A hand gripped my throat. My eyes widened as all the baleful energy in my body vanished without a trace.
"Why are you so careless? If I hadn’t come over, you’d probably be dead by now."
"Concealer, I don’t need you here—I could have subdued them myself. Take them all back. Reforge them, then release them again."
I couldn’t see the one called Concealer, but judging from the looks between Xu Fu and John Chou, we absolutely could not let our memories be wiped again.
"Wait a second."
At that moment, John Chou called out. Xu Fu laughed loudly, and Piercer glanced at the two collapsed figures on the ground.
"Is it really useful for you to take us back? Wouldn't it be better to let us be for now? You could get new experimental data, and you can always retrieve the stone. That way, you wouldn’t have to..."
Piercer said nothing. This time, John Chou and Xu Fu floated up, as if someone was carrying them through the air. Piercer dragged the unconscious Adam Dale with one hand and pulled me by the leg with the other. The four of us were being taken toward the giant pillar.
Xu Fu kept talking about experimental data.
The three of them were even weaker than me—that was my most immediate impression. My blood had stopped flowing, but I had no strength left at all. I couldn’t feel a trace of power, barely stronger than an ordinary person.
"Wait, those two are pretty cunning. If we take them inside and they figure out the method..."
At this, Concealer suddenly stopped and spoke.
"That’s true, but we still can’t just let it go. We need to report the current situation, and it’s better to reforge these four."
Piercer spoke, and they continued walking. Right now, we were utterly powerless. Piercer was strong, but if I had my full strength, I was confident I could take him down.
"Where are you taking us?"
Just then, a drifting voice sounded. We looked over, hearing a crackling noise as black lightning flashed toward us.
Piercer and Concealer immediately dropped us.
"No matter how fast you are, can you outrun this power?"
Two bolts of shadow lightning instantly pierced through their bodies. Concealer appeared, but Earthly Soul didn’t kill them—instead, he used lightning like ropes to bind the two, slowly lifting them up and spreading his wings.
"These two defeated lackeys still dare to show themselves. Heh, I’ll go ahead and wait for you over there."
After a long while, we all managed to get up. Our bodies were covered in wounds. Though we were healing, at this rate, we probably wouldn’t be able to get up for a week.
Judging by how anxious Earthly Soul looked, he probably wanted to lock those two up first, then come back.
Sure enough, before we got close to the city, Earthly Soul returned again. A tingling numbness swept over us as black lightning wrapped around the four of us. Earthly Soul carried us up in an instant, flying toward the distant mountain.
I never understood why Earthly Soul was so powerful. Xu Fu and the others had grown so weak, and Earthly Soul didn’t remember at first—he only regained himself after more than a month. How could he recover so fast?
We finally arrived at the base inside the mountain. It was empty—those two were nowhere to be seen.
We leaned against the cold wall, each of us looking pale and exhausted.
"Xu Fu, you bastard. And you too, John Chou."
Earthly Soul glared at John Chou, a ball of crackling black lightning in his hand. He was even stronger now—maybe that’s why the Dark Banquet didn’t dare attack for the time being.
"Let’s get to the point, Earthly Soul."
John Chou shouted, and Earthly Soul sat cross-legged in front of us, grinning.
"If you were your old selves, you could’ve taken care of guys like that in a single breath. If only I had a camera—I’d take a picture of how miserable you all look right now."
"Enough nonsense. Let’s trade information. What have you done, or what have you sensed so far?"
Xu Fu immediately fixed Earthly Soul with a cold, sharp gaze. Earthly Soul nodded and spoke.
"I once managed to separate the artificial soul from my body, but my power killed it instantly. I couldn’t help it—it all happened in a flash. Rest for a bit, then come with me downstairs."
I glanced at my own body in surprise—my healing was speeding up, and so were Xu Fu and John Chou’s. Adam Dale was already on his feet, not a scratch left, looking as if he’d just had a good nap, perfectly content.
"The quality of the power here in the Dark Place is higher than outside, so you recover faster. Or maybe you’ve just put the shackles back on. Heh, let’s go."
