Chapter 82: Defying Heaven and Changing Fate (Seven)

The burning of the mountain villa seemed to have loosened some kind of restraint on the Blood Corpse; its thigh tendons tensed and stretched to the limit, even seeping fresh blood, and its body sprang forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring—so fast that in the eyes of ordinary people like Xiao Feng, it left only streaks of afterimages.

The sharp claws of the Blood Corpse's remaining arm tore through the long air, swiping toward Bai Zhi, who stood at the very front, shielding Xiao Feng's family. At this distance, there was no time to draw a gun and shoot; Bai Zhi flipped her palm and produced a knife handle with no blade.

She loosened her five fingers, used the back of her thumb as the central axis, and pried and spun the naturally falling handle like twirling a pen, letting the blade hidden inside slide out under gravity, transforming into a complete, arm-length blade.

This knife comes from the action game series *Dishonored*; essentially it's a standard folding knife, made specifically for stealth assassination. Normally it's just a handle—one spin or a hard flick slides the blade out to kill the enemy.

Bai Zhi held the knife in her right hand, steadied the blade's back with her left, and used the strength of both hands to counter the Blood Corpse's single arm. Yet the latter's brute force far exceeded imagination, easily overpowering Bai Zhi and pressing the switchblade, along with her left palm, hard against her shoulder.

It forced her down onto one knee, and the four fingers of her left hand were severed as if fed into a factory guillotine.

Not finishing the job = courting death; Li Cheng, who knew this principle well, didn't hesitate—he swung his long-handled greatsword and, using the relatively thick spine of the blade, smashed it down onto the Blood Corpse's upper body.

Even though it had already been pounded into hand-made meatballs, this ghost-thing still retained its vitality; the squirming minced meat, mixed with shattered bone fragments, crawled toward Xiao Feng's family at a snail's pace, as if still coveting their flesh and blood.

Li Cheng tossed off a casual remark and turned to look at the ordinary people.

"Holy crap, isn't this the classic Zhihu question—I'll give you a billion yuan, but the price is being chased for life by a snail."

She too went fierce—twisting the hand holding the knife, she used the switchblade to catch the Blood Corpse's claw, and the white long hair draped behind her surged forward as if it had a life of its own, coiling around the Blood Corpse's arm so it couldn't break free.

"Don't mention it. Can't do without fingers."

Suddenly burdened with a grievous wound, the Blood Corpse steadied itself on its right foot and, with its left leg like a cannonball, side-kicked toward You Anjian. The latter decisively abandoned his sword, activated some kind of light-body skill, his form drifting like a falling leaf as he dodged backward, while simultaneously triggering the special effect of the 【Come-Reject-Go-Retain Gloves】.

Flames immediately blazed up mightily, the leaping firelight together with the burning mountain villa illuminating the varied expressions on everyone's faces.

Li Cheng took out the wound-stopping gel and sprayed it on the severed surface of Bai Zhi's palm and on her scalp, helping her stop the bleeding—the Blood Corpse had earlier yanked her hair, tearing her scalp somewhat.

One, two, three.

Under the chain of smashing blows, the Blood Corpse's upper body was chopped into several pieces, the skull split open, and the collapsed, sunken eyeballs burst out as well.

"In other words, what was inside the coffin was never your wife, Old Feng. All the effort you put in, all the sacrifices you made, were nothing but a deliberately cooked-up joke."

Li Cheng clicked his tongue in wonder, picked up the straight knife, and cut open the Blood Corpse's mangled lower half, paying particular attention to the pelvic structure and the thigh bones.

Old Feng was struck as if by lightning and roared, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Old Feng said he never opened the coffin, and Zhao Xinglang only learned the truth today, so it wasn't him either. Then it could only have been someone else who opened the coffin.

"... Thanks." Bai Zhi gritted her teeth, picked up the four severed fingers from the ground, and stored them in her backpack panel to prevent infection. "Let's add each other as friends—I'll transfer you the emergency medical costs later."

"... What?!" Not only Xiao Feng's family, You Anjian, and Bai Zhi were collectively stunned into stillness, Old Feng also opened his eyes.

Boom—

"Don't be sad, it's not your mom." Li Cheng said casually, took out the disposable phone with Zhao Xinglang's SIM card installed, along with his own smartphone, and tapped back and forth on the screens.

The lower half still stood in place; the upper half first flew up, then fell to the ground under gravity.

The so-called ten fingers connected to the heart—the intense pain from the severed fingers contorted Bai Zhi's face.

With its arms and legs all restrained, in the Blood Corpse's murky, sunken eyeballs, Li Cheng's figure was faintly reflected. He gripped the 170 straight knife with both hands, his left sleeve rolled up, revealing the White Bone Corridor.

More crucially, the two thigh bones of the Blood Corpse showed signs of having been fractured and shattered—completely different from the way Old Feng's wife died of illness.

"Whether it's possible or not, just see if this call connects." So saying, Li Cheng dialed the number of the villa's gardener from his contacts.

The long-brewing thunderstorm finally arrived; raindrops struck the concrete ground in front of the villa, giving off a moss-like smell (actually geosmin).

In addition, the Blood Corpse's lower-half pelvis was overall narrow and tall, with a relatively rough pelvic surface and heavier bone. This was clearly different from the female pelvis, which is wide and short, with a smoother pelvic surface and lighter bone.

Beep—beep—beep—

The chance vanished in an instant; You Anjian drew his sword and slashed at one side of the Blood Corpse's neck, the blade augmented with sword-qi cutting through the tendons like splitting bamboo—until it struck the cervical vertebra, producing a dull "Clang."

"I'll do it."

Old Feng's head, as if resigned to fate, quietly closed his eyes. Xiao Feng, meanwhile, stared at the burning pile of remains that was his mother, unable to utter a single word.

In the last routine mission of 【Aberrant Outbreak】, he had killed the Pyramid Head in the bunker and used the White Bone Corridor to inscribe Pyramid Head's 【Bloodthirsty Rage】 skill. Its effect was: after wounding a living target, slightly increase attack speed. Perfect for this situation.

"You've all been deceived. Zhao Xinglang, and Old Feng too."

You Anjian sighed, signaled Bai Zhi to retract her hair, then took a bucket of gasoline from his backpack panel and poured it over the Blood Corpse's minced remains.

He then took out a cigarette and a match, first lit the cigarette and put it in his mouth, then casually tossed the match in front of him.

The White Bone Bracer blasted a black torrent, like a rocket booster, helping propel Li Cheng's arm as he swung the blade with all his might and slashed at the Blood Corpse's waist and abdomen.

Li Cheng operated the smartphone and contacted Yuan Zhixia, coldly smiling as he said: "The coffin lid of the inner coffin shows traces of having been opened twice. Once within the last few months, opened from the outside. Once today, opened from the inside by the Blood Corpse.

First release repulsion, letting the longsword sweep across the Blood Corpse's spine and spin out over twenty meters. Then release full attraction, making the longsword reverse direction and plunge into the Blood Corpse's calf tendons at high speed. And its momentum didn't diminish—it sank into the concrete ground.

Like a nail, pinning the Blood Corpse in place.

The long-handled greatsword, heavier than an ordinary person's, under the effect of acceleration, half-chopped and half-smashed the Blood Corpse's spine to pieces, cutting it clean in half at the waist.

After three dial tones, the call connected.

"Good evening, didn't expect you'd actually pick up this call," Li Cheng said. "Should I call you the gardener, or should I call you the mastermind behind the scenes?"

(End of chapter)