Chapter 121: Nothing at All
Page 1 of 3
Gong Jiu lunged toward the ice coffin, but Sui Yi caught her by the arm. “Do you want to turn into an ice sculpture?”
How could someone who was still on her period dare touch something so freezing? Sui Yi seized her arm and kept her close while sending a steady stream of inner energy into her body.
Once the warmth returned to her, Gong Jiu regained some clarity the moment she reached Sui Yi’s side. When she looked into the ice coffin—
Her eyes widened at once.
--------
Everyone was being dragged into the abyss of desire by those two words: resurrection.
But the army of countless warriors had already roared and vanished into dust the moment the ice coffin opened.
That dust formed a chaotic vortex behind Sui Yi and a sandstorm-like haze before her.
Sui Yi merely stared in silence into the ice coffin.
After a long while, she heard the sound of wind rising from below.
It was the Seventh Granduncle. He came charging up like a madman... scrambling with all four limbs, like the wildest of beasts, or the most frenzied and greedy prisoner, wholly ruled by desire. At that moment, all he wanted was the so-called power of resurrection.
For some reason, Sui Yi felt sorrow.
Deep, unbearable sorrow.
Because there was nothing inside the coffin.
--------
The expression on Gong Jiu’s face was like seeing the Chinese national football team sent off with another red card, or hearing the Japanese devils once again proclaim that the Diaoyu Islands were theirs, that the Northeast was theirs, that Beijing was theirs...
Her grief and fury were so great that, in an instant, her period seemed to reverse like a river flowing uphill. Gathering her strength in her abdomen, she shouted at the Seventh Granduncle, who was struggling up toward them.
“Old man, don’t come up... There’s nothing here!”
Sister, who would believe you after you said that?
Lin Feng and the others certainly did not.
But the Seventh Granduncle had already thrown himself up onto the platform. He sprawled across the ice coffin and stared in disbelief at its utter emptiness.
“How is this possible? Impossible...”
“There was clearly... There was clearly resurrection power here. Clearly...”
Perhaps the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The Seventh Granduncle now seemed completely deranged. He turned and glared viciously at Sui Yi, his eyes filled with the murderous hunger of someone ready to devour her.
“It must be you. It must be you... You stole my resurrection power. You... You deserve to die!”
It was difficult to imagine that such a frail old man could erupt with such terrifying speed. When he lunged at them, both his velocity and strength made Gong Jiu’s face change in alarm.
Sui Yi shoved Gong Jiu aside, hooked one foot around the ground, and shifted to the other side. She raised a palm to block the Seventh Granduncle’s clawing hands. The light of the Xiefang dagger flashed in her grip, and she was about to slice through his throat—
But at that instant, Sui Yi stopped.
The Xiefang dagger rested against the Seventh Granduncle’s neck.
“Tell me. Where is my grandmother...”
Sui Yi had only just lowered her voice when a sinister glint flashed through the old man’s eyes. Behind her, a black shadow—
Swish!
Sui Yi flung the Seventh Granduncle aside and raised her arm to block.
Swish!
The other sleeve was torn away as well.
Several claw marks appeared across her arm.
When she looked up, she saw the pool monster snarling at her, its killing intent dense and savage.
The Seventh Granduncle rose to his feet. No matter how one looked at him, the expression in his eyes was vicious.
He muttered repeatedly, “You want to know how to save your grandmother? It’s too late. Too late... They’re all going to die anyway. What difference does one more make? Or you?”
Gong Jiu thought the old man had gone mad. Sui Yi thought so too.
Madmen were the most terrifying of all. They had no reason, no concern for consequences or gains, and acted solely on instinct. At that moment, his instinct was to kill Sui Yi and seize the resurrection power.
Yet Sui Yi’s gaze darkened.
Too late?
Grandmother.
A long howl rang out.
At the Seventh Granduncle’s whistle, nine monsters—nine creatures of immense strength and terrifying speed—charged madly toward Sui Yi.
Nine. What did that mean?
Gong Jiu rushed over and could barely hold off one.
Flower Demon Fei blocked a second. As for the others...
Seven of them charged straight at Sui Yi.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Slash! Slash! Slash!
In the blink of an eye, several strips of flesh were torn from both of Sui Yi’s arms.
Blood poured freely, spilling across the ground.
“Sui Yi...!”
Gong Jiu was frantic with worry.
She let out a desperate cry.
An arrow shot upward.
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
The arrow split the air!
It pierced through a monster’s skull. Gong Jiu turned her head and saw Aguna below, racing upward with terrifying, almost airborne speed. As he ran, he nocked arrow after arrow.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Piercing. Piercing. Piercing.
His speed was astonishing!
By the time he reached the seventh step, Sui Yi’s situation had already become perilous beyond measure. Five monsters were pouncing around her, as though they meant to tear her apart and devour her.
And Aguna had only one arrow left.
At that moment, Aguna knew he had only two choices.
One was not to shoot.
The other was to shoot.
If he shot, there was only one arrow.
Whom should he choose?
Which one of the five?
He drew the arrow and set it against the bowstring.
Swish!
He released it.
A flash of light passed before Gong Jiu’s eyes. The arrow flew toward Sui Yi...
Thud!
It struck its target.
The Seventh Granduncle lowered his head and stared at the arrow protruding from his chest.
His eyes were blank.
On the other side, the five monsters seemed to have lost their guiding will. They weakened and froze, one after another collapsing to the ground.
