Everyone has awakened, but I am the only mortal!

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and Ma Jun's arm snapped instantly, like a fragile egg roll. The severed arm fell heavily to the ground, and blood gushed out, staining the ground red.

It wasn't until he saw his severed arm fall to the ground and blood splatter on his face that Ma Jun belatedly realized what was happening. Intense pain instantly swept through his body, and he screamed in agony, retreating while curling up on the ground, trembling all over.

Li Wei, finally able to breathe fresh air, collapsed to the ground, coughing violently and barely clinging to life.

The room was a mess, with bloodstains, broken wooden chairs, and severed arms scattered all over the floor. The stench of blood in the air was growing stronger and more nauseating.

Su Bai's gaze met Luo Zheng's gaze in mid-air.

Luo Zheng spoke, his tone grave: "You said before that the way to break this deadlock is to slay the true spirit. How exactly do we find the true spirit?"

Su Bai glanced at him, but did not speak immediately. Instead, he slowly turned his head and looked at the father and son in the corner.

The father had lowered his head again, covering his face, while the little boy looked up at them quietly, his eyes clear and without any malice, like a pure lake.

Su Bai's thoughts instantly drifted back to the past—the water the little boy secretly fed him on his deathbed, and the biscuit his father silently gave him, dry yet life-saving.

Thinking of this, his heart clenched painfully, as if something were gripping it, causing a dense, throbbing pain.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness and guilt in his heart, and slowly said to Luo Zheng, "Their true bodies should be hidden in the wall where they are sitting. Only by finding them and cutting off their heads can we annihilate their true spirits."

Right now, only Su Bai, Lao Zhou, Luo Zheng, and Zheng Yi remain in the room.

Ma Jun, on the other side, had already fainted from the excruciating pain of his severed arm. Blood was still flowing from the wound, and even if the wound were treated now, he might not survive. No one had time to care about him anymore.

The other three did not press Su Bai about why he knew these things.

The lights overhead had begun to flicker violently, going on and off, and could go out completely at any moment.

Once darkness descends, death will be all that awaits them.

"Hurry, we can't wait any longer!" Su Bai urged anxiously.

Luo Zheng was not annoyed at being commanded by Su Bai; at this moment, finding a way to break the deadlock was the most important thing.

He gripped the leather whip tightly and lashed it again and again against the wall behind the father and son.

As the whip fell, the plaster on the wall peeled off, revealing two corpses hidden inside.

The two corpses did not look like they had been dead for months at all; rather, they looked as if they were just asleep, with rosy complexions and intact bodies, as if they would wake up at any moment.

When Su Bai's gaze fell on the little boy's corpse, his heart ached again, and a trace of bitterness welled up in his eyes.

Old Zhou gripped Su Bai's arm tightly, his fingertips turning white, his voice choked with emotion: "It's so inhumane... How could someone be so cruel to a child..."

All eyes were focused on the little boy's body.

His forehead, both hands, both feet, and the area around his heart were each driven into by a sharp wooden awl. His body was twisted into the wall, making him appear extremely frail and pitiful.

His father, lying stiffly against the wall beside him, had his eyes closed and looked peaceful, as if he had simply fallen asleep. He was completely different from the "dummy" who had made the strange crying sound earlier.

The lights overhead flickered more and more intensely, and darkness could descend at any moment.

Without further hesitation, Luo Zheng lashed out with the whip again. With two sharp cracks, the two heads, one large and one small, were violently pulled off by the whip and fell heavily to the ground.

The moment the head hit the ground, the lights above suddenly stopped flashing, and the entire room fell into dead silence.

As soon as the father's head hit the ground, it suddenly twisted and deformed, transforming into a monster with the body of a sheep, the face of a human, eyes under its armpits, and tiger teeth and human claws.

The monster opened its blood-red maw and roared to the sky. The piercing cry of the infant rang out again, even more mournful than before, causing the entire room to tremble slightly.

After roaring, the monster suddenly turned its head, locked its gaze on Luo Zheng, and pounced on him fiercely.

Luo Zheng reacted extremely quickly, wielding his whip to fight the monster while nimbly dodging its attacks.

Su Bai, Lao Zhou, and Zheng Yi quickly retreated to the corner, watching the monster warily, looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

Su Bai subconsciously looked down and felt something blocking his feet. Looking down, he saw it was the little boy's head.

The glaring wooden awl was still embedded in his forehead, making his once peaceful, sleeping face look especially heartbreaking.

Su Bai squatted down, his movements so gentle as if afraid of disturbing him, and slowly reached out to pull the wooden cone off the little boy's forehead.

The moment the wooden awl was pulled out, the little boy's head instantly turned to ashes, and the wooden awl in his hand also turned to ashes and disappeared into the air.

"Holy crap! What kind of monster is this? It's too powerful!" Old Zhou's exclamation drew Su Bai's attention back.

Luo Zheng was gradually losing ground, being forced back into a corner by the monster. Several wounds had been cut open by the monster's claws, and blood was flowing freely. His situation was extremely precarious.

Su Bai's gaze darkened, and he shouted, "Li Wei! You killed your teacher and his son, aren't you afraid now?"

The monster, which had been closing in on Luo Zheng, suddenly stopped after hearing Su Bai's words. It stiffly turned its head, its eyes glazed over as it searched for something. Its roars gradually subsided, carrying a hint of barely perceptible anger and pain.

Seeing this, Li Wei trembled with fear, covered his mouth tightly, and dared not make a sound, while his body instinctively darted towards the window.

It was precisely this dodging movement that allowed the monster's gaze to accurately lock onto him.

Seeing this, Su Bai shouted again, "That's Li Wei! He was your student back then, and he's the one who killed you and your son!"

"No...it wasn't me! It wasn't me!" Li Wei's eyes widened, terrified, and he instinctively tried to explain.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Wei realized that in his moment of panic, he had broken his disguise and exposed himself.

As soon as he spoke, the monster was completely enraged, turned around, and pounced fiercely at Li Wei.

"No...no! Help!"

In the blink of an eye, Li Wei's screams rang out, but only lasted a few seconds before being drowned out by the monster's roars.

Taking advantage of the brief moment, Su Bai quickly reminded Luo Zheng, "Use fire! It's afraid of fire!"

Zheng Yi immediately strode forward and stood side by side with Luo Zheng.

The two exchanged a glance, and Luo Zheng swung the whip again. Zheng Yi leaned forward, his hands landing on the tip of the whip. A raging flame instantly ignited in his hands, spreading rapidly along the whip towards the monster.

"boom--!"