Chapter 774
Chapter 774
After a long moment of wailing, Xue Che's mother handed an ornate key to Shen Lang.
"He is in the Nightmare Cave. This is the key to open it."
Before Shen Lang could take it, Gou Duhuan intercepted the key, examining it closely. Shen Lang glanced at the old woman, then looked at Gou Duhuan and said.
"Give it to me."
Gou Duhuan handed the hexagonal key to Shen Lang. The moment it was in his hand, the old woman let out a sharp whistle.
*Swish.*
Suddenly, something red shot out from within the key, burrowed into Shen Lang’s body like a bolt of lightning, and began to swim rapidly through him.
"Aargh!"
Shen Lang dropped to one knee, crying out in pain. Gou Duhuan stepped forward, drew his sword, and pointed it at the old woman.
"What is this?! Bring out the antidote, now! Bring out the antidote!"
The old matriarch of the Xue clan said coldly.
"It's called a Brain-Eating Larva of Mount Fudao. It enters the bloodstream and can travel to every corner of the body. Its favorite meal is the human brain. You are a dead man now. Shen Lang, you killed countless members of our Xue clan, so you deserve this retribution! There is no antidote. This worm will enter your brain and devour it. Then, it will endlessly reproduce until your brain is filled with hundreds of them. They will crack open your skull and crawl out of your eyes, your nose, your ears. Shen Lang, you will die the most miserable death imaginable."
Shedding her previous attitude of a weeping supplicant, Xue Che's mother pointed at Shen Lang and shrieked. Gou Duhuan pressed his sword against her neck and shouted.
"Are you not afraid to die? Are none of you afraid to die?"
Xue Che's mother retorted.
"We are all useless people, so what does it matter if we die? If we can take you and Shen Lang down with us, it's a bargain. If we can see Shen Lang die in the most horrific way possible before we go, we'll have come out ahead."
She stared at Shen Lang with cruel eyes.
"Jin Mulan, look. Look closely. Your handsome husband is about to die a most gruesome death. After his brilliant brain has been eaten clean, countless worms will crawl out of his beautiful eyes. You will never be able to forget that sight for the rest of your life. Jin Mulan, from now on, every time you think of the name Shen Lang, you will be filled with nausea and disgust!"
Shen Lang continued to let out wretched screams.
"Aargh! Ah! I'm so scared. It hurts so much..."
But his screams grew increasingly half-hearted. Soon, Shen Lang picked up a wine cup and took a slow sip. Then, he opened his palm, and the Brain-Eating Larva squirmed its way out. Once free of Shen Lang's body, the larva immediately tried to flee. To it, Shen Lang's blood was like poison, so terrifying that it had nearly died the moment it entered his body. Shen Lang used a pair of tweezers to quickly pick up the larva and place it in a vial of normal blood. It instantly became ferocious, desperately trying to get away from him.
'The farther, the better. This man's blood is poison.'
"Gou Duhuan, hold the old woman's eyes open. Yes, just like that. Madam, look closely. I am thoroughly impressed with you all. Whether it's venomous insects, poisons, or this Brain-Eating Larva, they are all from Mount Fudao—things your Xue clan cannot properly control. How dare you use something so dangerous?"
Xue Che's mother screamed.
"Aaaah! Kill me, just kill me! Don't torture me with that thing!"
Shen Lang gently released the tweezers, and the Brain-Eating Larva shot into the old woman's eye, making its way to her brain. A moment later, the vicious woman began to writhe on the floor.
"Aargh!"
She thrashed about in extreme agony, letting out a series of horrific screams and desperately slamming her head against the floor. Shen Lang was once again returning the favor.
"Shen Lang, Jin Mulan! You will die a violent death! You will soon die and be buried with me! Hahahaha... Let's perish together, perish together!"
As Xue Che's mother shrieked wretchedly, Shen Lang spoke calmly.
"Granny Xue, is it true that there are hundreds of thousands of catties of fish oil beneath this fortress? Was Xue Che's plan to use his several hundred family members as bait to lure our Nirvana Army inside, then ignite the fish oil to blow us all up and perish together? Is that right?"
Hearing his words, Xue Che's mother was baffled.
'How on earth did Shen Lang know that?'
Yes, that had been Xue Che's plan. Even in the face of such a devastating defeat, Xue Che's only thought was to annihilate Shen Lang's Nirvana Army. He had even used hundreds of his own family members as bait without a second thought.
"Vicious. The people of the Xue clan are truly so vicious, you must have been born from wolves. Impressive! I was threatened like this once before, in the Southern Kingdom. A certain wise old man threatened to burn himself and his entire clan to death to pressure us into retreating. But he never intended to burn us with them, which is why I compromised at the time.
But now, Xue Che uses his own clan as bait, intending to burn my entire Nirvana Army to death, to blow me to smithereens. I can't help but be impressed! Your Xue clan truly deserves to be exterminated! All of you, remember this: it was Xue Che himself who killed you. And while I'm at it, I should tell you that we've already killed all the men stationed below to light the fish oil! But the fire will still be lit. The candle must have nearly burned down by now, and once it does, it will ignite the hundreds of thousands of catties of fish oil! Enjoy the show. This is the sacred flame Xue Che prepared for you!"
With that, Shen Lang led the Nirvana Army out, locked all the doors, and retreated several hundred meters away.
