Chapter 34

"Whoosh!"

The moment the words left his mouth, he flashed down from the roof beam like lightning.

Chen Ju's face changed dramatically!

His body had just hit the ground, and he had no time to stand. In a panic, he rolled toward the corner on the left.

Who would have thought that the pitch-black corner was covered in iron spikes too?

"Ah..."

A stabbing pain shot through his abdomen, back, hands, and legs.

He couldn't help letting out a scream, but he didn't dare pause for even a moment. Enduring the agony, he leaped to his feet in a panic and raised the dagger in his hand.

But that whole string of movements had cost him too much time.

The moment he sprang up, a fist brimming with power slammed into his chest like an iron hammer.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

His chest, already injured by Zhang Jiu's heavy punch, caved in under this blow, his ribs breaking.

He flew backward and crashed into the wall behind him. The dagger flew from his hand.

The pain wracking his whole body sapped his strength, and he collapsed limply in the corner, his face filled with pain and terror.

"Brother Luo, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

He hurriedly reached out and begged in a trembling voice, forcing a fake smile onto his face that looked worse than crying.

"We're all brothers, closer than real brothers. You..."

Before he could finish, Luo Qingchen had already come up to him and smashed a heavy punch into his throat.

"Crack!"

His throat bone shattered instantly.

Chen Ju's mouth gaped open, his eyes bulging. A hoarse "huh, huh" rasp escaped his throat as blood welled from the corners of his mouth. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't get a single word out. His face was full of desperate terror and unwillingness.

"Bang!"

Luo Qingchen smashed another punch into his chest, ending his life for good.

Blood Absorption!

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately pressed a hand to the man's chest and began rapidly absorbing his blood.

The second Blood Bar inside him had started at just 0%, but now it began to rise rapidly!

10%!

30%!

50%!

80%!

Chen Ju's body was already beginning to shrivel and shrink, but Luo Qingchen still didn't stop.

90%!

Only after absorbing it up to 90%, when no more blood would come out, did he let go.

By then, Chen Ju's body had shriveled and withered, growing even smaller.

His eyes bulged, his mouth hung open, and his face was twisted. His teeth were exposed, making him look hideous and terrifying, like an evil ghost.

It turned out that when he had absorbed all the blood in the corpse, all the moisture inside it had vanished too, leaving behind a dried-up corpse.

Luo Qingchen began searching his whole body.

A purse sat against his chest, but it was completely empty—not a single coin inside.

And beneath his armpit, there was another purse!

This one was bulging, and looked to be full of silver pieces.

So he really had hidden some money!

Luo Qingchen immediately put the empty purse back, pocketed the second one, and prepared to leave through the roof.

Just then, a strange sound suddenly came from outside.

"Bro, I heard it loud and clear just now. There was definitely a fight in the first room. That little bastard must've already had his blood drained! We need to hurry!"

In the darkness outside, Wang Long and Wang Hu endured their pain and dragged their injured bodies to the window of the first room.

The brothers had fallen for a trick again tonight. They'd been injured and lost blood.

They couldn't possibly swallow this grievance.

"That little bastard's weak. Chen Ju and those others definitely wouldn't miss this chance. They went in first just now, and no matter how crafty that little bastard is, he's probably already down..."

"We're both badly hurt and have lost so much blood. We have to find that little bastard and get it back!"

"Even so, we still have to be careful."

The brothers cautiously listened for a moment outside the window, then hurried to the door and slowly pushed it open.

The door was ajar, and the room was pitch-black.

But the strong stench of blood inside couldn't be contained. It seeped out through the doorway.

As soon as the two caught that familiar scent of blood, their eyes lit up and their hearts leaped with joy!

At that moment, it seemed the pain in their hands and feet had eased considerably.

"Bro! That little bastard really has had his blood taken! Let's get in there before all that blood spills onto the floor and goes to waste!"

Wang Hu immediately tried to charge inside.

Wang Long grabbed him and cautiously took out a fire striker, lighting it before peering into the room by its dim, yellow glow.

The darkness inside was immediately pushed back a little.

A figure lay motionless in a corner not far away.

The strong stench of blood in the air was coming from there.

Bloodstains were also scattered across the floor throughout the room.

"Look, there's blood all over the floor, and that little bastard's lying there without moving!"

Now the two had no more reservations.

Seeing the bloodstains all over the floor and the figure lying in the corner, they were like starving jackals spotting meat, practically drooling. They immediately took out their daggers and large bowls, then staggered over.

"Bro, that little bastard's made us suffer so much. Let's fill two big bowls with his blood, then slash his hands and feet a few times to vent our anger!"

"Hmph, two more big bowls of blood will probably finish him off."

They struggled toward the corner as they spoke in low voices.

When they reached the figure lying there, Wang Long suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Why was this person's body so... so small? It looked like...

He immediately crouched down, turned the man's face toward the ground, and took a closer look. He was instantly startled!

"Th-this is..."

"Bro, what's wrong?"

Wang Hu had already crouched down and was getting ready to take the man's blood. Seeing that Wang Long's voice sounded off, he looked up at the man's face too.

"This person..."

When he got a clear look at the twisted, hideous face, he was startled too.

The brothers stared wide-eyed at the face before them. For a moment, they couldn't even tell who it was.

Because Chen Ju's body had shriveled, and his face had shriveled and twisted along with it, leaving him looking completely unfamiliar and horrifying.

"Who is this?"

Wang Hu stared with his mouth open, bewildered.

Shouldn't Luo Qingchen, that little bastard, be lying here?

How had he turned into this?

Wang Long suddenly shuddered and sucked in a breath of cold air. As if he'd thought of something, his face went pale and his voice trembled. "The blood inside this person seems... seems to have been drained. This person isn't... isn't that little bastard. He looks like..."

"Who?"

Wang Hu's face changed dramatically too, and he began to tremble.

"It's... it's Chen Ju!"

Wang Long stared closely at that twisted, hideous face a few more times before confirming in a trembling voice.

Then he sprang to his feet. "Go! Hurry!"

"Clatter!"

The blood bowl in Wang Hu's hands fell to the ground with a start, and he jumped up after it.

The brothers, their faces full of terror, trembled as they tried to flee toward the door.

But just then, a sight that sent a shiver through both of them and chilled their spines suddenly appeared!

"Creak..."

The ajar door slowly closed.

And in the pitch-black space behind it, a strange shadow had appeared at some point!