Chapter 24: Truly His Doing

“What?” Prefect Du turned to look at him, realizing the Prison Warden must have seen something.

The accuser, who had managed to stand firm, began to bleed from his mouth and nostrils. Suddenly, he felt no more pain inside, quickly losing sensation in his internal organs. He suspected the numbing effect of his own poisoned needle had taken hold, yet he still had sensation in other parts of his body.

Then he realized he was overthinking things; he couldn't breathe. He looked up at Shi Chun, his eyes filled with disbelief.

During their four-armed struggle earlier, he had felt that their cultivation levels were not significantly different. How could his defense not even withstand a single palm strike from the opponent?

Boom! Another drum sounded, the sixth one.

Almost simultaneously with the drum, Shi Chun lunged forward, swift as a meteor. He spun, landing a powerful whip kick, his brow furrowed, eyes cold, and hair flying.

Fearing the opponent wouldn't die within the allotted time, he urgently delivered another kick.

Crack! The accuser's head spun two and a half times on his neck, his occiput facing Shi Chun. His eyes remained open in disbelief as his body trembled, on the verge of collapsing.

Boom! The seventh drum sounded, and the accuser slowly collapsed, his face etched with unwillingness.

The city guard slowly lowered the drumstick he held aloft, clearly seeing no need to continue drumming.

Shi Chun also slowly exhaled.

If he had been well-informed, if he had known that the city guards had brought the bodies of those he personally killed that night to this place, he 'might' not have used that killing move.

In his opinion, only the power behind Shen Youkun knew the location of that night's incident. Even if they had secretly colluded with the city guards, it was impossible for them to openly expose those bodies here. Destroying the evidence was the most likely scenario.

Unaware of the inside story, he couldn't have figured out how the bodies ended up here, no matter how hard he thought.

But that was only a 'might'. In reality, he had no choice now; to kill an opponent with comparable cultivation within ten counts, he had to use a killing move to overcome this hurdle.

Just as the accuser's body slowly collapsed, the skull blood-print on his back was obscured by spreading subcutaneous bleeding, revealing a striking large patch of bright red.

Upon seeing this mark, Prefect Du, hidden behind the window lattice, momentarily lost his composure, his face showing incredible emotion. "He really did it!"

Shi Chun, who had lost the decorum of his hair-pin during his interrogation in prison, looked around with disheveled hair, only then realizing a problem: there was no one else present apart from the city guard counting beats on the drum. Where was the referee? Could the drummer also be the referee?

Prefect Du, still behind the window lattice, had turned to stare at the Prison Warden. The final outcome explained the preceding events, and he finally understood the Warden's intention in watching this duel.

Hadn't he previously reported that Qi Yueru had every reason to suspect Shi Chun was the killer of his son and brother?

Now he naturally understood the Prison Warden's meaning: since there was suspicion, they should verify it and see if it matched the killer's modus operandi.

As for why they had to count ten drumbeats and force a bare-knuckle fight without weapons, it was now obvious: they wanted to leave Shi Chun no escape, to force him to use a killing move.

Just as Prefect Du was about to speak, he saw the Prison Warden raise his hand, his index finger cutting through the air like a sharp blade.

The window lattice before him remained undamaged, and he felt no anomaly whatsoever. Yet, in the blood-soaked dueling ground, a crack appeared out of thin air, growing like a glowing thread, gradually widening into a fissure.

The process was completely silent until a fragrant whirlwind blew out from within the crack. Shi Chun suddenly noticed it and turned around, finally seeing the strange phenomenon.

Tap. A tapping sound, echoing throughout the city, rang out. The sound wasn't actually loud, but everyone in the city heard it clearly. Many people within the city looked around, unsure of the source, as if it were tapping right next to their ears.

Inside the prison, Wu Jinliang, who was sitting in a corner tending to his wounds, paused, then stood up. He wasn't aware of any duel.

Shi Chun, wary of the spatial crack, looked around for the source of the sound.

Only Prefect Du saw the source of the sound.

The Prison Warden had one hand resting on the windowsill, his index fingertip tapping casually and comfortably.

The tapping sounds, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, with varying rhythms, seemed to strike everyone's heart, making their heartbeats want to follow the rhythm. This sensation caused a feeling of panic, making them very uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the tapping sounds soon faded.

Just as Shi Chun was about to catch his breath, he stared in a daze at the spatial crack. The crack suddenly expanded and ripped open, resembling a gigantic vertical eye, torn open from within by a pair of sharp claws.

Inside, a dazzling bloody light seemed to flash, and a magnificent surge of demonic energy poured out, as if it would instantly sweep across the heavens and earth. Shi Chun bore the brunt of it.

Who could endure such a fright? Shi Chun certainly couldn't. How could he care about the rules of this place? Saving his life was paramount. He leaped up and turned to run.

But as soon as he jumped about a foot high, he became immobile. A powerful surge of demonic energy swept over him, freezing him in mid-air.

He was once again subjected to a 'body-freezing talisman' effect, but he knew very well this was no talisman at all. He could clearly feel it was demonic energy, powerful enough to instantly crush him into dust.

He immediately panicked; it was hard not to feel nervous and afraid.

To make matters worse, the pain of his head feeling like it would split into a thousand pieces and his spine being gnawed by countless insects and ants resurfaced at that moment. The illusory images in his right eye also reappeared.

Meanwhile, the surging demonic energy seemed omnipresent, rapidly permeating every corner of the entire city.

Ba Yingshan, who had resolved to avoid suspicion by staying cooped up in his room, finally couldn't hold back. He darted out his door, about to fly into the air to check the commotion.

Before he could even clear the rooftop, he was directly slammed to the ground by a powerful surge of demonic energy descending from above.

Ba Yingshan was shocked, yet he sensed that the great demon acting had shown mercy; otherwise, killing him would have been effortless.

He quickly looked around and found that he wasn't the only one who had fallen to the ground. Many city guards who tried to leap up to investigate were also pushed down by an unseen force.

It wasn't just them; everyone in the city attempting to ascend fell back down. The demonic energy seemed to forbid any latecomers from rising.

On the second floor of Bowang Tower, Old Tan, bathed in the permeating demonic energy, suddenly turned to look at the inner city, exclaiming in surprise, "What great demon dares to cause trouble here?"

Lan Qiaoyan, also looking back, had a solemn expression. After a brief thought, she shook her head. "It must be the doing of that 'prison master'."

Many in the city were gripped by panic.

Inside his cage, Wu Jinliang huddled with his arms crossed, looking around timidly, appearing very cold.

At this moment, Shi Chun was the most terrified.

"Hehehe… hehehe…"

A woman's bell-like giggle suddenly sounded behind him. The strange fragrance grew even more intense, as if someone was breathing hot air onto the back of his neck.

Shi Chun couldn't understand what was happening. What was even more terrifying was that his body, frozen in mid-air, slowly began to turn, and then he saw a sight he was not at all eager to behold.

From within the torn spatial crack, a gigantic fox head emerged, as large as a human being. Its two demonic, blood-red eyes glowed with an eerie red light. Its teal fur, smooth and silky, rippled like waves, exuding a terrifying and formidable aura. It kept turning its head left and right, meticulously examining Shi Chun, as if scrutinizing food and contemplating how to take a bite.

Shi Chun had never witnessed such a scene. He forced a fawning, dog-like smile, attempting to curry favor.