Chapter 2234: The Dead

The candlelight flickered in the wooden house. The black-eyed man sat against the innermost wooden wall, his right leg slightly bent, one hand resting on his knee, his gaze fixed on Su Xiao outside the door.

In front of Su Xiao, besides a normal-sized wooden door, there was a patch of black fog near the door; the wooden door seemed embedded in the black fog.

"This chain cannot be cut."

The black-eyed man tugged at the chain beside him. One end of the chain was connected to the iron shackle on his neck, and the other end disappeared into the wall, imprisoning him here.

Judging from the length of the chain, the black-eyed man could only move within a three-meter radius. There were no signs of life around, meaning he had been imprisoned here for a long time without food or drink.

"If you don't try, how do you know it can't be cut?"

Su Xiao made a move to step forward. In reality, he wouldn't enter this wooden house at all; at least not until the black-eyed man was dead.

"That makes sense. Give it a try."

The black-eyed man stood up and tugged at the chain in his hand, signaling Su Xiao to cut it.

"Come closer."

"No need."

"What if you hit me!"

"I won't."

"Wait..."

Before the black-eyed man's words were out, Su Xiao's aura became sharp.

"Blade Dao Blade · Green Ghost."

*Zheng! *

A crisp sound of slashing. A cyan-blue slash beam left the blade. Seeing this, the black-eyed man hurriedly lunged to the side to dodge.

*Puchi~*

Blood splashed. The Green Ghost slashed across the black-eyed man's chest. He hit the wooden wall behind him with a *thump*.

After landing, the black-eyed man's face twisted. He pressed one hand against the wound on his chest. That nearly forty-centimeter-long wound was deep enough to reach the bone, and blood gushed out.

"Don't dodge randomly. Stand where you are."

As Su Xiao spoke, he was already preparing to unleash a second slash.

"You..."

The black-eyed man was speechless. If he hadn't dodged that slash just now, it would indeed have hit the iron chain. It felt as if he had actively lunged into the slash beam.

At this moment, the black-eyed man was extremely conflicted. He could only move within a 3-meter radius; turning hostile with Su Xiao directly was clearly not a wise move.

But stand still? Don't joke. He had already sensed that the other party wanted his life. If he weren't trapped in this wooden house, he would have turned hostile long ago.

"Come closer and help me cut the chain, and I can tell you where the Forgotten Bone Tablet is..."

Before the black-eyed man could finish, Su Xiao's second slash was unleashed.

"Blade Dao Blade · Green Ghost."

It was still that familiar cyan-blue slash beam, but before the black-eyed man could dodge, the slash beam had already passed by him.

*Pat*, an arm fell to the ground, and a small pool of blood gradually spread on the floor.

"This time, how do you explain that?"

The black-eyed man's face was trembling. He was debating whether to turn hostile immediately. Turning hostile immediately would mean dying faster, but at least he would die with more dignity.

"I missed. The next slash won't miss."

Su Xiao still stood outside the door, making a move to unleash a third slash.

"Bastard!"

The black-eyed man no longer pretended. He lunged forward with all his might. The chain imprisoning him pulled taut, and the wall behind emitted a dull *thud*.

The light around them began to distort, and wailing sounds appeared. The black-eyed man looked like a fierce ghost, his skin rapidly withering.

Just as the black-eyed man prepared to counterattack, the door closed with a *bang*.

The black-eyed man immediately went silent, his fists clenching until they clicked. Just as he was uncontrollably angry, the door was opened again, and several crisscrossing slash beams flew in, leaving him no room to dodge.

The black-eyed man blocked with his arms, and the six slash beams left crisscrossing wounds on his body.

*Bang~*

The wooden door closed again. The black-eyed man, who had just prepared to counterattack, was stifled. Su Xiao attacking the wooden house was fine, but as an imprisoned "Dead," if the black-eyed man tried to destroy this wooden house, the result would be quite tragic.

The black-eyed man's "Mental Penetration" ability had just been stifled when the door opened again. It was the same familiar process, only this time, more slash beams flew in.

