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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 1: [Nether Realm of the Dead]
Chapter 15: [Raising the Spear]
(15th of Volume 1)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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Xie Tianshu glanced at the group of master's students, his eyes narrowing as he asked coldly, "Where's Cai Yutong?"
"We haven't found her yet," Xie Jin replied.
"Is that because you can't find her, or because you've hidden her?" Xie Tianshu's tone sharpened with suspicion.
He had secretly assembled so many people, yet mistakes kept piling up.
First, the disappearance of the 705 laboratory team and Li Weiyi, and now even Cai Yutong - a frail woman - had vanished without a trace.
Xie Tianshu suspected that Xie Jin might have deliberately released Cai Yutong, unable to resist her charms.
"Brother Shu, do you think I'm the type to prioritize personal desires over the greater good? Cai Yutong really isn't in the cultivation area. If you don't believe me, ask them," Xie Jin said, gesturing to the three men standing behind him.
One of them was Sima Qin, one of Professor Xu's master's students.
With his frameless glasses perched on his nose, he looked every bit the scholarly gentleman.
Three days prior, under Xie Tianshu's intimidation and promises, Sima Qin had chosen to surrender.
He spoke up, "Not long ago, Doctor Qi visited the cultivation area and took Doctor Cai away."
Xie Tianshu's expression softened slightly as he sighed.
"Ah-Jin, beautiful women may be scarce resources, but compared to survival, they're nothing more than fleeting playthings. Send two people to the Graveyard to find her. Once we locate her, she'll become a shared resource for us all."
Xie Jin's expression shifted, but he eventually nodded.
Sima Qin glanced at Chen Hong, who was interrogating Gao Huan, and remarked, "This questioning method won't work! Everyone has a weakness, and Gao Huan's weakness is Liu Ying. He's been in love with her for three years - she's the reason he pursued graduate studies and later used connections to get into Professor Xu's lab."
Liu Ying was one of the five trainees recently brought back from the cultivation zone. With her fair skin and bright eyes, she stood out for her striking beauty.
On the research vessel, she was the one who asked Li Weiyi to take group photos for her.
"You're classmates, yet you're selling her out so thoroughly," Chen Hong said with a laugh.
Sima Qin retorted, " It's the same. Let's not mock each other. Everyone has a dark side; we're just finally getting the chance to act on it without worrying about legal consequences. Brother Shu, give me half an hour with Liu Ying, and I guarantee that Gao Huan will answer any question you ask truthfully."
The surrounding laughter erupted.
Kong Fan chuckled, "Half an hour? Young people are so confident. But our new Captain Xie said beauty is a shared resource. Why not let old Kong join in?"
The laughter roared again.
Since setting sail, the crew had been confined to the ship for nearly two months, enduring endless boredom, loneliness, and exhaustion.
Who wouldn't crave some excitement?
Now, in this lawless land beyond the reach of authority, where no one knew how long they would survive, their courage naturally swelled.
How could they suppress the wickedness and evil in their hearts?
Throughout history, victorious emperors invariably seized the women of their defeated foes.
How could this rough crew possibly resist such primal instincts?
Since obtaining the silver-threaded gloves and tasting the sweetness of extraordinary power, Kong Fan's mindset had subtly shifted. He now regarded the others present with the superior air of a master looking at his slaves.
And slaves, after all, could be toyed with in any manner.
Gao Huan cursed, "Sima Qin, you're truly a beast! Liu Ying is my classmate - wasn't she yours too? I don't know where Li Weiyi went - I really don't!"
Whether he knew or not was, in truth, irrelevant.
Liu Ying had always been a promised reward from Xie Tianshu to Sima Qin.
Using beauties to entrap subordinates and subvert enemies was a tactic as old as time, hardly a novel idea.
Liu Ying, terrified to tears, fled into the forest of graves.
But with her hands tightly bound behind his back, she couldn't run fast.
Sima Qin quickly caught him and dragged him toward the nearby medical tent.
Kong Fan, smiling, followed into the tent.
