But madmen do things in ways that defy normal understanding.
Jiang Luo and his companions walked for five or six minutes through the cave before arriving at a four-way fork.
Lu Youyi looked at the four dark paths ahead and asked, “Which one should we take?”
Jiang Luo followed his instincts and pointed at the fourth path. “This one, maybe. It can’t be the most dangerous.”
Lu Youyi looked at him with a complicated expression, hesitating, “Jiang Luo, it’s not that I don’t trust you… but with your constitution, whenever you say something ‘shouldn’t’ happen, it usually does.”
Jiang Luo: “…You’re right. Forget the fourth one.”
Dead Ghost pointed to the first path. “I think we can go this way.”
Jiang Luo looked at his oblivious expression—as if he’d just betrayed their base without knowing—and smiled. He patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, “If you’ve got a gut feeling, go with it. We’ll follow you.”
Sure enough, Dead Ghost led them safely. They passed smoothly through the cave and arrived at a suspension bridge.
Iron chains spanned both sides, and the wooden planks looked crude. The bridge was dangerously fragile. Jiang Luo looked down—beneath the bridge was an underground river, still teeming with water spirits.
Dead Ghost said, “Cross the bridge, and we’ll be there.”
Jiang Luo asked, “Be where?”
Dead Ghost’s face turned blank. “I don’t know.”
Jiang Luo wasn’t surprised. He shrugged. “Let’s go.”
Dead Ghost led the way, but when they reached the middle of the suspension bridge, a man in red with a fox mask appeared on the opposite side.
The fox mask was grotesque, with exaggerated tusks and a protruding nose. The side of the mask bore the character flower”. The man stepped onto the bridge and said coldly, “Teng Bi, are you planning to betray your master?”
Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi immediately turned to the ghost. Dead Ghost showed no reaction. After a moment of their staring, he asked, puzzled, “Why are you looking at me?”
Lu Youyi reminded him, “I think… he’s calling you.”
So Dead Ghost’s name was Teng Bi? What a strange name.
But if the ghost regained his memory, would that put them in danger?
Dead Ghost replied, “He’s calling for Teng Bi. I’m Dead Ghost.”
The man in red laughed coldly. “You don’t even remember your own name? How pitiful. No wonder you’ve become a human’s dog, just used to scout the path.”
Jiang Luo lazily chimed in, “Oh? Are you jealous that he can be a dog, while you’re not even good enough to be one?”
The red-clad man’s smile froze. “You’re courting death.”
He reached out—his hand was like a fox’s claw: overly long fingers, bulging veins, sharp hooked nails. In an instant, he crossed the bridge and swiped at Jiang Luo. But before the claw could land, it was blocked by Dead Ghost’s large blade.
Sparks flew from the clash of claw and steel. Dead Ghost shielded Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi behind him and said coldly, “You won’t harm them.”
The red-clad man frowned. “Teng Bi, you’ve truly lost your mind.”
He intensified his attack, his claw sliding down the blade and slicing five deep gashes into Dead Ghost’s hand. Blood spurted from the wounds, revealing bone.
Dead Ghost looked at the wound on his arm.
Some kind of toxin on the man’s claws was causing the wound to emit white smoke—corrosive. What should have healed in seconds showed no sign of closing.
Ignoring the pain, Dead Ghost raised his blade and attacked, only to take another hit to the chest. Lu Youyi cried out, “Dead Ghost!”
The red-clad man reached toward Lu Youyi, but Dead Ghost interrupted him with another blow from behind.
The suspension bridge swayed violently. Though they were evenly matched, the man’s claws seemed to naturally counter the ghost. His injuries wouldn’t heal, and he quickly began to lose ground.
The red-clad man taunted, “Teng Bi, when did you become so weak?”
Dead Ghost blocked another blow and shouted to Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi, “Go, now!”
Jiang Luo wanted to summon his Yin-Yang hoop to fight alongside Dead Ghost, but their combat was too fast-paced. If he released the twelve zodiac spirits, they’d probably attack Dead Ghost too.
Staying here would only distract him. Jiang Luo frowned, grabbed Lu Youyi, and ran toward the other side of the bridge.
Lu Youyi glanced back, worried. “Jiang Luo… will Dead Ghost be okay?”
“They’re both guardians of the statue. They know each other. That red-robed guy probably won’t kill him outright.”
But Jiang Luo’s furrowed brow didn’t relax for a second. He didn’t like owing anyone a favor.
“Screw it. I’m going back to check.”
He stopped in his tracks, ready to turn back. Lu Youyi grabbed him. “I’ll go with you.”
Just as he said that, Lu Youyi suddenly grunted in pain. “Jiang Luo, something just bit my leg.”
As he spoke, his face gradually turned ashen, his lips losing all color. “It… it hurts so much.”
Startled, Jiang Luo looked down and saw a scorpion with a bluish-black tail crawling over the top of Lu Youyi’s shoe. The scorpion was about the size of a palm, with its tail raised like a needle. Jiang Luo had read about this type of scorpion before. It was called the Venomtail Scorpion—creatures that could only be bred in places filled with heavy yin energy. They fed on blood, and the venom in each of their tails was lethal enough to kill a person within an hour.
Jiang Luo’s face darkened instantly. A golden rune transformed into a snake and bit down on the scorpion. Supporting Lu Youyi, Jiang Luo helped him sit down, then swiftly removed the stinger and began draining the venom from the wound.
But the Venomtail Scorpion’s venom was too potent. Within moments, Lu Youyi’s wound had swollen up. He trembled violently, shivering as though he were in the depths of winter.
