Chapter 128: The Curse

Bodies were strewn from a corner close by all the way to the far end, with patches of blood marking the ground. Conventional wisdom would dictate that by this time, the corpses should have begun decomposing, turning into ghastly sights. However, perhaps because this place was excessively dry, the bodies had only shriveled and showed no signs of bloating or decay.

The nearest corpse was that of a wolfman, who had sustained a severe blow to his head and multiple wounds across his body, causing substantial blood loss and ultimately death. Not far from him lay a jackalman, evidently killed by a neck wound.

“Infighting,” Nina’s brow was deeply furrowed.

The wolfman’s hand still gripped a bloody shovel, while the jackalman’s clenched a bloodied dagger.

Nina, with her experience, could clearly identify the cause of their wounds, which only deepened her concern.

Internal strife over the division of loot within an expedition team was not unheard of, but this corridor seemed an unlikely place for such a dispute. According to their footprints, the discord had erupted just as they entered, defying all logic.

Suddenly, one of the jackalmen beside Nina let out a roar and, with a dagger drawn from his waist and a vicious expression, charged at her.

“What are you doing!” Wu Qingsong shouted.

Nina sent the man flying with a single punch, but he was quick to get back up and charged at her again, dagger at the ready.

“Don’t come any closer!” 

Wu Qingsong was startled by Ling’s scream. Turning, he found Ling, who had drawn her short sword, standing terrified and pointing it at him.

“Ling, what’s happening?”

“Don’t come any closer!” Ling shouted in desperation, frantically waving her short sword. 

Wu Qingsong’s arm was slashed, but he gritted through the pain, grabbed the blade, and attempted to calm her down. Ling screamed, released the short sword, and fled.

“Ling!” Wu Qingsong had no choice but to follow her, but just then, he heard Sacker’s angry, maniacal howl. Pulling out his scimitar, Sacker brutally struck the jackalman’s neck.

“Betray me? After all the trust I placed in you, you betray me?” he bellowed, eyes bloodshot with fury. “Every traitor here must die!”

“What is this?” Wu Qingsong murmured in astonishment.

At this point, Nina had unsheathed her sword and was fighting Sacker. Her mind seemed entirely clear, as evidenced by her deliberate holding back, but it was this very restraint that gave the utterly deranged and unrestrained Sacker a momentary upper hand.

Anguished wolf howls echoed from his side as the catwoman quickly retreated from behind one of Nina’s wolfmen subordinates. The wolfman, pressing a hand to his bleeding wound, swung his sword in frenzy, but she deftly evaded each swing and struck him again in the abdomen.

The wolfman soon collapsed, and the catwoman turned to face Wu Qingsong. Under the dim torchlight, her eyes glowed with an eerie green light.

“Wait, what’s going on?” 

However, the catwoman took a step back and silently disappeared into the shadows.

This was bad.

It was then Wu Qingsong remembered Ling, but she had already disappeared.

“Nina!” he called out loudly.

“What?” Thankfully, Nina sounded coherent.

“It must be some kind of curse that drives people mad,” Wu Qingsong said, wielding his torch defensively, alert for the catwoman’s sneak attack. “There’s only one thing we can do now.”

Hearing this, Nina bit her lip, dodged Sacker’s onslaught, kicked him aside, and after a brief hesitation, began to fight off Sacker while unfastening her chest armor.

“Be careful of Xeila!” Wu Qingsong warned.

Almost in the same instant, a sharp pain shot through his waist.

“Father, I’ve finally waited this day,” Xeila’s voice whispered from behind him.

“Snap out of it!” 

Wu Qingsong extended his hand to seize the short sword in her grip, but she swiftly backed away, vanishing into the shadows once more.

“Are you afraid, Father?” Xeila’s voice rapidly shifted, nearly rendering him unable to pinpoint her position. “Fear not, I won’t let you die too quickly, much like my two brothers, your sons, the empire’s most promising elves. Did you know? They didn’t die gracefully or proudly at all.  I sliced them up piece by piece, watching them bleed, writhing on the ground like livestock, struggling, wailing. Do you know how entertaining that was? To discover elves can plead, lose their dignity, and wail as loudly as us, the despised half-breeds, and their blood… it’s no more noble than ours. Hahaha!”

“You crazy woman!” 

Wu Qingsong frantically swung his torch, spinning around, yet the short sword always found its way to his flesh from unthinkable angles.

This ability seemed different from Ram’s ability to create illusions. Wu Qingsong was certain that several times she was very close to him, but he could only see her figure when she attacked.

At last, he caught the short sword targeting him and tried to grab her arm. Without hesitation, she let go of the weapon and delivered a fierce punch to Wu Qingsong’s nose before once again merging silently with the darkness.

“Wu!” Nina called out, her chest armor already loosened.

Enduring the stabs to his back, Wu Qingsong rushed toward her, while Nina seized an opportunity to push Sacker away.

“Quick!” Wu Qingsong reached toward her chest. 

Though not as fast as with Liuli, Ling, and Ram, a silver glow expelled the darkness before Sacker and Xeila could renew their attacks, illuminating the entire underground palace as if it were daylight.

Wu Qingsong thought he could faintly hear something scream in agony. At that moment, Sacker charged again. Nina deflected his scimitar with one hand and, with the other, conjured a sphere of light, thrusting it into his body. He screamed in pain and stumbled back, his movements halting abruptly as confusion spread across his face.

“Xeila!” Wu Qingsong shouted.

Nina spun around quickly. The entire underground palace was now clear to see. They could even see Ling hiding behind a statue but found no sign of the elusive catwoman.

Nina then ran toward Ling, who screamed in despair and fled. Nina reluctantly cast a light orb at her, causing her to experience the same reaction. Seconds later, Ling halted all movement, staring at her hands in shock and fear, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened.

Nina carefully carried Ling to Wu Qingsong. 

By this time, Sacker seemed to have completely regained his composure, even recalling his actions. He knelt in front of the jackalman, staring at the nearly severed neck, his hand on the scimitar’s hilt trembling slightly.

Nina passed Ling to Wu Qingsong, who embraced her as she burst into tears, holding her tightly and softly reassuring her, “It’s all right now, everything’s going to be okay.”

“This wasn’t your fault,” Nina told Sacker. 

She attempted to heal the wolfman with the Silver Moon’s light, but he was already beyond saving. The orb of light passed through his body without effect, causing her to sigh deeply and gently close his eyes with her hand.

“He was my most trusted subordinate, we’ve been through so much together,” Sacker began, then shook his head and stood up. “Xeila?”

“She’s hiding,” Nina replied, her gaze cautiously sweeping their surroundings.

“That’s bad news,” Sacker remarked. “She’s the most skilled assassin I know, perhaps too skilled. In an environment like this, she’s like a fish in water.”

Without hesitation, Wu Qingsong activated Ling’s ability.

“Protect yourself,” he instructed Ling. “Especially your back.”

Ling nodded, and the silver substance quickly formed into hundreds of sharp shards, hovering around her.

Nina paused briefly, while Sacker was utterly astounded.

“I see,” he said after a moment, regaining his composure. “No wonder you’ve managed to kill so many.”