Chapter 135: The Coffin

The werewolf charged forward madly once more, its speed instantly doubling as a blur of afterimages swayed from side to side. Its target locked squarely onto Du Bin. Seeing the beast's fist rapidly closing in, Du Bin clenched his own fists and braced for the impact.

Their fists collided with a tremendous shockwave that rippled outward, while sparks of lightning crackled and exploded continuously in the surrounding air. Hu Guozheng clasped his hands together and slammed them fiercely into the ground. With a loud crash, the earth within a ten-meter radius cracked and splintered outward with him at the center. "Seismic Heart-Shattering Slash!"

Leveraging the recoil from Du Bin's lightning wave, Hu Guozheng retreated backward. Just as he cleared the area, the resonant frequency of the Seismic Heart-Shattering Slash swept across the zone. Caught directly in the blast, the werewolf's eyes bulged as its internal organs churned violently. Gripped by severe internal injuries, it spat a mouthful of blood.

"Trying to run?" A lightning sphere, roughly a meter in diameter, materialized before Du Bin. The sphere hissed and crackled as countless arcs of electricity radiated from its surface. Treating it like a soccer ball, he kicked the lightning sphere straight toward the werewolf. "Eat my Beast-Thunder Shoot!"

Hu Guozheng burst out laughing. *Damn it, do you think you're in a soccer anime? A Beast-Thunder Shoot, seriously?* As the lightning orb hurtled toward the werewolf, a faint, shadowy phantom of a tiger's head seemed to shimmer within it. Though blurry, it was distinct enough to be seen.

The roaring lightning sphere closed in rapidly. Sensing mortal danger, the werewolf pulled out all the stops and tried to scramble into the tall grass. Hu Guozheng let out a sharp cry, and a half-moon earth wall immediately rose up right in front of the beast to block its path.

Seeing its escape route cut off, the werewolf began pounding frantically against the earth wall. Possessing immense strength, it shattered the barrier after just a few heavy blows. However, those precious seconds of delay were all the orb needed; the lightning sphere crashed straight into the werewolf's chest.

Countless bolts of lightning erupted around it, generating a powerful magnetic field. Enveloped in electricity and enduring excruciating agony, the werewolf let out continuous, miserable roars as its fur was scorched completely pitch black.

"Dual Strike!" Hu Guozheng unleashed the Seismic Heart-Shattering Slash once more. Subjected to both internal and external trauma, the werewolf's charred body trembled before it coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Du Bin half-raised one hand, fingers spread wide, then clenched them into a tight fist a few breaths later. A powerful shockwave burst outward from his body. The moment it reached the werewolf, the electrically charged beast had its entire body instantly detonated. All the residual lightning converged on its heart, causing the battered organ to contract violently in an instant.

The werewolf's eyes rolled upward as its body convulsed a few times before it gradually stopped struggling. With a dull thud, it collapsed onto the ground. Having finally dealt with the creature, Du Bin let out a long breath of relief.

"Old Du, your lightning burst is still as amateur as ever—heart paralysis? Heh."

Du Bin's face darkened with frustration. What did he mean, amateur? This was his ultimate trump card! Hearing it disparaged like this left him feeling rather gloomy. "Let's find the way out. I keep feeling like a pair of eyes has been watching us the whole time."

"When did you start feeling that?" Hu Guozheng asked, looking at him skeptically before spreading his hands. "Ever since we stepped into this air-raid shelter. But at first, I just thought I was overthinking it and didn't pay much attention."

"Can't you use your magnetic field to sense things? You should check."

"I can only use magnetism to affect electronic equipment. I have no way of sensing living things with it." Hu Guozheng grew dissatisfied with that response. "Talk all you want, it just boils down to not being strong enough!"

"Do you really think we can compare to Sister Lan? We've barely been learning how to use these abilities for long," Du Bin retorted, shooting him a sideways glance.

"You're such a weakling. I honestly can't figure out why Xiao Tang chose you. You're barely capable of protecting her; if anything, she's always the one protecting you. Sigh, heaven is truly blind," Hu Guozheng teased.

