Novel Full Chapter 298: A Drowned Sinner (8)
Chapter 298: Chapter 298: A Drowned Sinner (8)
Everyone froze for a brief moment.
Yue Lan’s brows furrowed slightly.
“…Me?”
But there was no time to think as the black liquid surged again.
WHOOSH!!
Several tendrils shot forward like whips.
Yue Lan’s eyes widened and look shock.
“What—”
Because this time, the black liquid moved even faster.
By the time she reacted, it had already reached her face, only a breath away from her eye.
So close that she could feel its killing intent and something else… almost like a strange obsession coming from the black water.
“Hah!”
But then, Shui Ruo appeared beside Yue Lan without hesitation.
Her palm chopped downward, water-type qi surging violently around her arm.
CRACK!!
A blade of compressed aqua energy split through the air as the strike collided directly with the incoming tendril of black liquid.
For a split second, blue and black forces clashed.
Then—
SPLASH!!
The dark tendril burst apart like shattered ink, spraying across the tunnel walls.
Shui Ruo staggered slightly from the impact.
Her sleeve hissed as droplets of the black liquid splashed against it.
“Move!” she shouted urgently, stepping forward and raising her guard to cover Yue Lan.
Yue Lan glanced at her and nodded before starting to move again.
But then she widened her eyes slightly because Jian Ruyi and Liu Yanyue were standing behind her, waiting for her to go ahead.
“You… guys.”
“You go first. I don’t know why, but that thing seems to be targeting you,” Liu Yanyue said calmly, her sword already drawn.
Jian Ruyi nodded beside her, glancing back at the black liquid crawling like a living creature along the walls and floor.
“Don’t just stand there! We’re almost there!”
The old man’s shout snapped Yue Lan out of her daze.
“…Thank you,” Yue Lan murmured quietly before breaking into a run.
Soon the chase resumed.
The old man flew ahead, lighting the path through the dark tunnel.
Behind Yue Lan,
Shui Ruo, Jian Ruyi, and Liu Yanyue formed a defensive line, holding back the black liquid as it continued to pursue them.
Strangely enough, the black liquid seemed almost desperate. It ignored the others and focused only on Yue Lan.
Because of that, it was easier for them to deal with it.
All they had to do was cut down the tendrils that stretched out toward her.
After several moments of running and fighting, they finally felt a fresh breeze ahead.
Their eyes lit up.
Even Yue Lan let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The old man smiled and shouted, pointing toward the faint light ahead.
“Hurry! The exit is just up ahead!”
Everyone nodded and pushed their speed further.
But then they suddenly froze when Jian Ruyi murmured,
“Strange… the trembling has stopped.”
Everyone slowed slightly when they heard her words.
“…The trembling stopped?”
For the past several minutes, the tunnel had been shaking constantly from the violent battle behind them.
Each explosion had felt like thunder rolling through the earth.
But now… it was quiet
Too quiet.Even the distant rumbling that had echoed through the prison was gone.
Now,only the sound of their hurried footsteps remained.
Tap…
Tap…
Tap…
Liu Yanyue’s brows slowly furrowed.
“…You’re right.”
She glanced back into the darkness of the tunnel.
There were no more explosions.
No more shockwaves.
…Nothing.
Then an uneasy feeling crept into her chest.
And Shui Ruo seemed to realize something as well.
Her face paled slightly.
“D-Does that mean…”
She didn’t finish the sentence and no one wanted to say it.
But the thought had already appeared in everyone’s mind.
Did the battle end?
… Or did Li Feng lose?
Yue Lan also slowed unconsciously as her heart suddenly tightened.
Her fingers clenched around the Ice Jade Sword.
Li Feng’s figure appeared in her mind again…. standing alone in that flooded chamber, facing that monster.
“…No.”
Her voice was quiet, but firm.
“He’s not dead.”
Everyone looked at her.
But Yue Lan didn’t explain.For some reason… she simply knew.
That man—
The one who always smiled strangely but loved helping others…and filled with mystery.
There was no way he would die so easily.
But even as she said those words, her heart still felt uneasy.
Because the silence behind them felt unnatural.
As if the entire underground prison had suddenly gone still.
Even the black liquid chasing them had slowed down.
The writhing tendrils crawling along the tunnel walls suddenly began to tremble.
Then they stopped moving as the black liquid froze in place like spilled ink.
“…What?” Shui Ruo whispered.
Jian Ruyi narrowed her eyes.
“That’s not normal.”
The dark fluid that had been chasing Yue Lan like a starving beast moments ago was now completely motionless.
As if something had suddenly cut off its will.
Just as they hesitated—
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
A small but heavy sound echoed from behind them.
At first, it didn’t sound like hooves, like the Apostle’s earlier approach, and they let out a brief sigh of relief at that, thinking Li Feng was running toward them.
But almost immediately, Jian Ruyi’s expression stiffened.
“…No.”
Her voice dropped.
“That’s not footsteps.”
The sound came again.
THUD.
This time it was clearer.
It was indeed not a hooves sound…
It sounded more like something heavy…falling… and something dragging itself forward frantically.
Liu Yanyue slowly turned her head toward the tunnel behind them.
The old man’s soul floated higher, his faint light stretching deeper into the darkness.
At first, they saw nothing… just the long tunnel disappearing into blackness.
Then something moved, and Shui Ruo’s pupils shrank.
“…What… is that?” she murmured.
Because what she saw was… something crawling toward them, dragging itself desperately across the floor.
As the old man’s dim light reached farther, the shape finally became visible.
Everyone froze.
…It was the Apostle.
But not the towering centaur-like monster from before.
Right now its massive body had been… split in half.
The lower torso was completely missing.
As what remained was only the humanoid upper body.
SPLASH…
SPLASH…
Black fluid poured endlessly from the torn waist where its lower body had once been.
Yet despite that, it was still moving.
The severed half dragged itself forward using its thick arms, crawling grotesquely across the stone.
THUD.
One arm slammed down and gripped the floor.
Then it pulled the rest of its broken body forward.
SCRAAAAAPE.
The sound of torn flesh grinding against stone echoed through the tunnel.
What made them shiver even more, however, were its next words.
The Apostle reached out its powerful and thick purple arm toward Yue Lan, as if asking her for help… to pull it forward.
From its pyramid-shaped head, a rough, desperate voice echoed like it was from the depths of the ocean.
[…Please… don’t leave… me… My lord…]
The voice was full of pleading, like a drowning man seeing his last hope slip away in the endless sea of darkness.