"Open the door, open the door! If you don't open the door now, it'll be too late!"
Outside the Charity Mortuary, an elderly voice called out.
The voice was clear and cold, carrying a chilling edge. It called out twice, coughed once, then resumed knocking on the door.
Thud, thud, thud...
Midnight—ghosts knocking at the door.
Harvey Chen was the first to snap, jumping to his feet, his face twisted with rage: "Damn it! What the hell is this? Show yourself!"
He sprang up, grabbed the recurve bow by his left hand, swept his gaze around, waved it a few times, then looked down and found the extra shadow on the ground. He nocked an arrow, aimed at the shadow, his face fierce: "Show yourself!"
No one responded.
Zane Wang and the others seized the chance to rush behind Harvey, lining up in a row and staring toward the corner.
There, a solitary shadow hung in the corner.
"Shit!"
Harvey cursed and let the arrow fly.
Whoosh.
The arrow sliced through the air, instantly sweeping away the shadow.
Zane and the others, now standing, turned to look around—only then did they notice that the skull atop the fifth pillar had, at some point, orange-red flames burning in its hollow eye sockets.
That was the light source.
Someone pulled out a flashlight and shone it toward the corner.
On the wall, Harvey's arrow had pinned a piece of old human skin.
That piece of skin only had one arm—it was exactly the skin of the one-armed old man they'd seen smoking outside the village today!
The face on that skin was twisted, the mouth pulled into a cold, mocking smile, eyes vicious. Under the beam of light, it looked truly terrifying.
"How is he here?!"
"Where's the flesh? Why is there only a piece of skin left?!"
Leo Liu felt his scalp go numb.
"Just a ghost borrowing human skin. If you don't even know that, how dare you come here?"
Evan Lin glanced over at the group, shook his head slightly, looking rather unimpressed.
Hearing Evan's words, Leo and the others turned to look at him.
Harvey Chen was a little annoyed, face cold: "Who the hell are you? Did you put that skin here?!"
"That's right, only you could do something so disgusting. Are you here just to mess with us?" Leo Liu eyed Evan warily.
"Are you from a Daoist sect or something?" Claire Liang sized up Evan, puzzled.
"Whatever the case, we're all grasshoppers tied to the same rope now. Friend, more friends means more ways out—let's get to know each other? I'm Zane Wang." Zane's expression shifted a few times, then he stepped forward, nodded slightly, and extended his hand to Evan.
"Evan 'Nine Mysteries' Lin."
Evan replied calmly, ignoring Zane's handshake.
"Evan 'Nine Mysteries' Lin? That name sounds familiar..."
Harvey Chen paused, confused.
"Wait, wasn't there an Evan 'Nine Mysteries' Lin who won the Leighton City Underground Boxing King Tournament recently? They say he killed several Vajra Realm experts in one day, and even crippled Medicine King Valley's Mystic Arts Adept Mark Mu!" Leo Liu's face turned pale. When he looked at Evan again, his eyes were completely different: "Are you really him?!"
"Just a bunch of ants with paper bodies—how could they be worthy of being called Vajra?" Evan shook his head.
Hearing Evan's words, Zane and the others looked conflicted.
Bella Xiao, who had remained calm all this time, finally looked up and studied Evan seriously. On her delicate, serene face, usually as still as water, a rare ripple of emotion appeared.
A teenager killing Vajras like slaughtering dogs, even Mystic Arts Adepts were beneath his notice.
But when he first walked in, this youth was cold, sure—but he didn't have the wild arrogance you usually see in Vajra Realm experts.
If anything, he seemed even more restrained.
"Forgive my rudeness!" Zane Wang's expression shifted again and again before he finally sighed, cupped his hands, and said, "We came to Thornridge Mountain to hunt some corpse-servants that escaped from here. Honestly, the highest cultivation among us is only mid-Inner Strength."
Seeing that Evan didn't answer, Zane and the others showed no anger at all.
Compared to someone who could crush Vajra experts with a flick of his wrist, their pride meant nothing here. In fact, they were grateful Evan 'Nine Mysteries' Lin didn't even bother to notice them.
Otherwise, with the things they'd said before, if Evan had gotten pissed, he could've just squashed them all right here. That would have been bad.
Thud, thud, thud...
The knocking outside the door kept going.
"Open the door, open the door! If you don't open up, the meat's gonna be cooked—heh heh heh..."
Outside, there was a cold, eerie laugh.
"Brother Lin, our situation is even worse than I thought. Please, since fate brought us together, show us a way out." Zane didn't dare act tough anymore.
They might all come from grave-guardian families, but the corpse-servants they'd seen before were nothing but fierce dead bodies. They'd never run into anything this freaky.
"Give me the bow."
Evan's face stayed calm as he reached out his hand.
Harvey Chen didn't dare act cocky. He handed the recurve bow to Evan with both hands, trembling as he apologized, "Back on the cliff today, I didn't know any better and shot at you. Please forgive me!"
Harvey was shaking all over, not a trace of his usual swagger left.
Just the stories about Evan 'Nine Mysteries' Lin these past few days were enough to break his fighting spirit.
"No big deal. You were lucky enough to keep your life—that's your fortune."
Evan's words shocked everyone again.
"That arrow?" Zane asked carefully.
Evan took the bow in his left hand, nocked an arrow with his right, and drew the string back lightly.
The bow bent like a full moon.
That sturdy bow, forged from special Vajra steel, instantly curved, even letting out a faint metallic creak.
"What?!" Harvey Chen's eyes widened in disbelief, his heart pounding.
No one knew better than him just how tough this bow was.
He'd never seen anyone draw it to a full bow before!
And now, Evan had gone beyond even a full draw!
Yet the youth's face remained calm, showing no sign of effort—as if he was just casually pulling the string, and the bow was already at full draw!
"The arrow that hit his right shoulder? I threw it myself."
Evan spoke calmly.
Threw it?
With his hand? He threw the arrow by hand?
Zane Wang's heart raced, Claire Liang's eyes went wide, and Leo Liu sucked in a breath.
Bella Xiao's eyes sparkled with surprise.
Evan's gaze stayed cool and sharp as he looked toward the Charity Mortuary's main gate.
Thud, thud, thud.
The knocking rang out again at the door.
At the same time, the arrow shot out with a piercing sound!
Whoosh!
Like a meteor streaking through the night.
In the instant the arrow left the string...
The special recurve bow shattered completely.
The arrow tore through the air!