Professor Xu lay on the ground, crying and banging his head against the deck as he shouted, "You're all barbarians! Have you no morals or conscience? Release Liu Ying! Take it out on me instead! Sima Qin, no matter how good your academic record is, I'll never let you graduate with your rotten character..."
Xie Jin said, "This old fool sure talks a lot. Throw him into the Soul Sea to feed the dead souls. We don't want to waste our ship's rations on him."
The two security guards looked from the medical tent to Professor Xu, whose legs had been broken and who was still banging his head against the deck.
They felt a pang of reluctance and a sense of guilt.
Their consciences troubled them.
In just seven short days, it seemed more than just the social environment had changed!
The transformation of people's hearts was even more shocking.
At that moment, the sound of camel bells drifted faintly from the tomb forest, like an illusion.
Xie Jin's eyes, bloodshot, growled, "What? Have you suddenly discovered your conscience? Do you want to go back to being good guys? Once you start down this path, there's no turning back. Throw that old man overboard..."
"I said... I said... Li Weiyi went to the ninth deck. He's heading to the stern - I swear this is the truth!"
Kneeling on the ground, Gao Huan banged his head repeatedly, tears streaming down his face as he begged desperately, "Please spare Liu Ying and Professor Xu! I'm begging you! I'm begging you!"
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
His forehead quickly turned black and blue, blood seeping from the wounds.
He naturally harbored the idea of tricking these wicked fiends into becoming prey for the Ghost Bear Emperor, but at the same time, he genuinely had no other choice.
He truly clung to the hope that his desperate pleas could save Liu Ying and Professor Xu.
Zhao Meng rebuked him, "By revealing my junior brother's whereabouts, you've completely lost any value! Do you really think they'll turn from evil to righteousness just because you're kneeling and begging? Naive, foolish... Once a person bares their fangs, they cease to be human!"
Xie Tianshu watched the scene with detached calmness: "Don't think I'm unaware of the situation at the stern, Gao Huan," he said, "How could you be so dishonest? You've truly disappointed me!"
The last sentence was nearly a roar.
With a wave of his hand,
two security guards hoisted Professor Xu into the air and hurled him into the Soul Sea.
With a splash, the Bronze Warship shook as countless excited howls erupted from the souls beneath, accompanied by the sickening sound of tearing flesh.
Professor Xu let out a few agonized screams before falling silent forever.
Gao Huan stopped his frantic prostrations, kneeling motionless, petrified.
The deck fell deathly still.
The bound prisoners huddled silently, none daring to make a sound, cowering under the gaze of Xie Tianshu and the others.
Another female student, equally as pretty as Liu Ying, trembled violently, her fingers clutching tightly.
Tears welled in her eyes, but she forced them back.
"Lying comes at a price," Xie Tianshu growled, slapping Gao Huan's face repeatedly.,"Next time you speak, think carefully before you open your mouth."
Then, in a booming voice, he said, "Two more, inside!"
Two security guards immediately entered the medical tent, their faces a mix of shame, embarrassment, and burning anticipation.
Human nature was always contradictory.
A person's moral boundaries were like a woman's clothing - difficult to shed all at once, but once the shedding began, piece by piece, it was inevitable.
Chen Hong disapproved of Xie Tianshu's tactics of "beauty entrapment" and "sinful coercion." "Instead of forcing him to talk," he said, "we should interrogate the first mate. Brother Meng and I are as close as brothers, and I can't bear to witness this cruelty. I'll take a team and find those hiding first."
....
Li Weiyi fled through the tomb forest, Yellow Dragon Sword in hand, finally escaping those hair-like tendrils.
A set of white bones, seemingly on the verge of rising from the dead, had been capable of devouring his blood.
It was both terrifying and bizarre.
Even though Li Weiyi had cultivated extraordinary skills, he was no match for her.
If not for the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish and the Yellow Dragon Sword, he would have died there for sure.
Fortunately, she remained sealed in her ice coffin, seemingly not fully awakened, and her hair's attack range was limited to fifteen meters.
He couldn't even imagine the horror if this "White Bone Demon" truly escaped.
