When it fell to the ground, a pitch-black eyeball rolled out.

"A Fate Ghost?"

The flowing black hair in the corridor suddenly paused, as if time had stood still.

"How could you possibly have a Fate Ghost?"

Because it had spent so much time near the thunder talisman, the frail Fate Ghost inside the eyeball was shivering in terror, its body almost completely transparent.

Strangely enough, the moment this scrawny Fate Ghost appeared, the long black hair seemed to gain a mind of its own. Breaking entirely free from Lu Xing's control, it released Tie Ningxiang and me, converging toward the center of the corridor.

Before long, a bloodshot human face slowly emerged from the dense darkness. It was a woman, her eyes gouged out, leaving only two dark, hollow pits on her face.

'So this is the Fate Ghost's true body?' Now or never! Since it had actively exposed its main body, this was exactly what I wanted.

I pressed my index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers together and bent them toward my palm, forming the thunder seal.

I focused my mind on guarding my spirit platform. A stream of pure energy flowed from my dantian, rushed straight through the great dragon of my spine, and surged into the thunder talisman.

Achieving heaven and human resonance, the talisman in my hand sparked with lightning. Then, a thunderbolt struck from the night sky out of nowhere!

Everyone in the entire building heard the deafening boom!

"Swift as a shooting star, thunder command!"