Chapter 45: Chapter Forty-Four: Download Again

He hid for a day in the dilapidated little black house, waiting until night fell again, and the unhurried Su Qing made his preparations, then walked alone toward the edge of the ruins.

Searching along the way, he finally found a hole beneath a patch of weeds and dead vines.

Through Selinna's memory, Su Qing knew this was the entrance to the dungeon.

In the second black night ninety-two years later, this place had already been flooded by river water, requiring diving to enter the dungeon.

He arrived early, and the entrance had not yet been submerged.

Standing at the tunnel mouth, a chilly wind blew straight at him, making even the inhumanly constituted Su Qing shiver.

He took out the torch he had prepared earlier, lit it, and held it carefully as he entered.

Inside the tunnel it was dark and cold, but not narrow—wide enough for two to walk side by side—except the steps were covered in moss, making them very slippery, so footing required care.

He kept going down for about five minutes, when a dampness began to spread ahead.

"Probably the bottom," Su Qing muttered to himself.

After another three or four minutes, sure enough the stairs disappeared ahead, replaced by a black water surface and the sound of trickling water.

It seemed that in a while this place would be flooded—truly, better early than lucky.

Sizing it up in his mind, Su Qing stepped a foot into the water, sending up a splash; the icy sensation shocked him, and he continued forward cautiously.

When the water reached his waist, he happened to step onto solid ground; at that moment, before him lay an underground space built of stone blocks, lit by torches, their light reflected on the black water, giving a grim, terrifying feeling.

Su Qing withdrew his gaze, continued wading through the water for a while, and discovered that a heavy stone wall blocked the way ahead.

Holding the torch, he felt around for a moment and found a metal recess in the center of the stone wall; he inserted the key and twisted it left and right.

The next moment.

A series of click-clack sounds rang out, and he saw the stone wall before him begin to rise slowly.

After the stone wall fully retracted, he continued forward, walking another ten minutes until he finally saw the end of the passage.

There the terrain was high, not flooded, and on the wall at the far end was inlaid a coffin forged of fine iron.

"That's it!" Su Qing thought, and the coffin immediately matched the image from the movie in his mind, confirming this was the coffin imprisoning the Ancestor Werewolf William.

He quickened his pace, soon stepping onto dry stone slabs, then moved forward and, using the torchlight, found two extinguished torches on the wall and lit them one after another.

The three torches shed abundant light, illuminating the dim space; Su Qing glanced and at once spotted a metal recess on the coffin's right side—obviously the keyhole to open it.

Su Qing didn't rush to open the coffin and release William; instead he set down the pack on his back, opened it, and took out a bunch of things: a silver collar, a silver dagger, a silver net, silver bullets plus a pistol… these were all for dealing with William.

After William's genes mutated into an Ancestor Werewolf, he completely lost human reason, fully controlled by bestiality, knowing only to tear and bite—he was like a perpetually hungry beast, his combat power tremendous.

Although he had been imprisoned for several centuries and lacked blood to sustain him, becoming very weak, he was still not easy to deal with.

This time, to successfully subdue William, Su Qing prepared everything he could think of.

Five minutes later, everything was ready; Su Qing drew the key from his bosom, carefully placed it into the lock on the stone wall, and gave it a hard twist.

After a clatter of machinery, the iron coffin embedded in the stone wall began to vibrate, the reinforcing iron rods on either side swung open, and finally it slowly opened from the middle.

A few seconds later, the coffin fully opened, revealing William imprisoned inside.

William was tall and robust, a head taller than Su Qing, his whole body covered in long gray-white fur, his eyes a ghastly pale.

After three seconds of silence, William finally reacted.

"Hoo……"

He opened his mouth to reveal a mouthful of fangs, let out a vicious roar, dragging four chains, and strode toward Su Qing, a ferocious aura washing over him.

Fortunately, Su Qing had prepared early; his dual pistols fired silver bullets in unison, bang bang, expending all the rounds from both magazines, barely managing to halt William's advance.

Seeing how terrifying William was, Su Qing didn't dare delay; he pulled a rope, and a silver net dropped from above, landing squarely on William.

In an instant, like a steak sizzling in an iron pan, William's body emitted a hissing sound accompanied by puffs of white smoke, making Su Qing's eyelids twitch.

"Ow……"

William, who had withstood two magazines of silver bullets without a sound, now finally let out an anguished cry, madly struggling to break free, but the net's special material and large size meant the more he struggled, the tighter it wound.

Before long, William had wrapped himself up like a zongzi.

Such a good opportunity, Su Qing wouldn't let it pass; he quickly grabbed the silver dagger, lunged forward, and delivered two chopping blows to William's calves.

He chopped off William's two lower legs outright.

"Bang!"

Deprived of leg support, William's tall body collapsed to the ground; Su Qing seized the chance to pull out the silver collar and swiftly fasten it onto William.

"Hoo-ow……"

His neck bound by the collar, his forelegs tied by the net, his shins severed—though in such a miserable state, William still did not yield, opening his mouth to let out a ferocious howl.

Seeing his defiant, untamable appearance, Su Qing showed no mercy; he loaded his pistol and fired wildly at the fang-filled maw.

Of course, Su Qing controlled the angle; otherwise a shot to the head might kill William, which would be a huge loss.

Just a dozen or so silver bullets also gave William a good sting.

Although his regenerative power was amazing and he hardly noticed the silver bullets, getting hit in the mouth really hurt.

Thus William finally stopped being defiant, lowered his head, and let out a mournful cry.

"Ooo……"

Su Qing also ignored his pleas for mercy, reloaded the silver bullets, emptied all the ammo from his pocket, picked up the dagger, and began stabbing wildly.

At this point, even if William had the wit of a beast, he realized he'd run into someone even more savage than himself, so he stopped begging and just curled up, wailing incessantly.

"Hiss, the Ancestor Werewolf is indeed terrifying—stabbed for ages and still not dead." Su Qing exclaimed in astonishment.

Having said that, he again plunged the red blade in and drew it out bloody.

Su Qing personally witnessed William's regenerative ability: in just a few breaths, the bullet holes on his body were healed, the healing speed exceeding the rate of fire—utterly insane.

The reason he's doing this now is to keep William in a severely wounded state, fearing that when he downloads the bloodline, William might quietly recover and launch a sneak attack.

He continued tormenting him for a while; seeing William completely still but still breathing, he then stopped.

He dared not waste time; he quickly ran out of the dungeon, drove the livestock into the tunnel, then sealed the entrance and kept watch on William.

Four or five seconds later, familiar information appeared, with the Primordial Werewolf Source Blood at the top—as expected.

In that instant, with a thought, they chose to download.

In an instant.

The gluttonous beast reappeared inside the body, greedily devouring energy.

But Su Qing had long been prepared; they pulled over a trembling horse, slit its throat with a knife, brought their mouth to it, and began to frantically suck blood.

In a short while, inside the dark, damp dungeon, there sounded a series of sucking sounds that made one's hair stand on end.

「Gurgle… gurgle…」