"Senior Brother sure knows how to hide things," Li Weiyi thought, "Why would he stash the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish and the Yellow Dragon Sword in her tomb? Nearly got me killed."
Li Weiyi recalled his Senior Brother mentioning that his crash onto the Bronze Warship had actually been a crash onto her tomb. It was only thanks to the tomb's cushioning that he hadn't been crushed to death.
This damned fate!
Li Weiyi gazed at the light emanating from the Golden Crow's remains through the Nether Mist, puzzled.
With such a clear guiding light, how could other expedition members still get lost in the tomb forest?
Were there other mysteries and unknown dangers lurking within?
About two hundred meters from the Golden Crow's remains, Li Weiyi emerged from the tomb forest and appeared at the ship's railing.
He raised his arm and looked at his wrist - it had already scabbed over, nearly healed.
Nearby, scattered haphazardly across the ground, lay the armored skeletons of humans and various weapons.
According to Director Yang, the ten-meter-long black spear was the lightest, yet even that required two people to lift it with difficulty.
Alone and unencumbered by restraint, Li Weiyi gripped the spear near its tip with one hand.
It felt surprisingly heavy, but he managed to lift it.
"One hand... stronger than two people?" Li Weiyi was surprised but not overly excited, having just witnessed the "White Bone Spirit's" formidable power.
Without the Yellow Dragon Sword, he could only hold her off briefly.
With the sword, he could only flee in disgrace.
Suddenly...
Light footsteps approached from the direction of the Golden Crow's remains.
Moments later, Qi Shanshan, clad in a white lab coat, emerged swiftly from the Nether Mist, her expression a mix of panic and wariness.
"Li Weiyi... what are you doing here?"
Qi Shanshan glanced around, incredulous.
It had been almost two months, but this was the first time Li Weiyi had seen Qi Shanshan without her usual high heels, instead wearing a pair of pink sneakers.
His gaze drifted toward the ninth deck of the ship, blurred like a mirage, his suspicions growing.
Doctor Qi clearly knew the Ghost Bear Emperor was still alive - how could she dare come here alone?
"Doctor Qi," Li Weiyi asked, "aren't you afraid of the Ghost Bear Emperor?"
"Something serious is happening!"
Qi Shanshan's expression turned grave as she approached Li Weiyi. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a damp medical wipe.
"Second Mate Xie Tianshu has rallied supporters and launched a coup. The Bronze Ship is in chaos. I had no choice but to risk coming here. Didn't you hear the gunfire earlier?"
"Gunfire? They moved ahead of schedule?"
Li Weiyi hadn't heard any gunfire, suspecting it might have happened while he was dragged into the ice coffin.
Though still wary of Qi Shanshan, his Senior Brother's situation was clearly critical, leaving no time for further contemplation.
"Whoosh!"
With a flick of his foot, scalding air surged through the meridians in his legs, unleashing his full power in an instant.
A nine-meter-long black spear soared through the air and landed steadily in Li Weiyi's hand, its tip emitting a resonant ting.
Clutching the Yellow Dragon Sword in one hand and the spear in the other, Li Weiyi stood tall and resolute, ready to rush toward the bow of the ship.
Qi Shanshan, who had already approached within five steps of Li Weiyi, watched in astonishment. Her charming face was etched with shock.
"Your injury has healed... Did Yu Tong give you Golden Crow Blood?"
Apart from Golden Crow Blood, Qi Shanshan couldn't imagine any other means by which someone with a nearly crippled arm could recover in just a few days - and with terrifying strength to boot.
Li Weiyi had no time to explain.
"Come back!"
Realizing she couldn't take down this vastly strengthened Li Weiyi, and seeing the clear wariness in his eyes, Qi Shanshan quickly adjusted her approach.
She surreptitiously replaced the medical gauze she had pulled from her pocket and withdrew her hand, adopting a concerned tone: "Weiyi, sister shanshan understands your worry for Senior Brother, but they have guns. No matter how strong you are, a single bullet could still kill you. We need to carefully plan this. Before we act, we must at least understand the situation and the number of enemies we're facing."
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END OF CHAPTER
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