The remark made Du Bin's head practically steam with anger. *Damn it, is there any need to roast people this viciously? This fat bastard is going to drive me nuts!*

Seeing the murderous aura radiating from Du Bin, Hu Guozheng chuckled inwardly. In truth, he was only messing around. He understood very well that the bond between Old Du and Xiao Tang went far beyond sharing adversity. Without her appearance, neither of them would have ever awakened their supernatural abilities, nor would they have broken away from their previous day-to-day laziness. Putting on an act of having just discovered a new continent, Hu Guozheng skipped away happily.

Du Bin continuously generated small lightning spheres to serve as makeshift lightbulbs, scattering them all around to illuminate the entire room. Following the passage forward, they finally reached the end. A single door stood wide open, seemingly having unlocked itself automatically once they defeated the werewolf. Du Bin scanned his surroundings; the oppressive sensation of being watched had grown even heavier, persisting without a break.

Yet whenever he searched around for the source, nothing was there. They had no choice but to take it one step at a time. The two of them stepped through the iron gate, which immediately slammed shut behind them.

"It seems our presence has already caught their attention."

Hu Guozheng knew what he meant. "Since they want to play, we'll play along."

"Don't you feel like this air-raid shelter is giving off a creepy vibe?" Du Bin looked ahead into pitch-black darkness. There was no grass here, and the ground beneath their feet was no longer dirt, but cold steel plating.

"Old Du, light."

Du Bin condensed several lightning spheres and hurled them in different directions. By the glow of the illumination, they finally made out the interior. The entire chamber was completely empty except for a large burial casket resting dead center. Both men swallowed hard in unison.

"What the hell, talk about bad luck," Hu Guozheng spat out in disgust.

The casket sat quietly in the middle of the room, exuding a gloomy, eerie atmosphere as though countless resentful spirits were swirling around it. Du Bin watched it tensely, deeply worried that a vampire might be lurking inside—even if they weren't entirely helpless against such things.

The two men readied themselves and cautiously approached. As they drew closer, they could gauge the casket's size: three meters long and two meters wide. A profound sense of dread gripped Du Bin's heart.

He reached out and gently tapped the surface of the casket. Suddenly, as if guided by some unseen force, the wisps of black vapor lingering around it lunged directly toward Du Bin's hand. Sensing danger, he yanked his hand back instantly, but quite a bit of the dark mist had already invaded his skin and was continuing to spread upward.

Struggling fiercely, Du Bin channeled his lightning energy to force the black vapor out of his body. Beads of heavy sweat dotted his forehead. Seeing him like this, Hu Guozheng asked with a puzzled expression, "What's wrong with you?"

"Fall back! This black mist is bizarre." Without stopping to explain further, the two men retreated a dozen meters away.

Knowing they could no longer afford to waste time—they had already spent nearly an hour since arriving in the shelter, and under normal circumstances, their trade deal should have concluded long ago—they hurried to find an alternate route. They arrived at another heavy metal door, but it was locked tight. No matter how hard they hammered or struck it, the door refused to budge, suffering nothing more than a few minor dents.

Frustrated by the door's incredible defense, Hu Guozheng muttered angrily, "Damn it, I refuse to believe this thing is unbreakable."

Gathering all his strength into his fist, Hu Guozheng let out a fierce roar and delivered a direct blow to the center of the door. A thunderous crash echoed outward, the shockwave and resonant frequency reverberating through the entire chamber for a long time without fading.

Seeing that the door was still merely dented, Hu Guozheng nearly coughed up blood in fury. That had been a full-powered strike! Ten thousand curses raced through his mind.

"Did you hear that?" Amidst the massive echoes, Du Bin caught a faint, unusual sound. It was somewhat sharp and piercing. Hu Guozheng perked up his ears as well. "No? Wasn't that just the echo?"

"No, it was a sharp noise."

"Now that you mention it, I think I caught it too."

Abruptly, both men whipped their heads around to look behind them. One look was all it took to freeze them in terror: *Holy crap, the casket is open!*

Before their eyes, the burial casket had opened on its own without a sound, and the swirling black mist had completely vanished. A chill ran straight down both of their spines.

Not a single one of the lightning spheres serving as improvised lights had gone out, and the entire room remained crystal clear. For safety's sake, Du Bin signaled to the fat man, and the two of them slowly crept back toward the casket. Every step felt heavy; the closer they got, the more intense the tension became, and they were already drenched in cold sweat.

"Huh?" Finding the casket completely empty, the two men stared at each other in blank dismay. It had been a false alarm after all.