Chapter 80: Words Are Never Lacking

As soon as the ultimate technique was unleashed, the vengeful spirits were swiftly dispersed. Lord Wei reined in his mind and called out to Lixing, "See if those two fools are dead yet!"

Lixing sheathed his dagger, then gave a sharp kick to awaken the unconscious tall-thin man and the chubby one. "Hey, are you dead or what!?"

Seeing that they showed no response, Lecheng said coldly, "Their souls have been eroded. It will be quite a while before they recover."

"Should we just leave them here, then? Their hands are still bleeding!" whispered the remaining three diggers.

Lord Wei's eyes rolled, and he pointed at the tall-thin man lying on the ground. "Lixing, bring him here. Lecheng, help bandage up the chubby one."

Lixing smirked, dragged the tall man over, and tossed him before Lord Wei. "Here!"

Ye Dong asked coldly, "He’s passed out. Why not just leave him? Why are you keeping him around?"

Lord Wei chuckled slyly. "Brother Tian, you might not know this, but although this tall fellow was a menace to himself and others and deserves death, he’s not dead yet, is he? As long as he’s alive, he’s still of some use."

"Use? He nearly got me killed just now! Let me finish him off myself!" Huiyan’s face was contorted with rage as she drew her dagger, ready to kill the tall man. Lixing stopped her. "Yan Hui, you may be Brother Tian’s companion, but Lord Wei calls the shots here. Hold your temper. Once this is over, you can deal with him as you wish."

"Hmph!" Huiyan withdrew her dagger, glaring coldly at Lord Wei’s every move.

Having checked the tall man’s pulse, Lord Wei forced a smile at Huiyan. "Yan Hui, let me take your revenge for you. This tall one deserves to die, but let’s give his death some value, shall we?"

"Even more value?" Ye Dong frowned, deliberately asking, "Lord Wei, the blood spell you used to destroy the ghosts just now, which school does it belong to? It’s astoundingly powerful!"

"Maoshan sect magic. I’ll explain to you later," Lord Wei chuckled again. "There are even greater techniques. Watch closely!"

No sooner had he spoken than he squeezed a few drops of blood from his bleeding left index finger, then marked the tall man’s forehead, chest, and palms. He chanted some unintelligible incantations, then drew a small flute from his robe.

Seeing this, Ye Dong naturally realized Lord Wei was about to use a spell from the Mengpo Luo tribe. This time, he proactively covered his ears with his fingers—after all, if you’re going to put on a show, play the part to the end.

"Again with the flute?" Huiyan felt a surge of irritation, but had no choice but to cover her ears as well.

The strange, shrill notes of the flute echoed once more, Lord Wei’s eyes glinting like a snake’s, never leaving the tall man’s face as he blew ceaselessly. After about a minute, the hand of the unconscious tall man suddenly twitched.

Huiyan instinctively took a step back. "His—his hand moved!"

Lecheng gave a low chuckle. "That’s exactly what we want!"

Seeing the tall man respond, Lord Wei played with even more intensity. The eerie flute notes pressed upon everyone like an invisible wall, stifling and oppressive beyond words.

Suddenly, the tall man’s eyelids flew open!

His pupils, now pitch-black, no longer resembled human eyes—gone were the whites, replaced by utter darkness, endless and unfathomable.

Ye Dong’s heart sank. "Lord Wei not only commands sorcery, but also wields orthodox techniques—he’s truly formidable!"

The tall man’s hollow gaze rolled suddenly, fixing on Lord Wei. His mouth, as if possessed by a vengeful ghost, slowly split open, and he let out two sinister laughs before slowly rising to his feet, stiff as a corpse.

Such unnatural phenomena left Lord Wei and his companions unfazed; they’d seen it all before. He put away his flute and gently patted the tall man’s shoulder, asking in a chilling voice, "Do you see that door ahead?"

The tall man nodded mechanically.

Ye Dong frowned deeply, staring at the tall man. "He’s in deep trouble now."

Satisfied by the answer, Lord Wei smiled. "Did you see that there’s a hole in the door?"

The tall man nodded again.

Lord Wei stretched out his hand. "Just like this—reach in and turn the switch, all right?" He demonstrated, his hand curling into a claw, twisting as if gripping something to the right.

The tall man nodded once more, like a puppet.

"Go on, then." Lord Wei patted him on the back, commanding softly, "Reach in and open the door for us."

"All right." The tall man nodded, dragging his feet forward.

Ye Dong and Huiyan held their breath, watching as the tall man approached the grand door, muttering repeatedly, "Reach in and open the door, reach in and open the door..."

Ye Dong narrowed his eyes, noticing that, just as Lord Wei had said, the stone door had a hole just wide enough for an arm. He thought to himself, "There’s definitely a trap in that hole! Lord Wei is truly ruthless, sending a living man to his death!"

Seeing Ye Dong’s troubled look, Huiyan understood what he was thinking. She tugged his sleeve and whispered, "That tall man is selfish to the core, hurting others and himself. Whatever happens, he brought it on himself!"

Ye Dong knew Huiyan’s words were meant to restrain him from acting rashly. He turned to look at her and saw the flicker of unease on her face.

Lecheng walked up to Lord Wei, whispering with a grin, "Lord Wei, once that door is open, we’ll probably see the coffins!"

Lord Wei seemed rather excited too. "Whether we get any spoils or not depends on what treasures lie within."

The two showed not the slightest concern for the tall man’s fate, instead discussing possible loot, which filled Ye Dong and Huiyan with deep disgust.

"Reach in and open the door, reach in and open the door..." The tall man stood before the stone aperture and, sure enough, shoved his hand inside!

Lixing stepped forward to shield the others. "Be careful—there might be hidden traps!"

"Click!" As the tall man twisted the mechanism inside the hole, the stone door emitted a mechanical whir.

Lord Wei squinted at the tall man, surprised to see that he wasn’t immediately struck down as expected.

But the delayed scream came at last!

"Ah!!" The tall man’s hand, thrust into the hole, was suddenly crushed off by a massive stone within!

To be crushed is not the same as being severed—the stone ground away his arm as if grinding tofu, the excruciating pain snapping him out of Lord Wei’s spell at once!

"My hand!? Where’s my hand!?" He looked down at his bloody, empty stump, and terror and agony sent him into a frenzy of screams.

Before his wails had died away, the massive stone mechanism above the door crashed down with a thunderous roar. In less than a second, the tall man was flattened into a bloody pulp—he didn’t even have time to cry for help before he died.

Ye Dong and the others barely had time to react when the twang of bowstrings sounded again!

Lixing, clearly prepared, spun his iron umbrella, blocking every flaming arrow and shielding the group completely.

"That was close!" Huiyan, already poised to fight, whispered, "Lixing’s experience with tomb-raiding far surpasses ours!"

Ye Dong glanced at the blood-soaked stone and felt deep pity for the tall man. "Your selfishness killed you in the end—worse yet, Lord Wei and his cronies didn’t even bat an eye as they sent you to your death. Despicable!"

With a final rumble, the last stone door slid open, at the cost of the tall man’s life. Before them, two stone coffins engraved with strange patterns lay side by side, silently awaiting discovery.