Sui Yi, both hands covered in mangled flesh, drew a deep breath and looked at the blood slowly flowing from the Seventh Granduncle’s chest.
“As a guardian, you sought to possess the Superior One’s belongings, raised filthy creatures, and defiled the sacred temple. You deserve to die.”
Aguna delivered the words without expression.
His tone was as formulaic as when he had lectured Gong Jiu and the others earlier. Yet Sui Yi sensed something different in it and glanced at him.
Suddenly—
The Seventh Granduncle lunged at Sui Yi.
Both hands clamped around her throat.
Even a dying man could unleash such explosive strength.
“Give me the resurrection power! It’s mine! Mine...”
Caught off guard, Sui Yi was seized by the throat and forced backward.
Thud!
The Xiefang dagger plunged into his abdomen.
The Seventh Granduncle spat out a great mouthful of blood. It splashed across Sui Yi’s neck and face.
The scene was witnessed by Brother Ma and the others below.
“Damn, we finally killed him!”
To them, the Seventh Granduncle was far more sinister and evil than ordinary tomb raiders like themselves. At least they had entered merely to search for treasure. They had never intended to harm anyone.
How could they compare with him? Nearly two hundred people from the three groups had been reduced to little more than thirty because of his schemes.
But to others, the matter looked entirely different.
For instance, the man who now rushed in through the entrance.
He was a man.
Brother Ma and the others were so startled that they nearly dropped the guns in their hands.
“What the hell is this...”
“He...”
Why was this man wearing a ghost mask too?
A ghost-mask man...
There were two of them?
The newcomer entered with slow, heavy steps, staring blankly at the Seventh Granduncle, who had been stabbed in the abdomen by Sui Yi.
At last, his footsteps stopped.
Or rather, his strength seemed to fail him.
Brother Ma thought he heard the man murmur a single word.
“Father...”
Sui Yi’s expression changed dramatically.
Father?
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Then this man was...
The Seventh Granduncle’s son?
Ye Luanyun, who had run away from home and vanished for so many years?
The Seventh Granduncle seemed to react faintly. With difficulty, he turned his face toward the man below.
He suddenly drew in a great breath.
His body convulsed.
He slipped free of Sui Yi’s Xiefang dagger.
“I... I... resurrection...”
Thump.
He collapsed to the ground.
Ye Luanyun stood frozen for an instant before letting out an enraged scream.
“Ahhhhhh!”
The cry was shrill, bitter, and filled with pain.
Sui Yi felt the Xiefang dagger grow cold in her hand. Without expression, Aguna pulled an arrow from the head of a dead monster on the ground.
He set it to his bow, aiming at Ye Luanyun below.
Blood vessels bulged wildly in Ye Luanyun’s eyes. Just as the arrow pointed at him—
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The five monsters lying on the ground moved!
Bang!
In close combat with the pool monster, Sui Yi flicked up the Xiefang dagger and drove it toward the creature’s chest at a swift, vicious angle. But when her eyes swept over it, they suddenly widened.
Around the monster’s neck hung...
In a split-second decision, Sui Yi deflected the dagger to the side.
Boom!
Her back slammed into the ice coffin. Pain jolted through her heart.
The pool monster had already pounced upon her. Its palm came down, its long nails spread like a row of blades.
Thud!
They plunged viciously into Sui Yi’s chest.
The claws even struck the ice coffin behind her, producing a sharp scraping sound.
Gong Jiu and Aguna both froze.
Flower Demon Fei and the others were equally stunned.
Sui Yi...
Ah...
Sui Yi parted her lips slightly as she stared at the pool monster before her.
Around its neck hung a pendant threaded onto a vine cord.
From below came Ye Luanyun’s eerie, chilling laughter.
“You recognized it, didn’t you? This is Ye Zhang’s father, your grandfather in name... It must feel terrible to be killed by your own grandfather. Ah, I forgot. You’re not really one of the Ye family, and you never even met Sixth Uncle... Yet you still couldn’t bring yourself to strike. That’s why you deserve to die!”
Ye Luanyun was so consumed by hatred that he placed all the blame for his father’s death on Sui Yi.
From his perspective, Sui Yi had indeed been the one who killed the Seventh Granduncle.
And now, he had made Sui Yi’s own grandfather kill her.
It was the greatest revenge he could have imagined.
That was why he laughed with such smug, frenzied delight.
Aguna’s arrow had already been loosed.
Brother Ma, consumed by fury, charged forward.
Feng Sha endured the agony and rushed in with his long saber.
--------
As blood flowed from her chest, Sui Yi vaguely remembered the time the old woman had brought her back to the village.
She had been withdrawn then. Every night, the old woman would hold her as they slept. Sometimes, before bed, she would speak of her husband and take out an old black-and-white photograph. Pointing to the tall, thin, middle-aged man in it, she would say, “That is your grandfather.”
She had said it year after year.
The middle-aged man wore a pendant just like this one around his neck. It was an ordinary object, made of ordinary jade, but the old woman had given it to him long ago.
“I gave it to him when I first fell in love with him. My family was poor. It was the only dowry I had...”
The old woman’s words remained vivid in Sui Yi’s mind.
In truth, she had never had a grandfather.
Even this grandmother had been someone she met halfway through life.
No.
More accurately, the old woman had picked her up along the way.
Had she repaid this life at last?
A heavy sigh rose from Sui Yi’s chest...
To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian to vote and leave monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile readers, please visit the mobile site to read.