Chapter 22

The clock ticked away, and Ding Ning nervously watched the situation in the west room.

The power was out, and there was no sound from that side, leaving him unsure of what Lin Xuan was doing.

A gust of wind howled, and the rain grew heavier.

A faint light seeped through the crack in the door of the west room!

Ding Ning's eyes narrowed slightly. As expected, human curiosity knows no bounds. The more you forbid Lin Xuan from looking at the cellar, the more he wants to. Otherwise, this light wouldn't be seeping through the door. He must have taken a flashlight or something and approached the ground.

Ding Ning held his breath and quietly approached the west room. If things were as he suspected, something was bound to happen next.

"Ah!!!"

A blood-curdling scream, like the wail of a night bird, sent shivers down one's spine!

Ding Ning, standing at the door, was also startled by the sound.

Without a word, he kicked the door open and leaped into the room.

A bolt of lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating the room as bright as day. Using the brief flash of lightning, Ding Ning saw the situation inside.

Even though he was a cultivator and had many memories, the scene before him still made his scalp tingle.

In the middle of the west room was a cellar, and the cellar door was open. Beside it, the fat Lin Xuan lay on the ground, trembling and waving a faintly glowing flashlight to drive away something in front of him.

Crawling, wriggling!

It was a nest of centipedes!

One of the centipedes had grown to over two feet long, wriggling towards Lin Xuan's feet. Its two large fangs, protruding outward, were firmly biting into Lin Xuan's pants. Its black shell faintly glowed red, perhaps from drinking human blood.

Beside the large centipede were a group of smaller ones, the smallest being over ten centimeters long, and the larger ones about a foot long. They were crawling all over Lin Xuan's body, seemingly about to enter his body through his orifices.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have fainted from fear at this moment. Lin Xuan, however, was still trembling and fighting back.

However, the strength he had boasted of before seemed useless now. The centipedes were incredibly strong, especially the two-foot-long one, which was even pulling Lin Xuan's body, trying to drag him into the cellar!

"Damn it, these monsters have been nourished by spiritual energy and are about to become spirits. They even dare to eat people!"

Ding Ning was furious. If he let these centipedes eat Lin Xuan right in front of him, he wouldn't need to cultivate anymore.

If he, Ding Ning, didn't have any skills, after the centipedes ate Lin Xuan, their next target would definitely be him in the east room.

Taking out the prepared suppression talisman, Ding Ning crushed it!

Seeing Ding Ning burst in, some of the centipedes immediately wriggled towards him.

Another bolt of lightning flashed, and Ding Ning could even see the faint bloodstains on the centipedes' fangs, confirming his suspicions.

Ding Ning had no mercy for these already mutated and abnormal monsters. He drove the suppression force directly towards the centipedes!

An invisible pressure quickly condensed in the air. The suppression talisman only affected things with spiritual energy, so Lin Xuan, an ordinary person, was unaffected, but the centipedes were not.

"Hisss!"

The pressure descended from the sky, and the smaller centipedes were immediately flattened, their numerous legs wriggling on the ground but unable to move.

The slightly larger ones could still struggle a bit, but they couldn't escape the suppression.

Only the largest one released Lin Xuan and seemed to be trying to crawl back into the cellar.

At this point, how could Ding Ning let it escape? He picked up a nearby stool and smashed it down on the large centipede's head!

The large centipede, unable to move, couldn't avoid Ding Ning's fierce blow. The wooden stool hit it hard!

"Bang!"

The wooden stool shattered, and the centipede's head was smashed to a bloody pulp, its body still wriggling.

Ding Ning knew that these crawling insects had extremely strong vitality and wouldn't leave them any chance to survive. He picked up the two broken legs of the stool and started beating the centipedes on the ground.

Blood and flesh flew everywhere. Although these centipedes had absorbed countless spiritual energies in the spirit vein, they were still just insects and couldn't become dragons. They had no resistance against Ding Ning, a cultivator.

Five minutes later, Ding Ning, panting heavily, threw away the two broken legs of the stool. The intense activity had made his heart uncomfortable.

Fortunately, all the centipedes on the ground were finally dead, not a single one left alive.

Picking up Lin Xuan's flashlight, Ding Ning shone it into the cellar.

There were dark red bloodstains in the cellar, but no human bones or remains.

Confirming that all the centipedes were dead, Ding Ning slowly sat down on the bed. His heart needed to rest, or there would be serious problems.

"Ding Brother!"

The fat Lin Xuan suddenly shouted, hugging Ding Ning's leg and wailing.

He mumbled, "Ding Brother, you are my savior. From now on, Lin Xuan will follow you... no matter what, you can't... you can't abandon me."

Ding Ning was amused by this: "Alright, get up quickly. Don't let others misunderstand and think I did something to you."

Lin Xuan's performance was still commendable. At least he had the courage to fight back in that situation, which was a necessary condition for success.

No matter what, a coward could never accomplish anything.

However, Lin Xuan refused to get up. He was only seventeen, and this scene had completely shattered his understanding. Even though he was known as "Lin the Brave" when he was young, he had no courage at this moment.

The image of Ding Ning breaking into the room and smashing the monster centipedes with a stool was deeply etched into his mind, even his soul.

From this moment on, Lin Xuan believed that Ding Ning was invincible, and this belief never wavered even years later.

If he were a girl, he might have fallen in love with Ding Ning, but since he was a boy, he immediately recognized Ding Ning, who was a year younger than him, as his big brother.

Hearing Ding Ning tell him to get up, Lin Xuan whined on the ground: "No, I won't get up. What if more monsters come?"

"None will come. I've killed all the monsters. No one will come... "

Ding Ning's words trailed off as he suddenly realized that there were no bones, which meant they must have been moved to the garbage dump Lin Xuan mentioned.

Who moved them? The answer was obvious.

Thinking of the old woman and her frail body, Ding Ning immediately concluded that either the old woman herself was a formidable person, or she had help.

With the heavy rain and wind, it was the perfect time to dispose of evidence. It was very likely that the old woman would return soon!

Ding Ning had no mercy for the centipedes and even less for the old woman who had committed murder for profit.

Such a scoundrel was a menace to society and should be eliminated as soon as possible.

Hmm... and he could also get his rent money back.

Ding Ning was annoyed by the thought of money and tried to drive it out of his mind. Thinking about money at such a serious moment was inappropriate.

He told Lin Xuan, "Burn the bodies of these centipedes immediately. They must not be left behind."

At this moment, Lin Xuan followed Ding Ning's orders like they were imperial edicts. Even if Ding Ning had told him to eat the centipedes, he probably would have done it without hesitation. He grabbed the centipede corpses and ran to the kitchen to find a fire source to burn them.

After Lin Xuan left, Ding Ning pushed open the window.

The southeast wind was blowing, and the heavy rain immediately poured in through the window.

The rain drenched Ding Ning's body and washed away the bloodstains in the room, dispersing the smell of blood.

Ding Ning looked out into the dark night and silently thought, "Come, let me see who you are, old beggar woman."

*****

That's the third chapter! It's the first time for Black Earth's new book to have three chapters in a day. Now it's up to you all.

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