Chapter Seven: The Lethal Chain of Traps

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before his eyes, and half his body was already propelled out of the tunnel.

“Master, hurry, quick—!”

Scarface felt a sudden jolt in his heart; his left leg was now gripped by the monster’s long arm. A tremendous force pulled him downward, dragging him back. It was as if just when the hope of survival had flickered to life, before he could rejoice, he was cast into the abyss once again.

In that critical instant, Second and Third, who had been guarding the entrance, saw what was happening. Together, they grabbed Scarface by the waist and pulled with all their might. The monster, caught off guard by the sudden increase in resistance, faltered for a moment.

With that powerful yank, Scarface was snatched from the tomb shaft as if given a new lease on life. Second’s curved blade sliced horizontally right at Scarface’s foot.

A guttural roar echoed as half a severed hand tumbled into the grass.

“Whew, well done, Second! Damn it, lucky I pulled my foot back quick enough—the skin’s half gone,” Scarface quipped, still cracking jokes after his brush with death.

Years of grave-robbing and danger had honed their nerves, always kept taut. While their teamwork might not have been flawless, they moved together with instinctive understanding. At the first warning from their leader, the others had already steeled themselves for trouble.

“Boss, what happened? Where’s that brat, Fifth?”

Scarface jerked his chin toward the severed hand, indicating it was Fifth’s.

Second and Third exchanged glances, their faces pale and filled with disbelief.

A furious roar erupted like thunder. From underground came a shriek of agony, as if something was suffering unbearable pain.

“Master, that bastard Fifth got possessed by a ghost and turned into a long-armed monster. I nearly lost my life to that brat down there,” Scarface gasped.

Second and Third stared, dumbfounded, thinking: So it wasn’t some treasure you two found down there, but trouble you stirred up. Scarface always bragged of his unmatched prowess, yet now he couldn’t even handle a ghost-possessed Fifth. Clearly, much of his boasting was just hot air.

The elder in black looked deeply unsettled. Frowning, he raised his ironwood compass in his right hand, while his left fingers danced through arcane calculations.

“One finger holds the world, two fix the rivers and mountains. The Ren and Xu lines overlap, Kun and Qian shift. The energies are in chaos, the fields in flux, an omen of disaster.”

The compass needle quivered erratically, at times trembling, at others spinning rapidly downward. The air current grew turbulent; the surrounding aura surged and ebbed, warning of imminent danger.

Not good—

Before the black-clad elder could finish, a pair of long, thrashing arms shot from the cave like twin pythons, sweeping toward the group. But, already on guard after the previous ordeal, they had leapt several yards back, gripping their steel blades, nerves taut.

A humanoid monster stood before them, arms grotesquely long, one hand ending in a bloody stump. Its body was hunched, veins bulging, drool dribbling from its mouth, its face twisted beyond recognition.

“Fifth! Steady your mind!” the elder barked.

But the only reply was a chilling, guttural laughter, like the wind from a crypt.

Besides the tattered remnants of Fifth’s clothing, nothing marked this thing as human—it was a wild beast, lost to reason.

“Wretched creature, what fiendish ghost dares run rampant here? Leave at once, or I’ll show no mercy and see you damned for all eternity!” the elder thundered. He suspected the ghost that possessed Fifth was linked to the soul-summoning jar below, but if bluster could scare it off, perhaps Fifth’s life might be spared. In a flash, the elder lunged, his smoking pipe sweeping out in a blur.

The monster, caught unprepared, recoiled as the pipe struck its chest, unleashing another tortured howl.

“Beast, begone!” the elder ordered.

Injured, the monster’s eyes glowed with a fierce green light. Its arms trembled, thickening by another yard, veins ready to burst. It glared viciously at the elder and swung its arms with savage force.

“Foolish thing,” the elder spat, calling out urgently.

“Boss, plant your feet in the Kun position, hold him steady. Second and Third, take Kan and Zhen—bind him with the corpse rope. Wait for my signal!”

“Yes!”

“Now!”

Scarface leapt forward, bringing his blade down with all his strength. But the monster’s arms twisted deftly, locking onto the steel blade, and the two were locked in a stalemate.

At that moment, Second and Third rushed in, corpse ropes in hand. Each took an end, moving north to south, their figures darting and weaving, quickly binding the monster tight.

“My turn—let’s see you escape my death knot! Fifth, don’t blame your brothers; you were just unlucky to fall into this trap. Now you’ll have to behave,” Second crowed, securing the rope with practiced skill. The knot was a chain-binding technique favored by northern bandits—designed so the more the captive struggled, the tighter it became. Only the knotter could undo it; otherwise, the rope would constrict until the victim passed out from lack of air.

But the monster Fifth refused to yield. He thrashed and snarled, glaring at the elder, guttural noises escaping his throat. Yet the more he struggled, the tighter the bonds grew. Within moments, even his voice was strangled, leaving only a faint, choking rasp. His face turned a deep, purplish red—on the verge of suffocation.

“Damn, Second, you’ve got some skill! This chain knot’s the real deal—Fifth won’t be causing any more trouble,” Scarface yelled, his voice hoarse as a broken gong. Second just smirked in satisfaction. Scarface even turned and kicked the bound monster a few times, growling, “What the hell are you? Speak up! Or I’ll toss you into the Five Elements True Fire and burn you to ashes!”

“Now you’re acting tough, Boss. You were so scared just now your pants nearly fell off!” Third jeered, not missing a chance to stir the pot.

“Get lost! If I hadn’t worried about feeding this damned monkey to the dogs, I’d have finished him off already!” Scarface blustered, though his voice wavered with uncertainty.

At least Second and Third said nothing more, sharing a knowing grin, their eyes twinkling with disbelief.

“Master, this long-armed monster is fierce—we should chop off its arms first. That’ll keep him quiet for sure,” Scarface joked.

“Silence. Keep an eye on him,” the elder snapped impatiently.

Chastened, Scarface fell silent, motioning for Second and Third to hold Fifth down firmly.