***
After Shen Lang left, a series of horrific screams erupted from within the fortress. Countless people tried desperately to flee, to crawl their way out. The members of the Xue clan had no idea their patriarch intended to sacrifice them to kill Shen Lang.
*Thud. Thud.*
One by one, people bravely leaped from the fortress, which stood about three stories high. Shen Lang began a silent countdown.
'Five, four, three, two, one...'
At that exact moment, the candle in the underground storeroom burned down, lighting a fuse. The fuse burned in an instant, igniting over a hundred thousand catties of fish oil. An earth-shattering explosion followed.
*BOOOOOOM!*
The Xue clan's incredibly sturdy fortress was torn to shreds by the blast. A colossal pillar of fire shot high into the sky, a sight even more terrifying than the massive earthquake that had struck just before.
With that, the Xue clan's fortress was reduced to a complete ruin. The several hundred members of the Xue clan, trapped inside by Xue Che's scheme, were all killed without exception.
***
Shen Lang's Nirvana Army searched the entirety of South Prefecture City but found no trace of Xue Che. Not only that, but Xue She, Ling Qi, and the grandmasters Xue Che had brought with him were also gone. It was as if they had all vanished into thin air. Shen Lang used every means at his disposal, searching all of the Xue clan's secret passages and mountain caves, but to no avail. Shen Lang was no ordinary man; he had what amounted to X-ray vision, so no underground passage could escape his notice. He did indeed find over a dozen secret rooms beneath South Prefecture City, filled with vast amounts of gold, silver, jewels, and various strange objects, but there was still no sign of Xue Che.
Shen Lang even found the Nightmare Cave mentioned by the old woman and searched deep inside it, but it was just another one of the Xue clan's secret bases. Xue Che was nowhere to be found. Where could he have gone? The city had been in chaos during the earthquake; where could they possibly have escaped to? Yet, even with Mulan's abilities, she could find no trace of their presence, not a single lingering aura.
***
With Xue Che, Xue Zheng, and Xue She still alive, the Xue clan was not yet destroyed, and the revenge of the Jin clan and Li Qianqiu was not yet complete. Shen Lang closed his eyes and fell deep into thought.
'What now?'
Several days and nights had already passed; the golden window of opportunity to find them was gone. Having failed to find Xue Che now, the chances of finding him in the future were slim. But one thing was certain: Xue Che was still on South Continent Island. When they had come to South Prefecture City to fight, Shen Lang's fleet had continued to patrol the seas. If any ships had tried to escape, they would have been spotted. The sea was not like the land; there was nowhere to hide. Any vessel on the water was completely exposed.
'So, what should I do? Leave? No. I must kill Xue Che to truly exterminate the Xue clan. I have to end this now.'
Xue Che was different from Su Nan. Su Nan was single-mindedly focused on restoring his clan's fortunes; for that goal, he might even be willing to resolve all grievances with Shen Lang. But Xue Che was driven by vengeance; he could not tolerate the existence of any enemy. In that, he was a bit like Shen Lang. The world was better with no enemies left alive. If he survived, he would undoubtedly seek ruthless revenge on the Jin clan, using every method at his disposal to annihilate them.
***
After several hours of deep thought, Shen Lang made a decision. Since he couldn't find Xue Che, he would make Xue Che come to him. He wanted to kill Xue Che, but Xue Che wanted to kill him just as badly. Therefore, the best bait would be Shen Lang himself. Of course, Mulan absolutely refused to agree to this, saying she would rather die. But Shen Lang had to persuade her. He tried to reason with her practically.
"My love, I won't be in any danger at all. There won't even be a moment where I'm caught by surprise. We need to finish things here as quickly as possible and leave. We don't have time. So, there is only one way. Using myself as bait is the only option. I promise you, there will be no risk."
Mulan glared at Shen Lang and said.
"Absolutely not, unless I go with you!"
Ugh.
"But if you're with me, Xue Che most likely won't show up."
Mulan said resolutely.
"Even if he doesn't, I will not let you be the bait alone to draw him out! That's final. Otherwise, I will ride you into the grave."
***
Shen Lang's forces staged a strange scene. The Nirvana Army completely withdrew from South Prefecture City. Big Dummy, Li Qianqiu and his wife, Gou Duhuan, and the other top-tier masters all returned to the ships. Everyone except Shen Lang and Jin Mulan. Their fleet then set sail, moving several miles away from South Continent Island, leaving only Shen Lang and Jin Mulan behind. All of this happened in broad daylight, for everyone to see clearly.
Then, again in full view of anyone watching, Jin Mulan carried Shen Lang on her back and scaled a cliff over two hundred meters high. The sheer cliff was part of a stone mountain located at the very edge of the island. The mountain was nothing but rock; there wasn't a single tree, not even a blade of grass, so anything on it was completely visible. The peak of the mountain was only about a dozen square meters in size, a place where no one could lie in ambush.
Shen Lang and Jin Mulan stood at the top of the cliff, feeling the sea breeze, gazing out at the distant sea, sky, and land. The Nirvana Army's fleet and masters like Li Qianqiu were all dozens of miles away. Anyone within dozens of miles could see Shen Lang and Jin Mulan standing alone on that cliff. It was a life-or-death gamble, using himself as bait to lure Xue Che out. Shen Lang was betting that Xue Che would never pass up this opportunity.