Chapter 28: Evil Spirit in the Bronze Coffin
Han Su certainly knew what to do at such a critical moment.
Chopping off the opponent’s hand — these monsters had all kinds of strange characteristics — slashing at them might not even cut through, and merely enraging them could lead to serious trouble.
Cutting off his own hand required less consideration — it would just hurt a little.
Even if the cut didn’t go through, if the monster tried to drag him into the coffin, there was still hope to break free or land a follow-up blow.
Very meticulous.
“Swish!”
All his calculations lasted only an instant.
Just as he instinctively slashed at his own wrist, the monster that had extended from the coffin seemed to sense something and abruptly retreated back inside.
That retreat was so sudden that the sharp nails left a vertical gash on the back of Han Su’s hand.
Combined with the previous horizontal wound, it formed a cross-shaped injury, with blood oozing out.
Han Su reacted quickly as well.
As he staggered backward, he shifted the blade forward, striking the coffin and sending up a shower of sparks.
He was slightly stunned, but immediately ignored everything else.
With the key clenched between his teeth, he dashed out of the room without even looking back.
At the same time, he anxiously thought, “The door, that door should appear…”
Sure enough, just like every time hope arrived in despair, the door marked “EXIT” eerily appeared at the end of the dark hallway…
But at that moment, from the coffin he had left behind, a strange sound seemed to rise.
Inside the room, the flames of the two candles flickered violently, as if influenced by an invisible force, casting all the shadows into disarray.
On both sides of the hallway, from the bronze statues shaken loose from the walls, came a dense scraping sound like scales brushing against one another.
Suddenly, a flat-headed snake, carrying a pungent stench, lunged fiercely at Han Su’s face.
In a flash, relying on his extraordinary reflexes, Han Su caught a glimpse — it was clearly cast from ancient bronze, yet it was a living snake, its fanged mouth wide open, ready to bite his face.
And that was just one.
On both sides of the corridor, more snakes emerged from within the bronze armor, their tails flicking as they leapt into the air.
Densely packed, they formed a net in front of him.
“Damn it!”
Han Su grew tense, quickly flailing his arms to drive away the snakes crawling on him, and without hesitation, raised his palm.
He pressed it forward and shouted deeply, “Sic erat in abysso!”
He had long wanted to test if this spell worked within the Ancient Castle, but didn’t want to bring unnecessary trouble upon himself.
Only in this emergency did he risk everything to recite it.
It would be great if it worked.
If it didn’t, at least it would boost his courage.
“Buzz!”
The moment he recited this ancient Fisherman’s Chant, Han Su once again felt the spiritual power in his mind surge turbulently — it was as if something once too quiet had come “alive” through the ripple, becoming clearly perceptible.
Then, as if it came naturally, it flowed from the area around his right eye.
Ripples spread rapidly in all directions.
Those stiff and hideous bronze snakes, already leaping through the air, appeared frozen mid-air the moment they came into Han Su’s view, seemingly bound by an invisible force.
Some of the bronze snakes twisted bizarrely and fell to the ground with clanging sounds.
The spell worked?
Han Su even felt a moment of joy: the monster hadn’t injured his eye, so how could he still use this ability?
He felt something strange inside, as if he had touched on a very important secret, but his spiritual energy was draining rapidly with the incantation. His mind grew hollow, and there was no time to think it through.
As he recited the spell, he also sprinted forward in large strides.
“Clack clack clack…”
But as Han Su moved through the hallway, distorted ripples spread through the air like water vapor seeping into the corridor walls.
The bronze statues embedded on both sides of the wall actually began to straighten, dislodging dust and debris, and even their hollow eyes faintly glowed with a demonic red light — like mechanical monsters awakened from slumber.
Those eerie eyes locked onto Han Su, and some arms even showed signs of slowly lifting.
They had just not moved for so long that the joints were rusted, making their movements sluggish.
“What’s going on now?”
Han Su could clearly feel that the spiritual ripples seeping from his right eye were being absorbed by the bronze-armored statues.
They were using his spiritual power to awaken?
That made him even more nervous, but fortunately, he managed to endure his dizzy head and was about to pass through the corridor filled with bronze snakes, arriving in front of that door symbolizing hope.
