"Who's this Li…whatever?" I asked reflexively when Gao Liang spoke the name.
He gave the rope a tug as he replied,"Used to be an investigator on Lin Feng's team. Died in Sichuan during a case over three years ago. Lin Feng was the only witness back then… but now it's obvious it was all part of his setup."
Gao gave the rope a few more tugs to make sure it was safe.Then he turned to me and said,"Go again. Don't worry, no one's up there waiting to shoot you this time."
To be honest, what unnerved me more than Li Yongjin was that damn rope—the Beam Lock.I tested its tension and, once satisfied it wasn't going to hang me halfway up, started climbing again.
As I climbed, I muttered to Gao,"You sure this thing won't strangle me too?"
"Quit stalling—we don't have time. Lin Feng's group will catch up any second."
When I was halfway up, Gao added,"That rope's made from the grudges of the hanged. Xiao Sanduo got it back in the day during a case. Would've been a waste to burn it... Hng!"
His tone shifted abruptly at the end.
I glanced down and saw something that made my blood run cold.
The corpse of Li Yongjin—who had been lying dead on the ground—suddenly sprang up.He clung to Gao Liang's back like some kind of octopus, pressing his face close to Gao's ear and whispering:
"Director Gao… even you make mistakes. Didn't expect I had a backup plan, did you?"
The voice wasn't Li Yongjin's. It was Lin Feng's.
I let go and dropped back down at once.
At the same time, Gao Liang sprang into action—He slammed the back of his head hard into Li Yongjin's chin.
The blow wasn't lethal, but it knocked the corpse's head back slightly.Taking advantage of that brief delay, Gao hurled himself backward.
With nearly 300 pounds of weight, he crushed Li Yongjin under him with a loud wham.I heard a sickening crunch from the impact.
Li Yongjin let out a strangled grunt, and his limbs loosened their grip.Gao rolled off, freeing himself.
By then, I had landed and rushed over to stand beside him.
Gao looked down at Li Yongjin, who was swaying, trying to stand up again.He raised his foot and—crack!—snapped the corpse's shin bone in half.
Li Yongjin didn't make a sound.Not even a flicker of pain crossed his face.
Gao must've broken five or six ribs when he flattened him earlier—maybe even punctured a lung—Because now, every breath from the corpse sounded like a bellows: hssssss…
Between hissing breaths, it rasped,"Too late… once that door opens, it can't be shut…"
Before he could finish, a voice suddenly rang out above our heads:"If it can't close, then don't bother!"
I flinched instinctively.I hadn't sensed anyone above—just like earlier, my perception had taken a dive ever since I absorbed some of Yinbai's aura.
The voice was familiar, but I couldn't place it.
There was no time to think it through.I grabbed the pistol Li Yongjin had dropped and pulled Gao into cover with me.
I raised the gun, ready to fire—But Gao pushed my arm down.
He stepped forward, looked up at the hole above us, and said,"You couldn't stay outside where it was safe? What the hell are you doing back here?"
A bald head poked through the opening above.The owner grinned, showing a row of teeth.
"Well, well, Fat Gao," he said. "Didn't think I'd see the day you stumbled, eh? Got your base ransacked? Need your old buddies now, don't you?"
Then he glanced at Li Yongjin's mangled corpse and added,"That traitor Lin Feng used this stiff to open a Minor Ghost Gate. Something's bound to go wrong.We'll pull you two up first—we'll settle the debt later."
He turned to me with a smile.
It was Xiao Heshang—the monk who had watched me grow up since I was a child.And I hadn't even recognized his voice.
When he said "we," that meant he hadn't come alone—But whoever else was with him hadn't shown up.Still, there was no time to ask questions.
Just as I was about to speak, Li Yongjin's body suddenly began to convulse violently.Then he stood straight up, stiff as a board.Black smoke began to gush from all seven of his orifices.
It didn't just seep out—it surged like floodwaters bursting through a dam.In seconds, the smoke had engulfed his entire body.
Both Xiao Heshang and Gao Liang's expressions changed.
"Get up here now!" Xiao Heshang shouted."I thought you said we had half an incense stick's worth of time—Why the hell is it speeding up?!"
"Xiao Chili!" he called down to me, "You support from below, we'll pull from above—Get Fat Gao up first!"
But before we could act, Li Yongjin's body began making a strange cracking sound.His entire frame started to bloat—like someone was inflating him from the inside.
Within seconds, he swelled like a grotesque balloon.
Gao's face turned grim.He didn't even bother untying the Beam Lock from his waist—He just turned and sprinted away.
I didn't understand what was happening, but I knew it couldn't be good.I bolted in a different direction to get as far away as possible.
BOOM!
Li Yongjin's body exploded with a wet, thunderous blast.Chunks of meat and gore flew in every direction.
In the spot where his corpse had just stood—A shadowy figure materialized.
It was the same figure I'd seen back when I'd just regained consciousness—The one who had pulled Lin Feng out of danger.
Xiao Heshang's voice trembled as he muttered above,"A… Death Envoy. And a big one, at that."
The moment the figure appeared, a frigid aura spread outward.The air around him crystallized into pale white frost.
The figure turned to look at me—Then shifted to Gao Liang.
His voice rang out, metallic and unnatural:"Someone asked me to deliver a message—Unless the Heavenly Principle Diagram is presented, none of you are leaving."
Gao Liang's face didn't change much.If anything, he looked a little calmer.
As he unfastened the Beam Lock from his waist, he said to the figure:
"You must be Crow, right?I've heard stories about you.Didn't think our first meeting would be like this."
"But this can't go on forever," Gao continued."You're a Death Envoy, not some ghost-for-hire.Hiding inside Hao Zhengyi for so long...So sooner or later, the Grand Underworld Court will find out.Best-case scenario, they revoke your position.Worst case? You don't even get reincarnation."
