Final Boss

Liu Zheng looked at the amused expression on Lin Mo’s face and knew this man was definitely keeping something to himself again.

Lin Mo turned to Wang Xincheng. “Do you regret it?”

“This old man has no regrets. I knew there would be risks on this trip.”

Wang Xincheng shook his head and sighed.

“The Five Disasters and Three Deficiencies couldn’t be avoided by the Wang family, but it’s enough for me to bear them.”

He looked at his son. “I thought Heaven had decided to spare me. I never expected it would end up affecting you two after all.”

Then he let out a breath of relief. “Still, it’s fine. This time, it should be settled.”

He lowered his head to look at his son and finally said, “This is fate. You have to believe in it. Take good care of your sister.”

“No, Dad!” Wang Keting was already streaming with tears, crying like a thirty-year-old child.

“What the hell are you afraid of?”

Wang Xincheng glared at him. “You’ve lived for more than thirty years and haven’t done much of anything worthwhile, but you sure know how to cry.”

“Then I’ll be serious from now on. I’ll go on a blind date as soon as I get home. I’ll start working at the company, stop being late, stop hanging around bars, stop buying cars, and stop making my sister angry.”

“Wait. You’re not dying right now, and I never said you couldn’t be saved.”

Liu Zheng glanced at Lin Mo. If Lin Mo really had no way to help, he would have made it clear long ago. The reason he had said nothing was simply that he was waiting for this father and son to finish their performance.

He had known for a long time that Lin Mo had a rather twisted sense of humor. He had been like this in the past, and he was still like this now. He insisted on letting people finish their entire act before stepping in to play the winning hand.

Sure enough, Lin Mo picked up the black cloth and wrapped the short blade in it.

“All right, you’re not being buried right now. Why are you giving your last words so early?”

Wang Keting’s sobs stopped.

Wang Xincheng also raised his head to look at him.

“Mr. Lin, what do you mean...?”

“I said that if no one helped you, you wouldn’t live to see the beginning of spring the year after next. But I never said no one would help you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mo raised his hand and pressed it against Wang Xincheng’s shoulder.

A green aura spread from his palm and traveled down Wang Xincheng’s spine.

The Rejuvenation Technique was no ordinary healing spell.

If it were merely replenishing qi and blood, at most it would improve a person’s complexion. But when this Rejuvenation Technique took effect, the vital essence Wang Xincheng had lost was forcibly restored.

His yellowing hair did not turn black again, but it was no longer dry and brittle. His sunken face regained some color, and the wounds on his body healed as well.

Wang Xincheng cautiously drew in a breath.

His chest no longer felt tight.

Just moments ago, it had felt as though a boulder were pressing down on him. Now, someone had moved that boulder away.

He stared at his hands and remained silent for a long while.

Wang Keting was dumbfounded too.

“Dad, you... you’re not going to die anymore?”

Wang Xincheng raised his hand and smacked him on the back of the head.

“Can’t you talk properly?”

The slap wasn’t hard, but it had plenty of force behind it.

After taking the hit, Wang Keting actually started laughing. Then, as he laughed, he looked as though he was about to cry again.

Lin Mo also gave Wang Keting a dose of the Rejuvenation Technique. After all, the father and son had genuinely done something useful.

Actions mattered more than intentions.

Wang Xincheng ignored his idiot son. Supporting himself, he stood up and bowed to Lin Mo.

“Mr. Lin, the Wang family will never forget your life-saving kindness.”

Lin Mo tossed the short blade back to him.

“Sure. When the time comes, I’ll go sightseeing in Hong Kong and eat and stay at your expense.”

Wang Xincheng caught it instinctively and hurriedly agreed.

“Of course, of course.”

“Use this thing as little as possible from now on. A semi-spirit artifact isn’t a protective talisman—it’s a harbinger of death. The fact that your ancestors left it in the Wang family means they must have possessed some real strength. But without the cultivation to match it, every time you use it, you’re trading away another piece of your life. It’s a terrible bargain.”

Wang Xincheng lowered his head and looked at the short blade. After a moment of silence, he nodded.

“This old man understands.”

“No, you don’t completely understand yet. But forget it. I can tell you won’t use this thing out of boredom. You only bring it out in an emergency.”

Wang Xincheng thought for a moment. Then he held out the black cloth wrapped around the short blade.

“Your life-saving kindness is something I will never forget. The Wang family has nothing else worthy of presenting to you. Since Mr. Lin understands this semi-spirit artifact, we would like to give it to you.”

Lin Mo simply raised a hand. The short blade immediately flew back into the wooden box, which then returned to Wang Xincheng’s bag.

“You’re supposed to be a master, at least.”

With that, Lin Mo turned and walked away.

Seeing this, the girls couldn’t resist walking over to tease him.

“Master, you were amazing,” Jiang Yunlu said first, with no regard for her own safety.

“Yes, master was so amazing,” Xie Yuling chimed in.

“So master was actually my senior brother,” Ning Qingcheng added, joining the ranks of the taunters.

Only Chu Miaomiao chose the safest approach. “I think Lin Mo is really wonderful.”

The other two girls abruptly turned to look at her.

“Traitor!”

“Class enemy!”

Hearing their teasing, Lin Mo didn’t really care. After all, master sounded much better than “Brother Thin Ice.”

“All right, that was only the boss of the central pass. Next, we’re going after the final boss. The dragon vein is telling me that it’s in a lot of pain.”

Lin Mo didn’t spare another glance at the coffin that had been opened.

There was another black stone slab and copper nail beneath it, but Lin Mo knew very well that pulling out this copper nail would not release any baleful energy.

All the formation cores had been destroyed, but what was the true purpose of this formation?

Wang Xincheng hadn’t figured it out either.

He could only tell that these formations were designed to gather baleful energy. As for what lay beneath the formations, he could not see clearly.

Lin Mo, meanwhile, led everyone farther in.

Although Yu Youhan’s memories contained no record of any path leading farther down, Lin Mo possessed spiritual sense.

From that point onward, there were no more warriors formed from concentrated yin energy, nor any creatures climbing out of coffins.

They proceeded without obstruction.

At the end of the passage stood a completely rusted iron door with a lock still hanging from it.

A sign reading “No Admittance” was pasted across it.

Ning Qingcheng controlled the Rift-Splitting Arrow and smashed the lock apart.

Liu Zheng lifted his leg and kicked the doors. They did not move an inch.

“Uh... I think this door is pulled open,” Jiang Yunlu reminded him.

Liu Zheng froze awkwardly, then hurriedly pulled the doors open.

Beyond them was a long staircase leading downward. The bricks beneath their feet had cracked in places after years of weathering.

Lin Mo walked past Liu Zheng and took the lead.

The staircase was not particularly long, descending roughly the height of two floors.

At the bottom lay a natural cavern.

There were no lamps or other sources of light.

Liu Zheng raised his flashlight and shone it ahead.

The ground was covered in white bones.

It reminded him of the 8604 headquarters on the other side, where there had also been a mass grave piled high with countless bones.

The mass grave there had been excavated. This one, however, had been hidden beneath this place.

The girls were so frightened by the bones scattered across the ground that they did not dare speak.

It wasn’t that they were afraid of anything in particular. Seeing so many bones piled together simply filled them with dread.

Lin Mo, however, raised his head and looked into the distance.

In the middle of the mountain of bones stood several people.

They were all faces Lin Mo had seen in Yu Youhan’s memories.

Two warriors, along with a member of the School of the Nine Chrysanthemums.

He had never expected that the three of them would still be here.