CHAPTER 792: CHAPTER 492: THE FLAVOR OF ROASTED MEAT

Is Cao Ling one of The Gate’s people?

Cao Ling knew this point, but out of a protective instinct combined with the fact that there were fewer people on her side and more on the opponent’s, she had already prepared to follow Sui Yi in forming an alliance. Naturally, she would speak for her, and she scoffed, "I don’t think there’s any need for Sui Yi, an outsider, and a private individual at that, to have anything to do with our shared objective... Zhong Lang, you’ve been with the Imperial Guards for so many years, and even served as a criminal investigator, it doesn’t make sense for you not to know the importance of motive."

"Motive?" Zhong Lang chuckled, "That terrifying figure from the Witchcraft Arts that appeared at Beijing University that day... isn’t that enough to explain Sui Yi’s motive? I think she definitely formed some kind of agreement with that person... or perhaps, they were in cahoots from the start..."

Ye Zixu’s weapon was aimed at Zhong Lang, and Cao Ling’s palm was gathering a ball of fiery color...

Zhong Lang’s expression remained light, unbothered by these two people, because his strength was much greater than theirs!

He only looked at Sui Yi.

"Miss Sui, don’t you plan to explain anything?"

It was only then that Sui Yi turned to look at him, her expression somewhat strange, "Is there some rule that specifies that your goal is something that I must not touch?"

Her tone was punctuated with pauses, placed just right, consistently reflecting her indifference and heightening the aloofness.

Zhong Lang’s expression seized up, including Cao Ling’s.

They had not expected Sui Yi to so bluntly reveal her own purpose, and... her words decisive and chilling.

"I never need to explain anything to anyone...especially when the other party has already positioned themselves as my enemy."

Zhong Lang fell silent for a minute or two before speaking, "I admit that I was wrong, sorry."

He had simply wanted to use this tactic to bring out Sui Yi’s stance and thereby request their three parties to join hands, but evidently, Sui Yi did not want to do so. It seemed... she had already decided to fend for herself amid this crisis, or rather, to pursue her own interests.

Sui Yi was neither here nor there about his apology, merely nodding her head, then turned to look at the bed...

"Why are you always looking at the bed?" Ming Lanyuan asked.

Sui Yi shook her head, seemingly deep in thought, but just then, Mu Sang and Xiluo and the others walked over, and Fatty Gao lumbered in as well. He still felt safer staying close to his boss, even though this room was more terrifying... or dangerous than the ones they had been in before.

Their arrival didn’t affect much, but it did reassure Sui Yi and the others that there wasn’t any significant injury or death in the other rooms.

Ming Lanyuan glanced at them and spoke of his own accord, "Alright, since you haven’t found anything, I might as well speak of my discovery... That strange yellow powder and the portrait, they’re quite consistent with a certain dangerous secret medicine."

All eyes turned to her.

"Devil’s Foot,"

"A secret medicine that’s obscure in European history but very famous hundreds of years ago, anyone who used this secret medicine would suffer terrible hallucinations and have their minds bewildered. Devil’s Foot comes in two stages; one is pure hallucination, which is the Illusion effect after absorbing the secret medicine, and the other is coupled with hypnotism."

"There are many methods of hypnotism, and this portrait is one of them... Sui Yi, did you see the person in the portrait come to life, and create terrifying images?"

Sui Yi and Ye Zixu both nodded.

"That’s the effect of Devil’s Foot, and what’s special about Devil’s Foot is that it has a greater effect on people with stronger and more sensitive qi and blood. Both of you are strong and sensitive, so you’re more affected... But it seems, both of your resistance strengths are quite formidable, otherwise Sui Yi, you wouldn’t have remained conscious, and Ye Zixu would have already killed Fatty Gao."

Ming Lanyuan’s words startled everyone present, "What a terrifying Devil’s Foot..."

"So now the question is, who deployed the Devil’s Foot? Where did the charred corpse and Yue Beiqing and the others go? And... why are you always looking at the bed, Sui Yi?"

Alright, Ming Lanyuan was persistent about Sui Yi always looking at the bed, and Sui Yi seemed just as fixated on this bed...

The others couldn’t help but take notice after being reminded twice.

The bed?

"It stood in front of the bed..." Sui Yi whispered, standing at the foot of the bed, "Right in my position, and, there’s not a speck of blood on the bed, only the blanket is on the floor."

What did this imply?

The blanket on the floor either fell on its own or someone had tossed it.

No blood on the bed, but blood splattered all around it, either the blood strangely didn’t splatter on the bed, or it couldn’t fall onto the bed!

With Sui Yi’s positioning...

"There’s something wrong with the bed!" Mu Sang exclaimed, pointing at the bed...

The others didn’t respond but simultaneously stepped back. Ye Zixu and Zhong Lang stood still on one side, their hands swiftly flipping over the two-and-a-half-meter-wide bed...

Boom!

The bed flipped over, revealing underneath... a tunnel.

A genuine tunnel!

Deep, at least five meters down, in the light’s glow the bare burnt-black dirt walls were exposed...

Of course, there was also the smell of char coming up...