Crow was the Death Envoy…
No wonder I hadn't seen him when Hao Zhengyi appeared earlier.
Back on the island two years ago, when Crow first spoke, Yang Xiao had said he was already dead.I never imagined that two years later, he'd become a Death Envoy.
What I still couldn't understand was this—Hao Zhengyi was the Chairman of the Taiwan Religious Affairs Commission,How the hell did he end up mixed up with Crow and Lin Feng?
While Gao Liang spoke, he had quietly moved both hands behind his back.He was still mid-sentence when Crow suddenly cut in coldly,"Chi-Yang Powder? I'm not a Soul Husk. That stuff doesn't work on me.If you insist, go ahead—try it. I won't even fight back."
That shut Gao Liang up instantly.
He gave a sheepish smile and pulled his hands back into view.
Sure enough, his palms were coated in pink powder—Chi-Yang Powder, the same thing he'd used upstairs to burn Soul Husks.
It's a sneak attack tool—once called out, it loses effectiveness.Gao gave up the ruse and tossed the powder onto the floor.
The exit was right there—And Crow stood in the way.
I was behind him now, gripping both short swords tightly, creeping one step closer.Crow didn't seem to notice me.
Another step.
If I could just get close enough, I'd strike without warning.I didn't expect to take him down in one blow—But if I could land a hit, Gao Liang would jump in.With Xiao Heshang and his helper above, we might just have a chance to escape.
It was a good plan—on paper.
But just as I took my third step, Crow let out a cold chuckle.
He didn't even look back. His eyes stayed locked on Gao Liang, but he said:"Those twin short swords are fine weapons.If it were Yang Xiao wielding them, I might actually worry.But you? Do you really think you can hurt me with them?"
"Let's find out!" I shouted.
With that, I flung the Blade of Sin at his head,While charging forward, Blade of Retribution gripped in my right hand.
The Blade of Sin shot toward him like a bolt of lightning—But just as it was about to strike,The white crystalized air around Crow surged.
The densely packed frost crystals thickened.As the blade pierced the freezing haze, its speed slowed just a touch.
That was all Crow needed—he tilted his head,And the blade skimmed his cheek.
It didn't seem to hit him directly, but a scorched scar appeared across his face, still smoking.
As the blade flew past, I was already behind him, sword raised.
I swung the Blade of Retribution like a cleaver,Aiming to slash from his shoulder down his back.
At the same time, Gao Liang darted in,His own short sword arcing upward to slash across Crow's chest from the front.
It looked like Crow had no room to dodge.He would have to take one of our hits, maybe both.
But things didn't play out that way.
Just as he seemed cornered, the crystals surrounding him exploded outward,Forming what looked like a wall of transparent glass.
Crow merged into the crystal wall with a subtle movement.Dozens of reflections appeared across the wall's surface.Even my Heaven's Eye couldn't tell which was the real one.
I hesitated. But Gao Liang didn't.
He began slashing wildly—every image of Crow he could see.Where his blade struck, the crystals seemed to melt—But as soon as it passed, they reformed again,And the reflections reappeared, smirking coldly.
It was a desperate strategy, but it was all we had.
I followed Gao's lead, hacking at every image of Crow I could reach.
Then I heard Gao Liang shout,"I'll hold him—you go up!"
Before I could move, a voice behind me barked,"You both go! I'll handle him!"
Someone had jumped down through the hole above—But we'd been too focused on Crow to notice.
The voice belonged to a skinny, wiry man—Not Master Xiao Heshang—But Director Hao Wenming of the First Office. I hadn't seen him in over two years.
Right after him, Xiao Heshang slid down the Beam Lock as well.
Time hadn't been kind to Hao Wenming.
He looked even thinner than before—so gaunt he seemed a shadow of his former self.I couldn't imagine how he'd lived these past two years.
But the moment he moved into battle,He was once again the old Director Hao.
He no longer used his bladed baton.Instead, he wielded a jet-black measuring rod—the Celestial Ruler.
Its surface gleamed faintly with gold-dusted Taoist incantations,Centered on a large, elaborate "敕" character,And beneath it: "Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling" (By the decree of divine law).
His movements were far swifter than two years ago.The ruler danced like a living thing in his hands.
Crow clearly recognized him—perhaps wary of the Hao brothers—He refrained from counterattacking, keeping on the defensive.
Gao Liang caught on to his hesitation immediately.
With Hao Wenming as our spearhead,The three of us launched an all-out assault.
We pushed Crow's crystal wall back step by step,Clearing a thirty-meter-wide space beneath the breach above.
"Fat Gao, you first!" Xiao Heshang shouted, seizing the opening.
He didn't need to say it—Gao was already running.
He grabbed the Beam Lock, wrapped his legs, and started hauling himself up.
On flat ground, Gao Liang's speed was impressive—But in the air? Not so much.
His rhythm was a disaster: lift feet, slip back down, lift again, slip again…
I couldn't bear to watch."Old Xiao! Give him a hand! Me and Director Hao will hold the line!"
Even before I finished speaking, Xiao Heshang had turned back,Planted himself behind Gao, and started shoving his big ass upward.
With those two gone, the pressure fell on us.
Without their interference, Crow regained the upper hand.
His crystal wall grew thicker, larger—His shadowy forms darted back and forth inside like ghosts.
To stop the wall from extending back toward Gao's escape route,Director Hao and I threw everything we had into keeping it pinned.
Then—suddenly—the wall changed shape.
It folded like cubes, slamming down between us.Director Hao was cut off from view.
I had no idea how he was doing.
All I saw was the wall around me begin to twist—
Then Crow lunged out of it.
His hands were like hooked blades,Slashing straight at my throat.