Jiang Luo’s hands trembled slightly, extreme rage surging up within him—alongside another emotion he couldn’t quite name: anxiety and fear.
He had always believed he didn’t need friends.
Family, friendship—he had long rejected them.
To him, the people at Baihua University were nothing more than human shields, pawns to be used for protection.
That was how it was supposed to be.
But now, he couldn’t suppress the fear welling up in him.
Why was he afraid?
Because Lu Youyi might die?
Because he had started to think of Lu Youyi as a friend?
Jiang Luo suddenly stood up, clenching his fists. A thought struck him—he quickly extended his hand, where a massive golden python coiled around his arm. The scorpion, still barely alive, dangled from its jaws.
Jiang Luo carefully took the scorpion in his right hand, the one wrapped in black cloth, and sliced it open without killing it.
Bright red blood spilled out.
It was a male.
Jiang Luo exhaled sharply.
Venomtail Scorpions came in male and female. If stung by a male, there was still hope. But if stung by a female, it was certain death.
If poisoned by a male, one could still be saved—provided they could find a female scorpion within an hour. Rubbing the female’s blood over the wound caused by the male would neutralize the venom.
The male’s blood was red; the female’s blood was white. Though the female was venomous, her blood was a rare and powerful tonic—able to stabilize the soul and nourish the yin, effective for both the living and the dead. For that reason, female scorpions were heavily hunted and thus much rarer than males.
But even if rare, there was still hope.
Jiang Luo took a deep breath and stuck a talisman over Lu Youyi’s wound to slow the spread of the poison. He then hid Lu Youyi in a corner, leaving only a single golden rune with himself, and using the rest to protect Lu Youyi.
“One hour,” he murmured. “Better make that forty minutes to be safe.”
Time was tight.
Jiang Luo glanced back toward the suspension bridge. Sorry, he thought silently.
He couldn’t go check on Dead Ghost’s safety now—he had to find a female Venomtail Scorpion.
Jiang Luo set the injured scorpion on the ground.
Venomtail Scorpions were social creatures. When injured, they would return to their nest, which often contained both males and females. With luck, it would lead him to what he needed.
Sure enough, the scorpion began crawling quickly.
Jiang Luo followed silently behind it. The scorpion’s pace increased, and the path grew increasingly treacherous. Jiang Luo kept a mental count of the time. After nearly twenty minutes, the road finally opened up.
He heard the faint sound of flowing water.
Another underground river?
That made sense—scorpions liked damp, dark places.
Agilely climbing over some rocks, Jiang Luo finally caught a glimpse of light. His brow twitched, and he immediately ducked behind a stone wall.
Once hidden, he carefully peered out toward the light.
Ahead was a man-made cavern.
A pond had been dug out inside, and the liquid within was so milky-white it seemed viscous. Jiang Luo instantly recognized it—it was female Venomtail Scorpion blood.
There was so much of it that it formed a pool. It likely meant nearly all the female scorpions in this cave had been slaughtered.
Jiang Luo stared at the pond for a long moment, then shifted his gaze to the person soaking inside it.
There was a man in the water, his arms resting lazily on the edge of the pool in a relaxed, comfortable pose.
In this bizarre and perilous underground cavern, he seemed completely at ease—even enjoying himself.
The moment Jiang Luo saw the man’s face, his right eyelid began twitching uncontrollably.
Chi You.
That b*stard Chi You.
Now he was absolutely certain: the earlier encounter with the statue wasn’t his actual stroke of misfortune. This was.
Sh*t.
He needed female Venomtail Scorpion blood—and the person soaking in that blood was a murderous ghost who wanted him dead.
How could fate be this cruel?
Jiang Luo swore silently, mind spinning as he tried to figure out the fastest way to grab some of that blood and get out alive.
The scorpion that had led him there continued crawling forward. It had only moved about a meter when a cloud of black mist nailed it to the ground.
Chi You turned his head slightly and gave a grotesque, exaggerated grin. “Hmm? Something’s here?”
Jiang Luo’s heart skipped a beat. He held his breath.
The next second, the scorpion was crushed to death by the black mist. Chi You leaned back, closed his eyes, and began humming a tune.
He was completely off-key.
But in this setting, it wasn’t funny—only disturbingly eerie.
Jiang Luo had no time to delay.
He closed his eyes briefly and quickly mapped out a retreatable and advanceable route in his mind. After confirming it, he silently slipped out from behind the stone wall.
The spot directly behind Chi You was his blind spot. Jiang Luo would pretend to launch a sneak attack and use that opportunity to steal the blood, then run.
If all went well.
Step by step, Jiang Luo approached Chi You.
The evil spirit hadn’t noticed his presence and was still humming his eerie little tune. Jiang Luo thought, Now’s the time.
He suddenly slashed his blade toward the evil spirit’s head. But Chi You seemed to have eyes on the back of his head—he caught Jiang Luo’s hand and yanked hard. Jiang Luo lost his balance and was pulled into the water.
Splash—
In an instant, Jiang Luo was drenched in the blood of the female venom-tail scorpions. Strangely, the milky white blood had no metallic stench. It slid slowly down his face like he was bathing in milk.
The next moment, the completely naked evil spirit pinned him against the edge of the pool. One of Chi You’s hands was raised, gripping both of Jiang Luo’s wrists to prevent him from using his Yin-Yang hoop. His other hand was braced against the wall beside Jiang Luo.
Their bodies were pressed close.
The black-haired youth was forced to bend over. To stabilize himself, he had one foot planted against Chi You’s waist beneath the water.
Chi You drawled, “Hmm… what do we have here—a…”
He swept a curious gaze over Jiang Luo. “Lost bride?”
