It was over.
The cold, sinister aura in the mine shaft had completely dispersed.
Jiang Qiao dusted off his hands and glanced at the pile of debris on the altar.
The coffin was gone.
Ghost Hand was gone.
Now, even the black hole was gone.
The severed limbs on the rock walls began to weather away as well, as though they had finally been granted release.
"Let's go."
He took the lead toward the cave entrance.
Shen Boxia followed behind him. The gray patch on his chest had faded by more than half, leaving only a coin-sized mark that had lightened considerably. Every so often, he lowered his head to check it, as if making sure it was no longer spreading.
The two of them headed back along the way they had come.
The bodies strewn haphazardly throughout the mine, along with the tools scattered across the ground, had all evaporated like foam. All that remained were the empty passageway and the chisel marks left in the rock walls.
The only difference was this.
There were now blackened marks on the stone walls lining both sides of the passage. They varied in size—some resembled human handprints, while others looked like the traces left by bodies brushing against the walls. A faint burnt smell still lingered around their edges.
These were the marks left by "Stove Fire."
They extended all the way out from the altar space. It had probably accidentally burned some strange things to death along the way.
But there was no need to care about that.
The exit was right ahead.
The sky outside was still gray and murky, but compared to the oppressive feeling when they had entered the mine, it was noticeably clearer now. The gloom shrouding the canyon was visibly dissipating.
The two left the