"What?" Du Huoguan turned toward him, knowing the Prison Master must have spotted something.
Blood began seeping from the corners of the accuser's mouth and his nostrils as he forced himself to remain standing. Suddenly, the pain inside him vanished, and he rapidly lost all sensation in his internal organs. He suspected the numbing effect of his own poisoned needle had taken hold, yet he could still feel the rest of his body.
Then he realized he had been overthinking it. He could no longer breathe. He raised his head toward Shi Chun, his eyes filled with disbelief.
When their four arms had been locked in a contest of strength, he had sensed that their cultivation levels were close. With his defenses, how could he have failed to withstand even a single palm strike?
Boom! Another drumbeat rang out-the sixth.
Almost as the drum sounded, Shi Chun kicked off and charged, swift as a shooting star. He spun into a whipping kick and landed, brows fierce and eyes cold, his disheveled hair streaming.
Afraid his opponent would not die within the allotted time, he had hurriedly added another kick.
Crack! The accuser's head spun two and a half turns on his neck, leaving the back of his head facing Shi Chun. His eyes refused to close as his body trembled and teetered.
Boom! The seventh beat sounded, and the accuser slowly toppled, his face filled with bitter unwillingness.
The City Guard slowly lowered the raised drumstick. Clearly, there was no need to keep beating the drum.
Shi Chun, too, slowly let out a breath.
Had he been better informed, had he known that the City Guards had already brought here the bodies of several people he had personally beaten to death that night, he "might" not have used that killing move just now.
As he saw it, only the forces behind Shen Youkun knew where that night's incident had taken place. Even if they were secretly colluding with the City Guards, they could hardly expose those bodies here openly. Destroying the corpses to erase the evidence was far more likely.
Without knowing the inside story, he could have racked his brains to pieces and still never figured out how the bodies had ended up here.
But it was only a "might." In reality, he had no choice now. To kill an opponent whose cultivation was close to his within ten counts, he could not clear this hurdle without a killing move.
As the accuser's body slowly fell, the Skull Blood Mark on his back blurred away beneath the spreading hemorrhage under his skin, leaving a glaring expanse of bright red.
At the sight of that mark, Du Huoguan lost some of his composure behind the window lattice. Disbelief stirred across his face. "It really was his doing!"
Shi Chun had lost the dignity of his hairpin during his interrogation in prison. Now, with his hair hanging loose, he looked around and finally noticed something: apart from the City Guard beating the drum to count, there was no one else here. Where was the referee? Was the drummer doubling as the referee?
Behind the window lattice, Du Huoguan had already turned to stare at the Prison Master. The final result explained everything that had come before it. At last, he understood why the Prison Master had wanted to watch this duel.
Had he not reported earlier that Qi Yueru had every reason to suspect Shi Chun of murdering his son and younger brother?
Now he naturally understood the Prison Master's intent. Since there was suspicion, they would test it and see whether his attacks matched the killer's distinctive methods.
As for why they had counted ten drumbeats and withheld weapons to watch a barehanded fight, that was now plain enough. They had left Shi Chun no way out, forcing him to use a killing move.
Du Huoguan was just about to speak when the Prison Master raised a hand and slashed an index finger through the air like a sharp blade.
The window lattice before them remained undamaged, and they could not even sense anything unusual nearby. Yet a crack appeared out of nowhere in the dueling ground where the corpse lay bleeding. Like a glowing thread, it gradually widened into a rift.
The process was utterly silent. Only when a fragrant whirlwind blew from the rift did Shi Chun suddenly notice and turn, finally seeing the strange phenomenon.
Tap. A knocking sound echoed throughout the city. It was not actually loud, yet everyone in the city heard it with perfect clarity. Many looked around, unable to locate its source, as though someone were tapping right beside their ears.
In his cell, Wu Jinliang, who had been sitting in a corner tending his wounds, froze for a moment and stood. He still knew nothing about the duel.
Keeping a wary eye on the spatial rift, Shi Chun looked around for the source of the sound.
Only Du Huoguan saw where it came from.
One of the Prison Master's hands rested on the windowsill, his index fingertip tapping with casual ease.
The taps came one after another, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, their rhythm tightening and loosening. Each seemed to strike directly against everyone's heart, making their heartbeats feel compelled to follow along. The sensation stirred panic and was deeply unpleasant.
Fortunately, the tapping soon stopped.
Shi Chun was just about to catch his breath when he suddenly stared fixedly at the spatial rift. It swelled and split open like an enormous vertical eye, torn apart from within by a pair of sharp claws.
Dazzling blood-red light seemed to flicker inside. A vast, majestic demonic aura poured forth, as though it would sweep across heaven and earth in an instant. Shi Chun stood directly in its path.
Who could endure a fright like that? Shi Chun certainly could not. He had no attention to spare for this place's rules; saving his life came first. He leaped up, turned, and ran.
But scarcely a foot off the ground, he found himself unable to move. The powerful demonic power sweeping toward him had forcibly pinned him in midair.
Once again, he received the Immobilizing Talisman treatment, but he knew perfectly well that this was no talisman. He could clearly feel the demonic power, strong enough to crush him to dust in an instant.
Panic seized him. There was no way he could keep from feeling tense and afraid.
As if misfortune never came alone, the agony returned at that very moment: his head felt ready to split into a thousand pieces, and his spine felt as though countless insects were gnawing through it. The illusion-like images appeared in his right eye again as well.
Meanwhile, the surging demonic aura seemed to find every opening, swiftly permeating every corner of the city.
Determined to avoid any suspicion, Ba Yingshan had stayed shut inside his room. At last, he could bear it no longer. He flashed to the door and out, about to fly into the air to investigate.
Before he even cleared the roof, a powerful surge of demonic power descended from the sky and slammed him straight back onto the ground.
Ba Yingshan was shocked, yet he could sense that the great demon responsible had shown restraint. Otherwise, killing him would have been as easy as turning over a hand.
He quickly looked around and discovered that he was far from the only one knocked to the ground. Several City Guards who had tried to leap up for a look were being flattened by an invisible force.
It was not just them. Everyone throughout the city who tried to reach a higher vantage point fell. That demonic power seemed to forbid anyone who came afterward from rising above it.
On the second floor of Wangbo Tower, bathed in the demonic aura seeping inside, Old Tan abruptly turned toward the inner city and asked in alarm, "What great demon dares run wild here?"
Lan Qiaoyan also turned to look, her expression grave. After a brief thought, she shook her head. "It must be that 'Jailer's' handiwork."
Fear gripped many people throughout the city.
Inside his cage, Wu Jinliang hugged his arms and looked around timidly, as though he were terribly cold.
At that moment, Shi Chun was the most frightened of all.
"Heehee... heehee..."
A woman's silvery laughter suddenly sounded behind him. That strange fragrance grew richer, as though someone were breathing warm air against the back of his neck.
Shi Chun could not make sense of what was happening. More terrifying still, his body, pinned in midair, slowly began to turn. Then he saw something he would much rather not have seen.
An enormous fox's head had emerged from the torn spatial rift, fully as large as he was. Its two uncanny, blood-colored eyes shone with an eerie red light. Its blue-green fur was soft and sleek, rippling like waves, and the presence it radiated was terrifying. It kept turning its head from side to side, scrutinizing Shi Chun as though examining a piece of food and considering where to take the first bite.
Shi Chun had never seen anything like this. He forced an ingratiating smile onto his face, like a fawning lapdog, hoping to win its favor.