The key was already in his hand, clenched tightly — he absolutely couldn’t let it fall again.
However, since it wasn’t retrieved from the Pale Giant this time, the key had no slime on it, and thus didn’t seem to have the will to escape his grasp.
With several large strides, he rushed to the door. Han Su raised his palm, about to insert the key into the keyhole.
But at that moment, Han Su caught something out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly froze in shock.
On the fifth floor, near the end of the corridor, there was a small solitary room — not large — lit by two candles.
It could be seen that there had once been an iron door tightly fastened with fine mechanical locks.
But now, due to the spell he had recited, which caused some changes in the corridor, like the awakening of the bronze armor, the mechanical device had also loosened.
Now, a crack had opened in the door, and inside, half a face could be seen staring at him in terror.
What the hell!
Whose child is that?
……
……
Han Su was momentarily stunned before suddenly snapping out of it, his heart pounding wildly.
There was also a chosen child on the fifth floor.
The spell he had recited triggered the seepage of spiritual power, which in turn awakened the bronze armor embedded in the walls — and that’s how he saw this child imprisoned on the fifth floor?
In his urgency, he couldn’t even recall which child had been sent to the fifth floor — some were taken up directly by the butler.
This child had been locked in that room, and Han Su’s accidental spell had opened the door?
Time seemed to freeze.
Looking into those terrified yet yearning eyes, Han Su’s heart pounded madly, as if surging energy was pushing blood furiously into his brain.
Should he just insert the key and escape before the monsters blocked the corridor completely, or…
“Come here!”
Han Su didn’t spend much time thinking. He suddenly halted, nearly stumbling, then quickly turned and glanced into the corridor.
He saw the bronze snakes on the ground still twisting, trying to slither again, and the bronze-armored statues on either side — three or five of them — had eerie red lights glowing in their eyes, their hunched bodies straightening, approaching full awakening.
But there was still time — just a little time…
Wasting not a single second in hesitation, Han Su took a step, kicked open the door, and without a second thought, grabbed the long-haired child’s hand and yanked her to his side.
Then he tucked her under his arm, dodged the outstretched bronze arms, held his breath, and dashed toward that door.
While tightly clutching the small body, he extended the key toward the keyhole of hope.
He no longer cared about the reanimated bronze snakes or the awakened bronze statues behind him. Whether he lived or died, Han Su simply held onto her and reached out with the key.
“Clack.”
The key inserted into the keyhole and turned — that beautiful sound rang out.
Han Su used all his strength to crash open the door and felt the cold wind from outside rush in, brushing against his face.
He didn’t even look at what was outside — just held the soft little body in his arms and tumbled out with all his might.
At this moment in the Ancient Castle, the revived bronze-armored statues had already begun to slowly lift their hands. Those eyes glowing with eerie red light remained fixed on the direction Han Su had fled.
Slowly, slowly, they raised their hands to their chests, then gradually bowed down, saluting the one who had awakened them.
Unfortunately, Han Su had already slipped away.
The moment he escaped the grip of the iron door, a sense of weightlessness hit him.
He felt like he was falling from the fifth floor, about to crash into the stone-covered courtyard of the fortress and die — but then, his head suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
White light pierced into his eyes, and Han Su was silent for a few seconds before seeing everything clearly in front of him.
He was now inside a room at the Disaster Management Bureau’s base, surrounded by massive, expensive speakers.
The strange, chaotic sounds had stopped playing.
In front of him stood Zhang Chiguo with a strange expression, the capable woman in black suit, and a bespectacled staff member.
Their gazes toward him were all a little strange — in fact, they were looking at him like they were staring at a monster.
“During the playback of ‘Whispers of the Ruins’, some people couldn’t take it and went crazy, some had too much inspiration, heard too many effective spells, and their brains exploded because they couldn’t hold it all in.”
“Some spent the whole time trying to resist and ended up frozen, while others didn’t know how to protect themselves and got contaminated on the spot…”
“…”
The bespectacled staff member next to Zhang Chiguo looked at Han Su with amazement: “But you — you actually fell asleep while listening — you’re seriously the first one, little handsome…”