Spine-backed Dragon Form!

Looking at Male Corpse lying motionless on the ground, Bai Yuze pulled the cleaver out of his head and chopped off his other hand to keep him from waking up again.

The stinging in his palm continued to needle his nerves. He raised his left hand and saw the wound slowly healing, then breathed a sigh of relief.

Wounds inflicted on the supernatural by Zhenxie Guiqi couldn't be healed. Bai Yuze's actions were also a test to see whether the Gui Dan-enhanced version of him still counted as human.

The result didn't disappoint him. He was just an ordinary person with slightly better healing abilities.

Tap, tap, tap—

Bai Yuze sprang to his feet and looked toward the sound.

"Another supernatural?"

But when he saw who it was, he froze for a moment.

Yukino was approaching slowly, draped in a bedsheet. She had tried to make her footsteps as quiet as possible, but there was no hiding them from Bai Yuze while he was under the effects of the Gui Dan.

"Is that you, Yukino?"

Bai Yuze called out, but his right hand remained tightly wrapped around the cleaver.

After hearing Bai Yuze's voice, Yukino stopped moving forward, but she didn't say anything.

Seeing this, Bai Yuze realized she was afraid the voice she'd just heard might have belonged to a supernatural.

So Bai Yuze picked up the flashlight and aimed it toward Yukino.

The warm light wasn't harsh, so Yukino could make out Bai Yuze's figure in its beam.

"Is that you, Bai-kun?"

Once Yukino confirmed his identity, she quickened her pace. But before she could take more than a few steps, Bai Yuze stopped her.

"Don't come any closer yet. Keep a safe distance."

Bai Yuze couldn't be sure that the Yukino in front of him was really Yukino. Who knew if there was some monster in this basement that could disguise itself as someone else?

Besides, Bai Yuze had just fought for his life. His nerves were still taut, like Haji Mi, the Spine-backed Dragon, when startled.

No one was getting past him. Even a stray dog would get a cleaver to the face.

Yukino knew Bai Yuze was on edge. She had come to check whether he'd made it to the basement after hearing the sounds of a fight.

As a cat lover, Yukino didn't know what to do when a person was on edge, but she knew how to handle a startled cat. So she stopped where she was and didn't mind the water dripping onto her.

"Bai-kun, don't be nervous."

"I know. First, tell me how you survived."

Bai Yuze said he believed her, but he never took his eyes off her. If Yukino did anything suspicious, the cleaver in his right hand would be flying at her head within half a second, giving her a nice little brain surgery.

"The escape door that Yuigahama and I found could only fit one person, so I decided to head toward the Green Gate. While I was on the way, I hoped to myself that I'd avoid being hunted by the supernatural. That's how I managed to survive until now."

Yukino laid out the whole story, but Bai Yuze remained just as wary.

"Then why, when I wished for a location connected to you, did so many sets of coordinates appear?"

"Connected to me? You mean the bedsheets? I thought the supernatural might track us by scent, so I tore up the sheet I was wearing and hid pieces of it in various rooms along the corridor. Then I took fresh sheets from those rooms and kept doing the same thing."

After hearing Yukino's answer, Bai Yuze began to calm down. It made sense. He'd wished for something connected to "Yukino," and since Yukino had been wearing the bedsheet, it was naturally connected to her.

"One last question. You were moving around in the dark for so long. You didn't run into any supernaturals?"

"No."

Yukino shook her head. She'd been too busy trying to escape to pay close attention to her surroundings. So even if they had changed, she wouldn't have noticed.

Bai Yuze fell silent. Only when a drop from the ceiling landed on him did he react.

"I believe you. Come over."

Bai Yuze believed the Yukino in front of him was the real one because he noticed that the water had eaten away part of her clothing, and the skin underneath showed signs of burns. She must have been running and unable to cover herself in time.

At the same time, he'd seen a drop of water land on Yukino just moments ago. She hadn't shown any sign of being hurt, but Bai Yuze had seen her pupils contract for an instant.

It was an instinctive reaction people couldn't hide when they were hurt.

"What about Yuigahama?"

After coming over to Bai Yuze, Yukino first asked whether Yuigahama Yui had made it out safely. When he confirmed that she had, Yukino breathed a sigh of relief.

The long stretch of pressure and the urgency of fleeing had kept Yukino's nerves taut. The sudden release left her almost unable to stay on her feet.

Fortunately, Bai Yuze was quick enough to catch her.

"Thank you for coming to save me."

At Yukino's thanks, Bai Yuze merely smiled.

"Don't mention it. I would've come here whether you were here or not."

"But you could've waited until tomorrow."

Yukino smiled too. At last, she could relax and take a proper breath.

"Heh, it was no trouble. How are things on your end?"

"Not going well. I can't find any other escape doors. The Green Gate needs a key to open, so I suspect it's the real way out."

Yukino told Bai Yuze what had happened afterward. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find another escape door, as if none existed. The only Green Gate needed a key, and the corpse of a supernatural was chasing her.

It was impressive that Yukino hadn't broken down under the circumstances.

The two of them draped bedsheets over themselves and exchanged information in the corridor.

"I see. No wonder something felt off. The supernaturals here must have been influencing us."

After hearing Bai Yuze's theory, Yukino understood at once. She'd felt that the clues were urging her to hurry, and everything had been far too convenient, like a play that had been scripted in advance.

If she didn't know better, she'd think a dragon was about to appear, and that after defeating it, they'd become true heroes!

"Let's go take a look. There's no point staying here."

Bai Yuze handed the flashlight to Yukino, then dragged Male Corpse along behind her, a bedsheet draped over him.

"What use is that corpse? Dragging him around is just a burden. Why not pull out the Scalpel? His hands have already been chopped off, so he's no threat. You could always chop off his legs too."

"This corpse isn't affected by the water's corrosive effect. That means he won't disappear on his own if we leave him here. Keeping him here would be a hidden danger, so he might come in handy later if we bring him along."

"Whatever makes you happy."

Yukino said no more and focused on leading the way.