The King of Curses

Chapter 18 The End of the Long Night

"Clap."

Dozens of seconds later, Xiaokang Building returned to silence again and was shrouded in darkness.

Cen Dongsheng let go of his hand, and the last bit of the evil spirit's remains turned into charcoal and scattered all over the ground.

After the ghost dies, its body shatters and the pure yin energy inside becomes the trophy.

While absorbing and refining the Yin Qi, Cen Dongsheng squatted down and picked up a small blood-red ball from the carbon ash on the ground.

This is probably the "forbidden item" that Kong Yinlian and the others want to obtain, and the culprit of the "haunted house".

He didn't have the energy to think about its use for the time being, so he stuffed it into his skeleton. It just so happened that his body was "empty".

The most important thing right now is...

Cen Dongsheng observed his body carefully.

Replenished by the refined Yin Qi, the originally exhausted True Qi began to resume high-speed operation, and the power of the Tiger Demon spread throughout the body.

After waiting for a while, he saw a pink-white membrane begin to wrap around the skeleton. He thought that it would be the meridians, flesh, internal organs, and skin in the future...

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally...

I won't really die.

After all, being brave and diligent is one thing, and rushing forward recklessly without regard for one's life is another... It was precisely because Cen Dongsheng vaguely sensed the potential abilities hidden in his body that he made up his mind to gamble his life with the evil spirit.

He wasn't going to die anyway, he just had to face death.

——The first supernatural power of "Tiger Demon Cloak", "Immortal Bones".

It allows the curse-master to continue fighting even when his physical body suffers serious injuries that make it impossible for him to survive - even in the ultimate desperate situation where all his flesh, blood, organs, and internal organs no longer exist, even if he turns into a skeleton.

After the supernatural power is triggered, the soul of the curse master is temporarily placed on the "tiger bone". As long as the tiger bone is destroyed, the lamp will not go out.

However, this state could not be maintained forever. Cen Dongsheng estimated that it might take less than five minutes.

Beyond this range, the soul attached to the bones will dissipate, and the soul will disappear into thin air, and it will truly become a pile of dead bones.

In addition, after the duration of "Immortal Bones" ends, a large amount of true Qi is needed to restore the body. If there is no rest time, the curse master himself will die after a period of time.

And of course, the "Immortal Bones" cannot be used repeatedly in a short period of time. It is a last-ditch effort when forced into a desperate situation.

But this is already a rather exaggerated ability.

Cen Dongsheng had never heard of any first-class spell that could make people immortal, and it was also the first superpower - no matter how many restrictions it had, it was ultimately a great power that could reverse life and death and reverse yin and yang.

"Rather than saying it's the first ability of 'A', it's better to say it's the first part of 'Special'... As expected, the highest-level forbidden spell and 'A, B, C, and D' are completely different concepts."

He sighed in his heart.

According to the rules of the "Three Numbers" that are prevalent in the world of forbidden masters, and combined with the images obtained through meditation during the first contact, in order to complete the mastery of this unknown special forbidden spell, two other "magics" are indeed needed.

There is still a long way to go, but that is something to consider later.

Well, now that he had killed the enemy with his own hands and obtained the spoils, he would naturally need some time to recuperate...

Cen Dongsheng suddenly heard footsteps. He raised his eyes and saw two figures walking in the darkness.

Kong Yinlian's face was cold and pale, and she was obviously seriously injured. She held a short knife in her hand, which was placed on the neck of another person.

"Winter Life..."

"Sister Zhizhen."

After a long and anxious night, Cen Dongsheng and An Zhizhen finally talked face to face again.

*
"Ugh."

Cen Dongsheng sighed deeply.

He scratched his face unconsciously, as he felt itchy on his cheeks. It turned out that he was starting to grow flesh on his face.

Half of his body was exposed skull and the other half was new muscle. His current appearance was terrifying, the kind that would give children nightmares when they saw him.

He was a little worried about whether it would leave a psychological trauma on Sister Zhizhen, but seeing that she was staring at him without blinking, her eyes sparkling, and there was no disgust or fear in her expression... it seemed that there was no problem.

Doctors are just different, he thought.

Although the current situation is very bad, Cen Dongsheng is no longer the same person he was before. Not only is he not very nervous, he even has the leisure time to think about random things.

"Mr. Cen, can we have a good talk now?"

Kong Yinlian said that she pointed the dagger in her hand at An Zhizhen's neck twice as a threat.

Cen Dongsheng ignored him, but stared at the person she was holding hostage——

"Don't worry, Sister Zhizhen, I will rescue you."

"Ok, I know."

Sister Zhizhen answered calmly. She ignored the cold blade on her neck and cast a trusting look at Cen Dongsheng.

She was soon controlled by Kong Yinlian again, with her hands pressed behind her back and clenched tightly.

Perhaps feeling that she was ignored by the two, Kong Yinlian's tone became even colder.

