Chapter 138: Resisting the Curse

The bodyguard seemed to be struck by an invisible giant hammer, stumbling backward a step, his fingers trembling as he pointed toward the cat‑eye direction, his lips quivering but no sound emerged.

His eyes bulged round, the depths of his gaze filled with endless terror, as if he had seen the most frightening sight in the world.

"What's wrong?" the guide Tian Zhong sensed something amiss, lowered his voice and asked, a hint of anxiety in his tone.

The bodyguard gave no reply, only his body began to convulse uncontrollably.

The muscles on his face started to twist, the corners of his mouth slowly turned up, a weird smile identical to the soldiers outside the gate gradually blossomed on his face.

That smile, stiff and hollow, like a mask forced onto him, froze all his terror and struggle within that inhuman curve.

"He's infected!"

Tian Zhong let out a terrified, restrained shout, the sound harsh in the cramped room.

He lunged backward, trying to create distance. Yet his gaze inevitably met the bodyguard's weird smiling face just moments before.

In an instant, Tian Zhong's body also stiffened sharply.

The sharpness in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by a blank void.

Immediately, the corners of his mouth began to lift slowly, and the weather‑worn face displayed the same chilling smile as the bodyguard and the soldiers outside.

In the cramped room, the infection spread like a plague.

Another burly bodyguard, caught off guard, was also cursed by the infection.

The others recovered in time, quickly closing their eyes to block the terrifying sight.

However, the infected bodyguard moved like a puppet, stepping stiffly toward a blindfolded tycoon.

"Ah—!"

The tycoon let out a terrified scream. He felt an icy hand suddenly seize his cheek.

The hand was rough and powerful; he struggled desperately, trying to shake it off, but the opponent's strength was astonishing, leaving him immobile.

"No! Let go of me!!"

The tycoon roared in despair, his eyelids forced open by the hand. His gaze instantly met the bodyguard's weird smiling face.

The fear in his eyes solidified quickly, the muscles at his mouth began to twitch, and a similarly rigid smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Ho ho...... ho ho......"

The tycoon let out a strange laugh.

He broke free of the bodyguard's hand but did not flee. Instead, he turned, directing that weird smile at Zuo Teng, who sat in the corner with his eyes likewise tightly shut.

A shadow of death instantly enveloped the entire room.

The air seemed to solidify into substance, pressing so hard that people could barely breathe.

The tycoon Zuo Teng, Du Bian, Miyuki, and the captain, being positioned toward the back, luckily did not see the infected faces at first.

Now they kept their eyes tightly shut, bodies tense and trembling, their ears filled with those weird laughs.

They could clearly feel death's breath drawing nearer step by step.

The team seemed on the brink of total annihilation at this moment.

At this hair‑trigger moment.

"There's no way."

A cold, oppressive voice rang out in the cramped room.

Lin Fan stepped forward.

His left eye remained human‑black, while his right eye at that moment burst with a ghostly blue light, exuding a heart‑pounding authority.

A visibly black aura, like a tide, erupted from him and instantly shrouded the entire room.

The aura was cold and heavy, as if pulling the whole space into the Abyss.

Behind Lin Fan, a translucent, white‑dressed girl's phantom silently materialized.

Her jet‑black hair whirled wildly within the black aura, each strand turning into a lethal tentacle, bearing suffocating resentment that instantly filled the room.

"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!"

Ling Xinyu's long hair shot out like lightning, precise and swift.

Everyone present who had been infected by the Laughing Demon—including the tycoon whose eyelids had been forced open, guide Tian Zhong, and the two bodyguards—had their skulls instantly pierced by Ling Xinyu's long hair.

"Ho ho......"

The weird smiles on their faces froze instantly, the gleam in their eyes dimmed rapidly, their bodies slumped softly, utterly silent.

The whole process took less than a second, extreme in speed and in strangeness.

One second they were threatening Infected, the next they were cold corpses.

The black hair streaked lingering after‑images through the air, tinged with a whiff of blood, then quickly recoiled back into Lin Fan's body.

Ling Xinyu's phantom also vanished, as if never having appeared.

The room once again fell into death‑like silence, leaving only four corpses bearing weird smiles and the lingering scent of blood in the air.

Lin Fan stood in place, his right eye swirling with blue light, divine yet demonic.

"You can open your eyes now," Lin Fan's voice still carried a hint of coldness, yet also a post‑catastrophe reassurance.

The few survivors cautiously opened their eyes. When they beheld the hellish scene before them, they were greatly shocked.

Four corpses with weird smiles lay sprawled in all directions, the air thick with a strong scent of blood.

Du Bian trembled, pointing at Lin Fan. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, finally managing a few words, his voice trembling: "Lin... Lin‑kun... what on earth... are you?"

Zuo Teng's shock swiftly turned into a merchant's shrewdness.

He did not press Lin Fan about his identity, nor did he show excessive emotion toward the corpses on the ground.

He simply stared at Lin Fan, his eyes flashing with complex light.

"You can get us out of here, can't you?" Zuo Teng's voice trembled slightly, yet his tone was unusually firm.

At that moment, the team's leadership silently transferred.

He has already realized that the young man before him, possessing power far beyond that of ordinary people, is the key to whether they can survive.

"I'll do my best," Lin Fan said, his tone calm yet seemingly distracted.

Watanabe felt a trace of fear at the inhuman power Lin Fan displayed, but more than that was the joy of having survived the disaster and a deep trust.

He stood beside Lin Fan without hesitation, declaring his stance: "Lord Lin, I believe in you!"

Sato also immediately signaled the rest to follow Lin Fan as leader; his gaze swept over Miyuki, his voice low and powerful: "From now on, Lin Sang is our team leader. All actions shall obey Lin Sang's command."

Sato finally looked back at Lin Fan:

"After everything is settled, I will give Lin Sang a large sum of Bao Chu as thanks to you."

Everyone survived the disaster.

However, Lin Fan's mood was not so good.

He could feel the weakness transmitted by Ling Xinyu, and his heart sank slightly.

Just now, although he used Xin Yu's power to kill those Infected, after making eye contact with them he was also cursed.

Yet Ling Xinyu, while shielding him from the curse, silently told him that she had become considerably weakened and would need a considerable amount of time to recover.

If it happens two or three more times, she will temporarily lose her power.

Is this the terror of the Laughing Demon?

If it is also a ghost… then it is a ghost whose power far surpasses Xin Yu's.

ps: the darkest is about to arrive