I Am Your Natural Enemy

Feng Wei thought for a moment, nodded, and walked deeper into the basement. He had been sprinting in the Nether Path but had chosen the nearest Desolate Tomb to emerge from. He waited outside the Desolate Tomb, ready to clear the way for Wen Yan if needed within two minutes.

Wen Yan, accompanied by Pei Tugou and dragging along the Zhongnan Castoff, followed the small path beneath the basement and made their way onto the Nether Path.

At this time, it was useless for the Zhongnan Castoff to struggle. This was no longer the living world; if he died here, as long as Wen Yan never returned, all his preparations would be in vain.

Pei Tugou stepped onto the Nether Path and looked around recklessly, his expression growing increasingly ferocious as he watched the countless unaware Ghosts far off the path bypassing this place.

”What a crappy place, not even a street light!”

Wen Yan was speechless. After a moment’s thought, he could only offer some consolation, ”I’ll install some lights here later.”

As the blood on Pei Tugou’s body grew increasingly profuse, seemingly beyond his control, Wen Yan began to feel a bit scared. He was genuinely afraid that Pei Tugou might lose control at any moment and accidentally detonate this ”bomb.”

Even here, he didn’t dare assume that simply being in a different world meant the problem was solved.

Wen Yan still wanted to try a Temporary Ability, so he switched to the first one:

Retrogression: When you come into contact with someone, you can take them back to their past. The extent of the regression depends on your own ability.

He also tried Soul Summoning, which was quite ordinary. Simply calling out the other person’s name and knowing their appearance might summon their Nether Soul.

No sooner had Wen Yan finished trying this than Pei Tugou, who had seemed on the verge of losing control, suddenly appeared to calm down, returning to his usual indifferent demeanor.

”You’re saying it’s all about the Talismans he imparted, right?” Pei Tugou asked.

The keywords Old Zhao had previously mentioned—Temple and Talismans—immediately popped into Wen Yan’s mind. With a temple and a deity statue, there would naturally be a Temple Keeper; the basic structure was in place. And these Talismans... it could only be the Treasure Talisman on the Zhongnan Castoff’s hand.

”For a Daoist Master, this is indeed the focus, the core, the foundation for everything that follows,” Wen Yan confirmed.

”I see.” Pei Tugou’s Blood Clothes continued to drip blood, which had already formed a pool, enveloping the Zhongnan Castoff on the ground.

”You said we can’t kill him, that killing him would be like detonating a bomb.” Pei Tugou continued, ”I’m not scared for myself, but I’m afraid my daughter, my son, my mother, and my wife will be affected.”

As he spoke, a bleeding red exclamation mark once again forcibly popped up in front of Wen Yan, flashing frequently, urging him to keep his distance.

What Wen Yan saw also changed:

”The Honest Man (Special Status: Driven to Desperation).”

”Get away! Get away! Get away! If you don’t want to be killed, stay far away!”

As an intense, malevolent, and murderous aura erupted, black blood even began to drip from Pei Tugou’s bloodshot eyes.

Wen Yan was forced to move some distance away. It was only then that he suddenly noticed something: Pei Tugou had always held the Blood Rope with one hand, but now he was gripping it with both.

Clutching the Blood Rope with both hands, Pei Tugou stood behind the Zhongnan Castoff, gritting his teeth, his face fierce and terrifying, as if he were about to strangle the Castoff to death with the rope.

”There is nothing that can’t be killed!” he roared.

The muscles on his arms bulged, and his whole body seemed to expand as, hands gripping the Blood Rope, he exploded with fury.

The Zhongnan Castoff’s eyelids fluttered, and he instantly passed out.

Yet the Blood Rope did not harm his flesh in the slightest; bit by bit, it slipped into the Castoff’s body. Then, the Blood Rope kept tightening, inch by inch squeezing out from within him.

Along with the Blood Rope emerged a talisman, flickering continuously, like a living person whose neck was seized, desperately struggling against death.

Accompanied by Pei Tugou’s Roar, the fresh blood pooling beneath his feet turned into a crimson tide, surging up and instantly submerging the struggling talisman.

SNAP. It sounded as if a living person’s neck had broken.

The frequently flickering talisman’s glow gradually dimmed. Devoid of light, the talisman fell and was pulled back into the Zhongnan Castoff’s body.

On the Zhongnan Castoff’s hand, the talisman’s imprint completely faded. All spirituality, all divinity, was gone. It now resembled an ordinary tattoo that could no longer even be concealed.

Wen Yan stood not far away, one arm raised to shield himself from the gale-like malevolent aura and killing intent, watching in stunned silence.

Just moments ago, he thought he understood the phrase, ”When an honest man is driven to desperation, he is capable of anything.” Now he knew he hadn’t understood it at all. His interpretation might have been slightly off from the hint’s intended meaning.

How could he have imagined that ”capable of anything” not only meant daring to do anything but also implied being *able* to accomplish anything?

The talisman the Zhongnan Castoff had received... it was actually killed?!

The talisman was killed?

He shouldn’t have misunderstood, right?

Wen Yan, braving the tumultuous malevolent aura, moved a bit closer to take a thorough look and became completely certain. The talisman on the Zhongnan Castoff’s hand had indeed ”died,” leaving behind nothing but a ”corpse.”

Having completed this step, Pei Tugou became much calmer. He looped the Blood Rope around the Zhongnan Castoff’s neck and, as always, held the rope with one hand, waiting quietly.

At this moment, the Zhongnan Castoff also regained consciousness. He lifted his hand to look at the talisman on its back, and his numb gaze finally showed a trace of shock.

No matter how much he had anticipated, no matter how he had thought about it, he never imagined that one day his talisman would be killed. That a talisman could even *be* killed!

He couldn’t understand. He had never even heard of such a thing before. The Treasure Talismans imparted by Taoists were actually more like a certificate, a foot in the door, a threshold. At most, they formed the basis for subsequent development paths and continued cultivation.

The Zhongnan Castoff stared blankly at the back of his hand, his mind a complete void. This time, he was truly, utterly shocked.