"Smells like roasted meat," Cao Ling said.

Damn, can we not use that term?

The charred corpse was down there?

"This tunnel... the light could only shine straight down, so no one could see what lay to the sides of the five-meter-deep tunnel, but they could see drag marks on the floor... Right, and combat traces, and blood!"

Should we go down for a look?

Ye Zixu and Zhong Lang, the two men with high combat abilities, exchanged glances, about to leap down...

Smack!

A cold draft swept through, and abruptly the lights went out!

As if a cold wind had blown out the electric lamps!

"Not good!"

Everyone immediately became alert!

They all retreated backward, either reaching for the lights or pulling out their cell phones...

However, a sudden intense stench of rot assaulted their senses... A dark shadow flashed from below in an instant, soaring straight up!

A charred corpse!

"Be careful!"

Ye Zixu drew his weapon, slicing through the air with a cold glint! Zhong Lang’s finger hooked, and from the groove of the belt on his waist he suddenly drew a slingshot thinner than his little finger...

Crack!

The weapon’s gleaming blade and the whip’s light struck the charred corpse at the same time!

Squish!

Liquid splattered out...

"You’re gonna get us killed!" Cao Ling and Ming Lanyuan ran faster than rabbits, while Mu Sang, catching on slower, got splashed a few drops on his face....

Crack! The light from a lighter sparked to life.

The charred corpse, whipped against the wall by Zhong Lang, fell to the ground.

It rolled a few times, silent and lifeless.

As for the charred flesh and the sizzling oil, let’s not even talk about it...

Mu Sang wiped his face and vomited...

Uh... Zhong Lang and Ye Zixu had somewhat strange expressions.

"It’s long been dead,"

"No kidding, of course it’s dead... Wait! You mean..."

Shhh!

Another dark shadow burst out from the underground tunnel below, and this one was much faster than the charred corpse!

So fast, in fact, that even Zhong Lang was caught half a beat slow...

By the time he realized it, this new dark shadow had already landed among them, seemingly holding a person...

Crack! Zhong Lang’s whip lashed out...

Clang!

The sword caught the whip, and with a slice... Sparks glittered from the friction, producing a brilliant light, crack! The whip rebounded, and Zhong Lang frowned, turning to look at Sui Yi, who was holding Demon Que....

Sui Yi didn’t speak, just looked towards the figure in the dark... and faintly called out, "Yi."

They illuminated the figure with the light from their cell phones.

Yi’s face came into view, her features professional, exquisite, and cold. Well... she was also holding a person.

She tossed the person to Ming Lanyuan, speaking indifferently, "She’s been bewitched by the Devil’s Foot and poisoned with Corpse Fire Poison. It’s best to detoxify her now, or she will undoubtedly die within three shichen."

"Bei Qing," Ming Lanyuan was taken aback.

Yue Beiqing’s condition didn’t look good, her body burning hot with several claw marks...

Zhong Lang put down his whip, "Was it you who saved her?"

Yi looked at Zhong Lang. She seemed to hesitate, not intending to answer, but then she thought better of it and said, "I smelled something... and came over here, rushed into the room... I found her bitten by the charred corpse, unconscious and dragged into an underground passage, so I followed... and killed the charred corpse on the way..."

She actually explained!

"A smell?" The people present were a bit puzzled; they hadn’t smelled anything, nor heard any noises...

Driven by his criminal investigation instincts, Zhong Lang asked, "The place you’re staying isn’t any closer than the others, why..."

Yi looked up at him, fell silent for a moment, and said, "I’m not a normal person."

Well, this statement should sound somewhat haughty, but the people present could hear something... unbearable and repressed in it.

"There’s no need to inquire about unimportant matters," said Sui Yi with a faint glance towards Zhong Lang that made him inexplicably realize he had truly offended her this time.

Uh, he was just asking out of common sense...

Alright, in terms of emotional intelligence, although the siblings of the Zhong family weren’t exactly high, Zhong Buli was certainly much higher than Zhong Lang.

Ming Lanyuan gave Zhong Lang’s shin a kick, then continued: "Bei Qing’s condition isn’t good right now, I’ll check on her first... and about this pit..."

"The path below is a dead end, it’s been sealed,"

Yi’s cold voice brought some disappointment, but also relief, for if it were a live route, it would imply that beneath this castle lay a horror-filled Underground Palace.

And inside that Underground Palace... only one charred corpse?

The people present speculated with the worst of intentions about Hellfire Castle.

In the silence, Cao Ling, who had been pressing the light switch, said, "This is creepy, why isn’t the light coming on?"

The charred corpse was long dead earlier, and there was no ghostly trickery, so these lights—

"Not just here, all the lights outside have stopped too!"

Xiluo’s sudden reminder stunned everyone. Pulling back the curtain to look, they saw the entire castle estate enveloped in darkness, only the moonlit sea sparkling below.

If the castle, previously illuminated, was a sight of splendid glory, then now, after a series of nightmares and scare from the charred corpse, those present could only feel that the castle’s beautiful veil was slowly being lifted... revealing its ghastly, charred face...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)