In less than an hour, we were completely healed. We got up and followed Earthly Soul. With a boom, he blasted open the stone door, revealing a downward slope. We followed him, circling around three times before arriving at another stone door.
With a bang, the stone door shattered. As soon as we entered, my eyes widened—giant cylindrical vats lined the room. The nearest ones held two figures, one tall and one short: Piercer and Concealer. The two of them were struggling in vats filled with white liquid, unable to get out.
The other vats were filled with human remains—arms, legs, heads, bodies. It was utterly revolting.
"Brings back memories, doesn’t it, Xu Fu?"
John Chou mocked, and Xu Fu let out a cold laugh.
"There’s nothing to miss. Killing people isn’t fun, John Chou. I’m not like you."
Xu Fu immediately shot back, and John Chou’s brow twitched slightly before he walked over to one of the vats.
"What exactly are these things?"
"This is what Lydia Luo told me. Apparently, any limbs or torsos they value end up in this room. I don’t really get it. Last time, during a fight in here, I broke one of the vats and the liquid spilled on these guys. After that, they couldn’t use their powers. I have no idea what it is, so I brought you here. There are plenty more strange rooms below."
(Irrelevant system message skipped)
We wandered around, watching as the two trapped in the vats kept struggling, trying to get out.
"Want to interrogate them? That’s your specialty, isn’t it, Xu Fu?"
Earthly Soul asked, but Xu Fu shook his head.
"Interrogation or threats of death mean nothing to these immortal freaks. They don’t even have anything important left—they’re basically without weaknesses."
Xu Fu sighed, and I looked at him with disgust.
Just then, Ah Da banged on a jar. With a loud crack, it split open, spilling liquid as a severed arm vanished into thin air.
Ah Da immediately took a sip of the water. I turned away in disgust.
"Well? Do you feel anything?"
"A little sweet, like mountain spring water. Just ordinary water, I guess."
We were puzzled. The water was white, unlike anything in this world. Xu Fu dipped a finger in, tasted it, then quickly drank more, looking satisfied.
Dihun and Yin Choujian did the same, but I didn't drink any—this water had soaked corpses and body parts.
"It really is like mountain spring water, warmed by sunlight, with a bit of heat to it."
Dihun said, while Ah Da craned his neck and drank. Gradually, I noticed Yin Choujian's aura change, growing stronger. Xu Fu sensed it too and kept drinking.
Suddenly, Ah Da clutched his stomach, sweating and crying out. He collapsed into the water, rolling in pain. We moved him to the corner; his face was pale with agony.
"It must be the stone. Ah Da, spit it out."
Ah Da started retching, white streams pouring from his mouth. Then, with a smack, a small black stone fell to the floor.
Suddenly, the stone began to sink. Dihun, fast as lightning, tried to grab it, but the ground turned into a mouth and swallowed it whole. With a boom, we were blasted away by a powerful force.
Explosions erupted; jars shattered everywhere. Dihun grabbed the head of a stone man and lifted him, but the stone man was smiling.
I looked over—The Piercer and The Concealer were gone, their presence nowhere to be felt.
"Where did it go?"
Dihun asked sharply. The figure said nothing. With a crash, stones flew as the figure exploded, black lightning shooting skyward.
Everything in the room slowly restored itself, even the vanished limbs and torsos. Soon, the room was as it had been, and the stone Ah Da had bitten off was taken back.
"Weren't you supposed to have cleaned out everything in here already?"
Xu Fu called out accusingly, while Dihun glared at the ground in anger.
"I should have. This stone guy—I've killed him five times. Just seven days ago, I killed him. How could he revive so quickly?"
"Enough, let's not argue. Keep leading us, let's see those strange rooms you mentioned."
Yin Choujian said as he walked toward the door at the end of the room. Dihun floated over, and Xu Fu went to help Ah Da up.
"Are you alright, Ah Da? Does it still hurt?"
Ah Da nodded.
"Ah Fu, I'm sorry. If only I could've held back..."
"That's enough, don't say any more. Let's go."
Xu Fu smiled, comforting Ah Da with a pat on the shoulder.
I stared blankly at their actions.
"Even villains can be like this, can't they?"