"Whether you can rescue her or not depends on your idea, Mr. Cen. Hand over the things and I will return her to you, and we can part ways in peace."

"You are quite good at seizing opportunities."

Cen Dongsheng finally turned his gaze to her, his tone revealing undisguised sarcasm.

Of course, it was expected that Kong Yinlian would take action, as she came here just for the "forbidden items".

He was originally worried that this guy would interfere when he was fighting fiercely with the core ghost, so he was on guard at first; but later in the fight, he was ready to risk his life, so he had to let go of his worries completely.

However, even at the final moment, Kong Yinlian did not show up, but chose to kidnap An Zhizhen, who was just an ordinary person, and tried to reap the benefits after the battle.

I have to say, her calculations were pretty good.

If she saw that he and the ghost were getting weaker and weaker, and couldn't help but take action in advance, the scorched corpse evil spirit's final struggle of desperate struggle would definitely make her pay the price.

"Of course I am no match for you. But the forbidden item originally belonged to me. In order to return it to its original owner, I have no choice but to resort to this last resort."

Cen Dongsheng sneered.

In fact, he is really weak now, and his whole condition is at its lowest point.

All of his true energy was used to activate the "Immortal Bones" ability to repair his body, and he had no strength to resist at all; and once he clashed with Kong Yinlian, the fragile cycle in his body would be broken, and he would be dead even without the other party killing him.

It can be said that he is now like a reed in the wind, so fragile that he will fall down at the slightest blow.

But from Cen Dongsheng's demeanor, this was not apparent at all. He looked condescending and nonchalant, as if he was telling the other person, "If you want to get your things back, then come."

Kong Yinlian realized this, but couldn't guess the man's condition, and her face tightened.

"I think... you should still care about this Dr. An. You two have no intention of hiding it from others. Is she your woman?"

After witnessing the previous battle, looking at him now standing there in a half-human, half-ghost posture, Kong Yinlian didn't want to conflict with this scary young man at all, and could only start with the hostages.

Cen Dongsheng smiled and replied:

"It's my partner."

To be precise, she is the woman who will become his pillar of support in the future. His feelings for Sister Zhizhen go beyond love and are close to respect.

"……partner?"

This answer seemed a little unexpected to Kong Yinlian.

She took a closer look at An Zhizhen's face, who was being controlled by her. Although this woman was able to remain calm with a knife at her neck, she was indeed not an ordinary person... but she was obviously not a curse master, and she could not resist at all when she was kidnapped by her.

It was hard to imagine that such a weak woman would be the companion of the man in front of him. Wouldn't this mean exposing one's own weakness? Refining true qi requires the most basic qualifications, which are almost entirely determined by talent. It is hard to say whether a woman can become a curse master, unless someone can foresee the future... This is impossible.

Kong Yinlian didn't think about it, she just shook her head and said.

"Anyway, you care about her a lot."

"Yes, I do."

Cen Dongsheng raised a finger, with a smile on his face.
"So, I only give you one choice. Give her back to me now and get out of here immediately, and then I can still let you go."

"..."

"The forbidden item is my trophy. Don't even think about it. You can't take it away."

The man opened his arms, his attitude wanton and arrogant.

"I can survive even if I was burned to the bone. I really want to know if you have the ability to do that."

Kong Yinlian's face looked so gloomy that water seemed to be dripping from it.

"No talk? Then I'll do it myself."

Without hesitation, he took a step toward the two men, and then another.

Kong Yinlian's pupils suddenly contracted.

He really seemed to be unconcerned about her threat, and he sauntered closer with a smile on his face, looking very imposing with his ferocious face.

On the other side, An Zhizhen smiled happily and looked eagerly at the man approaching her, as if she was ready to reach out her arms to hug him at any time.

From beginning to end, she didn't even look at herself.

...What happened to this man and woman? Do they really care about their lives?

Kong Yinlian clenched her teeth. She was of course very hesitant, but as she watched the other party approaching, she had little time left to hesitate, and she had to make a decision immediately.

She had no idea if this guy was bluffing; if so, should she take action now?
But she didn't dare. When she thought about fighting with the other party, she seemed to have seen the scene of the other party punching her in the face and smashing her head -

After a fierce fight, he actually had no intention of compromising, as if everything was under his control.

Kong Yinlian had been watching secretly. She had to admit that seeing the young spell-forbidden master fight in person had given her a great shock.

The charred corpse evil spirit is of Grade B, but it is definitely the strongest type among the evil spirits - if this was not a haunted house formed in a short period of time by the Yin Qi of external objects, it would probably soon transform into a more senior "owner".

In other words, the strength of the Scorched Corpse Evil Spirit was originally just one step away from being at the A-grade level.

Yu Wentao, who was a curse master in his human period, possessed far more powerful firepower after transforming into a ghost.