Outside the door, Su Xiao stood three meters from the wooden door, with Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang responsible for opening and closing the door, while Su Xiao was responsible for the slashes.

It had to be said that the black-eyed man inside the wooden house was quite durable. After taking over a dozen of Su Xiao's slash beams, not only did he not die, but he cursed even louder.

If it were only Su Xiao and Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, they could only choose to ignore the black-eyed man's angry curses, but don't forget, Baha was also there.

The team's division of labor was extremely clear: Su Xiao was responsible for the slashes, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang for opening and closing the door, and Baha for trading insults with the black-eyed man.

The black-eyed man inside the wooden house was nearly driven mad. Fight? He couldn't reach them. Curse? He couldn't out-curse them. He could only take the slashes and the insults. Perhaps he would die of anger before Su Xiao could kill him.

"Ah!!"

After a roar, a slash beam cut across the black-eyed man's neck. He successfully broke free from the shackles on his neck—after all, his head had been cut off.

The black-eyed man did not leave peacefully; his eyes were wide open, successfully demonstrating "dying with eyes wide open."

"Is he dead for sure?"

"Yes."

Su Xiao sheathed his long blade and stepped into the wooden house.

The wooden house's furnishings were simple: a wooden bed, a small wooden cabinet next to it, and a candlestick on top with a flame burning on the candle.

Besides these, there was a tattered desk in the corner with three rows of bookshelves holding over a dozen books of various types. After a preliminary look, Su Xiao discovered these were books from over a dozen civilizations.

Su Xiao looked at the desk, where a quill, a bottle of dried ink, and several yellowed sheets of paper were placed.

The papers were stacked together. Crystal layers clung to Su Xiao's hands as he picked up the papers to examine them. The content was as follows:

"The Death House here, a cage for those who profane the dead, a place of trial for the brave. I am High Priest Nuer, from the Luyang Continent, a hellish place scorched by the sun until it went mad."

"Trapped for 177 days. A participant of the death game visited. We conducted a knowledge exchange; after all, I have nothing else. He seemed to come from a place called the Void. Unfortunately, he had other matters and could only chat with me for half a quarter of an hour before leaving. A pity."

"Trapped for 228 days. The second visitor arrived. What a strange fate. She also came from the Luyang Continent and held me in high esteem. Now is not the time to be picky. She spent one-third of a month-mark (1 month-mark = 34 days) with me. Unfortunately, she eventually left, taking most of my knowledge with her. Truly degenerate, to be deceived by such a woman. But never mind."

"Trapped for 341 days. The third visitor arrived. Fortunately, it was still a female, and stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, she was too strong. I was extorted for knowledge once and nearly killed. Unlucky."

"Trapped for 415 days. The fourth visitor arrived. A male. I felt my gaze toward him was a bit off, and he noticed it too, so after the knowledge exchange, he left in a hurry. As a High Priest, I wanted to explain, but after thinking about it, forget it. Degenerate indeed."

"Trapped for 1077 days. The eighteenth visitor arrived. As per custom, we exchanged knowledge. She seemed very surprised—surprised that I would be so friendly. As a High Priest, even though I spent the first half of my life mostly with corpses, I was also an etiquette teacher for the 'Fengke Empire'. From my conversation with her, I learned that as long as I have a Shadow Stone, I can leave this damned wooden house that should be burned to ashes."

"The eighteenth visitor died. No Shadow Stone was found on her, and I was shackled by the iron chains growing from the wall. Fortunately, the chain is long enough to allow me to move freely in the room. Thank goodness."

"Trapped for 2201 days. This should be the last record. Every time I kill a visitor, the chain shortens a bit. It turns out the Death House has always wanted to redeem me. Death cannot be profaned, yet I have been profaning it all along. Also, there is a question: who... am I exactly? When I snapped the throat of the thirtieth visitor, I seemed to have forgotten who I am. Truly... degenerate." ===== CHAPTER 2235 =====