Chapter 63

After circling about for a long while, Han Li finally came to a stop. WM.com

“I’ll decide whether to make this deal only if I can’t cure the poison later,” he could only think helplessly.

Then he glanced at the giant outside the room and remembered the cryptic words in the will; a flicker of curiosity stirred in him, and he decided to try the method of controlling the giant.

Han Li bent down and dug through the pile of items until he found a small brass bell. It was not large—just enough to fit in one palm—but exquisitely crafted, its proportions perfectly balanced, clearly the work of a master artisan. The only thing distinguishing it from an ordinary bell was the faint, faint traces of blood subtly embedded in its walls, strikingly visible.

Han Li examined the artifact called the “Soul-Guiding Bell” closely but could discern nothing remarkable about it. According to the letter, this thing could subdue such a terrifying monster as the giant—unbelievable!

With his left hand holding the small bell, Han Li picked up a dagger with his right and cautiously stepped out of the stone door, slowly approaching the giant.

When he was more than two zhang away from the giant, Han Li halted, unwilling to draw closer for fear of unforeseen danger.

At this moment, the giant stood motionless, his back turned to Han Li.

“Ding!” A clear bell tone rang out—the sound produced when Han Li lightly tapped the brass bell with the dagger.

Han Li frowned. The sound seemed no different from an ordinary bell—could this really subdue the giant?

Doubt crept into his mind; he slightly crouched, ready to flee back into the stone chamber at the first sign of trouble.

Upon hearing the bell, the giant’s shoulders twitched slightly, as if responding. Han Li’s heart leapt with joy, and he quickly struck the bell again and again.

“Ding! Ding!...” The bell tones rang in rapid succession. The giant’s body began to tremble, then staggered, his steps unsteady, until he could no longer stand and collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

The giant’s massive body hitting the dry ground kicked up a cloud of dust, catching Han Li off guard and forcing him to sneeze repeatedly, leaving him looking disheveled.

But Han Li paid no mind to this minor inconvenience. He lunged onto the giant, yanked off his hood, and revealed a swollen face that even Han Li found horrifying at first glance.

Han Li forced down his revulsion and dared not examine it closely. He swiftly used the dagger to slice his wrist, letting blood flow freely onto the giant’s face until the entire visage was coated. Only then did he press the wound, quickly find a clean strip of cloth from his person, bind it tightly over the cut to stop the bleeding, and stood calmly aside, watching the giant’s reaction.

Something strange occurred: all that blood slowly seeped into the giant’s skin, not a single drop remaining. Han Li stared, dumbfounded, even failing to notice that his own fingers, pressed too hard against the wound, had caused fresh blood to seep through the cloth.

When the blood was fully absorbed, the giant opened his eyes and slowly rose to his feet. His expression was blank, his gaze lifeless, devoid of any emotion.

But when the giant turned his head and his gaze met Han Li’s, Han Li’s mind “buzzed.” A strange emotion—both unfamiliar and deeply familiar—arose within him, as if something foreign had taken root deep inside, like a well-trained puppy endlessly nuzzling and calling to him with affection.

Han Li was startled, but quickly regained his composure, for he saw the giant’s face had changed from its earlier rigidity to one of complete obedience, giving Han Li the uncanny sensation that he held absolute dominion over the giant’s life and death.

Suppressing his inner excitement, Han Li issued a test command in a low voice.

“Go and tear down that stone door.”

The giant said nothing. He strode forward several paces, raised his clenched fists high, and smashed the stone door to rubble with three or four swings like a giant hammer. Then, like a whirlwind, he spun back to Han Li’s side, awaiting his next order.

Han Li, who normally avoided extreme joy or sorrow, could not help but grin broadly. With such a powerful enforcer always at his beck and call, what ordinary danger could possibly matter?

As Han Li excitedly imagined his future bliss, he kept gazing intently at the giant, scanning him from head to toe.

The more he looked, the more satisfied he felt. The face he had once deemed grotesque now seemed pleasing, even increasingly familiar.

“Familiar?” Han Li was startled by this feeling within himself.

How could he feel familiarity toward this ugly face he had never seen before?

With this question in mind, Han Li began to closely examine the giant’s nose and eyes, trying to find the reason.

Gradually, he realized that if the giant’s swollen features were restored to their original proportions, shrunk by one size, and reassembled, the face was not unattractive at all—it was actually a simple, earnest face, one Han Li knew intimately.

Han Li’s face turned pale. He stood silent for a long while before slowly raising both hands and gently caressing the giant’s face.

“Brother Zhang—is it really you?” His voice was low, calm.

The reconstructed face bore an uncanny resemblance to his long-missing friend, Zhang Tie. Coupled with the cryptic final words of the physician Mo, Han Li was now certain beyond doubt that the giant was deeply connected to Zhang Tie. Could it truly be, as the letter suggested, that this giant was merely Zhang Tie’s empty shell, his soul long gone? But why had his body grown so enormous and terrifying?

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