Kong Yinlian, who was once Yu Wentao's companion, knew very well that if Yu Wentao exerted his full strength regardless of the consequences, he might be able to achieve the same scale... but an out-of-control curse would burn his body, and Yu Wentao's survival instinct would prevent him from doing so, so he would never be able to exert his full strength.

But evil ghosts are different. They are not afraid of being injured or dying, so they can exert their peak strength at any time. Not only that, before their Yin Qi is exhausted, they can even be resurrected from the fire repeatedly, making them much more difficult to deal with than living people.

Even if she, Deng Rong and Yu Wentao formed a team and worked together under the premise of being in good condition, they would not be its match. They would be wiped out by this unusual ghost and burned into charcoal.

However, such a dangerous evil spirit was defeated by this man alone, and he defeated it head-on without losing the upper hand.

If the ferocious firepower and resurrection ability of the evil spirit made Kong Yinlian feel difficult and frightened; then, when she saw this man persevering in dismembering the evil spirit dozens of times and continuing to fight even after being burned into a skeleton, her only feeling was shock.

Kong Yinlian had never seen supernatural powers of this level before. She could not see the limits of this man at all. She only felt that if the other party could still fight, she could not see any possibility of escaping from him.

She has no ability to resurrect, nor does she have an immortal physique. She is just an ordinary curse-caster.

…She didn’t dare to gamble.

Kong Yinlian figured it out. She threw away the dagger, slowly backed away, and raised her hands.

"I understand. Mr. Cen, there is still about half a day before the haunted house disappears. During this time, I will not appear in front of you two. Once the spatial isolation disappears, I will leave here immediately."

Cen Dongsheng was too lazy to pay attention to her. He walked up to An Zhizhen and extended his hand to her.

Then, his hand was grabbed forcefully by the woman.

Kong Yinlian looked at the man and woman holding hands. They no longer cared about her at all, so she breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned around and left in a hurry.

……

When An Zhizhen wanted to speak, Cen Dongsheng winked at her, lowered his voice, and said hurriedly:
"I...can't hold on any longer. I need to rest."

Although he just showed contempt for his opponent in his attitude, he actually took Kong Yinlian's every move very seriously in his heart.

The reason why he did not retreat was because the more times like this, the more he could not show his weakness.

If their true identity was discovered, given the greedy nature of some spell-binding masters, they probably wouldn't just take the things and leave.

In fact, if the other party really dared to gamble, he would be the loser 100%. His life and Sister Zhizhen's life were actually dependent on Kong Yinlian's one thought.

Sister Zhizhen nodded and silently supported the young man's weight with her shoulders.

With the help of An Zhizhen, he stood on his feet, squinted his eyes and looked into the distance, making sure that his opponent had completely disappeared from his sight.

……

After the two men walked to a corner, Cen Dongsheng's body suddenly shook, and then he fell down softly as if he had lost his strength.

"Winter Life?!"

Sister Zhizhen's voice, a mixture of surprise and worry, reached my ears.

"I, I'm fine..."

He slid down against the wall and sat on the ground muttering; his eyelids began to droop and his shoulders drooped as if they were weighed by a thousand pounds.

"Let me, let me rest for a while..."

Cen Dongsheng's consciousness is slowly fading away.

It seems that the consumption caused by the first activation of "Immortal Bone" exceeded his original tolerance, so that he was not able to adapt...

As soon as he relaxed his mind, a wave of fatigue surged up from every corner of his body, quickly dragging his consciousness into a sea of ​​drowsiness.

In the last moment before he fell into coma, Cen Dongsheng felt a soft embrace.

The feeling was as warm as spring, wrapping him in endless, reassuring darkness.

……

"You did a great job, Dongsheng."

In a secluded corner of a corridor, there were only her and the unconscious young man.

An Zhizhen held the young man's head in his arms and placed it on his knees.

She lowered her eyes and whispered softly in Cen Dongsheng's ear.

"It's really good, really good...it's beyond my expectations, it's amazing."

Just like a mother praising her child, her tone was full of love and her slender fingers gently stroked his cheek.

……

Outside, the night that seemed to be endless and shrouded the Xiaokang Building began to slowly dissipate, and faint skylight flowed in through the cracks in the broken space.

The panicked residents hiding in the camp began to calm down and walk out of their tents after seeing no more alarming noises coming from the building;

And when they noticed that the world around them and the sky were getting brighter, even this group of people who had been almost out of touch with the situation for the past week gradually realized that this sudden change seemed to be about to come to an end.

The core was taken away, and the spatial isolation phenomenon brought about by the "haunted house" began to dissipate. All the out-of-control order returned to normal, and they were about to return to the human world from the haunted land.

People's expressions were no longer panicky and confused, and their nerves, which were highly tense in order to survive, were slightly relaxed.

They all felt very tired and sleepy, and closed their eyes uncontrollably. Some even lost all regard for their manners and fell to the ground to sleep.

Without a doubt, this will be the most peaceful sleep they have ever had in their lives...

(End of this chapter)