Hey, Chain Guy, Will Those Iron Chains of Yours Rust?

"Next stop—Wraith Graveyard. Passengers disembarking, please prepare."

The mechanical female voice was as cold as ever, but this time, there was a barely perceptible static crackle at the end, as though even the announcement system trembled at the name.

The bus jolted violently, as if it had run over something, then slowly came to a stop.

The world outside the windows had completely departed from all reason.

A blood-red moon hung in the pitch-black sky, its light dyeing the land an ominous dark crimson.

There were no skyscrapers, no streets—only an endless, desolate graveyard.

"Gulp."

Xiao Li swallowed with difficulty, clutching the equipment case in his arms. Its cold metal shell was his only comfort right now.

"W-what kind of hell is this...?"

The needle on Liu Min's resentment-detection compass had completely gone mad, spinning wildly like an out-of-control top. Finally, with a click, it snapped under the strain.

Her face was bloodless, her lips trembling. "Resentment... the concentration of resentment here... is off the charts..."

Lei Yun stood in the middle of the bus, his face ashen.

The arcs of electricity surrounding him were dimmer than ever before. Suppressed by this land of death, even the circulation of his spiritual power had become sluggish.

He instinctively tried to activate his thunder arts, but only a faint spark, no brighter than a firefly, flickered from his fingertips before being swallowed and extinguished by the dense resentment.

At the front of the bus, Shen Bingyue's battle with the headless driver had fallen into a bizarre stalemate.

Suddenly, the sound of metal dragging across the ground rang out from outside.

The sound drew closer, slow and heavy. Each scrape was like a thousand-pound weight grinding over gravel, pounding against everyone's heart.

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows deep within the graveyard.

It was a humanoid silhouette over two meters tall, broad and utterly terrifying. But what truly made everyone's scalp crawl were the thick black chains wrapped around its entire body, chains that seemed to have grown from its flesh.

The chains were covered in rust, every link engraved with twisted, venomous runes that glimmered darkly beneath the blood moon.

It moved slowly, but every step made the earth tremble faintly.

[Detected C-rank wraith: Chained Prisoner]

[Type: Aggregated Resentment Entity]

[Rule Analysis: Do not make eye contact. Do not touch it. Do not run. Those who break free die; those who obey live. Only the one who finds the key can break the cycle.]

[Danger Level: Extremely Fatal]

"Creak—"

The bus doors slowly opened with a teeth-grating groan.

The moment the Chained Prisoner stepped onto the bus, a terrifying pressure mingled with death and despair swept through the entire space.

The temperature inside the bus plunged below freezing. The lights flickered wildly, then with a crackle, went out completely.

Liu Min could no longer hold on. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted stiffly to the floor.

Xiao Li slumped limply in his seat, shaking like a leaf, without even the strength to scream.

The Chained Prisoner's blood-red pupils, sunken deep within its eye sockets, slowly swept over everyone on the bus. Its gaze held no emotion, like a butcher inspecting livestock awaiting slaughter.

At last, its eyes settled on Lei Yun.

It sniffed greedily, and the chains around its body hummed in resonance. "Ah... the scent of this spiritual power... carrying the restlessness and unwillingness of thunder.

I once devoured the soul of someone who called himself the 'Thunder Law Heavenly Master.' Your scent is very similar to his, but... fresher."

Those words struck Lei Yun's heart like a sledgehammer.

His greatest pride had now become nothing more than a seasoning that some evil ghost could casually appraise—and one inferior to his predecessor's, at that.

The Chained Prisoner stretched out a withered, stick-thin hand and pointed at Lei Yun from afar.

The chains around its body began to stir, like venomous snakes poised to strike.

"Your soul must be delicious..."

The atmosphere of despair completely froze over.

Everyone realized that this time, they had truly run into an iron wall.

Just as Lei Yun was locked onto by that aura, his entire body rigid and unable to gather even a trace of lightning, a lazy voice suddenly rang out in the deathly silent bus.

"I say, buddy."

Everyone turned toward the voice and saw Qin Feng still sitting calmly in his seat, even holding the unfinished lollipop in his hand.

He looked earnestly at the Chained Prisoner and asked curiously, "Are those chains welded onto you, or did they grow out of your body? Is bathing inconvenient? Do they rust?"

The entire bus, including the Chained Prisoner that had been about to attack, froze.

W-what kind of question was that?

Lei Yun's eye twitched violently, and he nearly failed to catch his breath.

What time was it already?! How exactly was this guy's brain wired?

Yet strangely, as Qin Feng asked that utterly nonsensical question, the terrifying pressure that had made it hard to breathe actually loosened slightly.

The Chained Prisoner's blood-red pupils locked onto Qin Feng. It had existed for centuries and devoured countless souls, yet it had never seen a living person dare to act so brazenly before it.

"You are... seeking death?"

The clinking chains carried unmistakable fury.

"No."

Qin Feng innocently waved his lollipop.

"I was just genuinely curious. You're so skinny, and you've got all that iron hanging off you. Is your center of gravity stable?

What if you tripped on flat ground? Could you get back up by yourself?

Do you need me to call an ambulance for you... oh, right. They probably don't cover this place."

"You—!"

The Chained Prisoner was thoroughly enraged.

Every chain on its body suddenly went taut, erupting with a piercing metallic clang as it prepared to tear this fool apart.

Just as the Chained Prisoner was about to lash out, an angry roar interrupted it.

"Enough! Stop playing mysterious tricks here!"

It was Lei Yun!

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Qin Feng. His gaze was tangled with the rage of humiliation, fear of a powerful enemy, and intense jealousy toward Qin Feng's eerie composure.

He was an elite of the Special Cases Department, a genius of the Lei Fa Gao Family!

Why was he frozen in terror while this guy could casually spout nonsense as if nothing had happened, even drawing the monster's full attention?

"Qin Feng! Put away those cheap little tricks of yours!"

Lei Yun's voice trembled with agitation.

"Handing out candy to send spirits on their way, running your mouth—before absolute power, all of that is trash!"

He forcibly suppressed his fear and instead poured every bit of his negative emotion onto Qin Feng, as though that could prove he was stronger.

"I told you, nobodies like you will never amount to anything!"

At last, Qin Feng slowly withdrew his gaze from the Chained Prisoner and turned it toward Lei Yun's jealousy-twisted face.

The lazy air on his face vanished, replaced by an utter calm so profound it made one's heart tremble.

He lightly tapped the lollipop stick between his lips, producing a crisp tap.

Then he spoke flatly. His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly through the deathly silent carriage.

"Shut up."

After a pause, under Lei Yun's disbelieving gaze, Qin Feng added another sentence, his eyes returning to the towering Chained Prisoner.

"You're too noisy. You're getting in the way of me bonding with this... chain freak."