IWOL Chapter 65: The Dust Settles

Even in this critical situation, Dong Linhai still refused to give up hope. He opened his eyes wide, trying to find any chance at all to fight back.

So, when a huge claw slapped Pan Chuangen aside, Dong Linhai was stunned.

The culprit was a huge beast about eight meters long. It had snow-white hair, slightly pointed ears, a pink nose, and amber eyes that flashed a faint cold light.

“…Uncle?”

In answer, he let out a low growl and pressed Pan Chuangen, who was about to climb up with the support of the wall, under his front paws. Sharp claws extended from the tip of his paws, nailing the half-goat man to the floor.

Dong Linhai couldn’t believe his eyes. Panting, he staggered up and looked at the white tiger with Pan Chuangen pressed under his claws. Then, he looked at Lin Hangzhi before finally focusing his eyes on his own wounded hand.

The dagger could have cut off his entire palm.

Dong Linhai’s uninjured left hand clenched down on his right forearm, applying pressure to slow down the flow of blood. He stepped on Pan Chuangen’s dagger, looked closely at it, and realized that, for some reason, the blade’s originally flat and sharp tip had turned inward until nearly the entire blade was curled backward.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be a piece of his flesh that was cut off.

What did he…do?

Pan Chuangen roared senselessly and tried to struggle out but couldn’t escape from Victor’s paws. Victor quietly looked down at him. Frowning slowly, he tightened his hold–

“Ahhhh!”

The half-goat man screamed. But, in the next moment, there was only silence.

The white tiger released Pan Chuangen’s corpse and walked to Dong Linhai in two steps. He lowered his head and, just like Dong Linhai had seen in the Labyrinth of Time, pressed his forehead against Dong Linhai’s.

A faint white light enveloped him.

His injuries gradually healed and, within a few breaths, the wound on his palm stopped bleeding. He raised his hand and touched the white tiger’s huge, furry head. “Uncle, I have seen you like this before.”

Victor looked at him without speaking. As Dong Linhai’s wounds began to close, the white tiger turned his head to look at the unconscious Lin Hangzhi and the tip of his tail swept lightly over him.

With a groan, Lin Hangzhi slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing the messy hallway and the half-goat man’s mangled corpse by the wall, Lin Hangzhi was startled and immediately climbed up to his feet. Seeing Dong Linhai and Victor behind him, he rubbed his hand over his face and said incoherently, “There was a traitor in the Guards. It allowed Pan Chuangen in and wanted to take Agatha away!”

“What?!”

Dong Linhai had just begun to relax but now his heart once again tensed up. Everything they’d done was to protect Agatha. If something happened to her, then all their efforts would be wasted!

At this moment, a dull whine came from Victor’s throat. A lavender light flashed and, in the blink of an eye, he abruptly shifted back into a little white cat and fell to the ground.

Dong Linhai hurriedly picked Victor up and hugged him in his arms. Victor seemed to have fallen into a coma; evidently, the transformation had consumed too much from him.

Dong Linhai didn’t understand what happened to Victor, but he didn’t have time to investigate. After making sure that Lin Hangzhi was fine, the two immediately rushed to the place where they had previously settled Agatha.

“I was originally supposed to take some people to hide and wait as planned. But, no one came. Instead, I ran into Pan Chuangen and he knocked me out with magic.” Lin Hangzhi scratched his head, causing the back of his head to began to ache dully. “We need to hurry. I really didn’t expect there to be a traitor. Didn’t the dolls create this paradise for Agatha?”

“I don’t know.” Dong Linhai shook his head and said, “Brother Hangzhi, do you think this box is a bit weird? Even though we’re no longer in the Novice District, the difficulty is too high, right? This Pan Chuangen, if it wasn’t because of Uncle, would we even be able to beat him?”

Lin Hangzhi agreed. “Yes, none of the boxes I’d experienced before were this difficult. This box is indeed a bit too much.”

“Do you think it’s because of Uncle and Cui Zuojing? Their fighting strength were also taken into consideration and that’s why it’s so difficult?”

“That’s very possible.”

Dong Linhai took joy in his own sufferings and said, “I don’t know if this is considered taking a loss or basking in their limelight by association.”

“But, there also shouldn’t be any dead ends. Since the box arranged it like this, there will definitely be a solution.”

“Yes. Pan Chuangen might not be allowed to use his magic to kill us. He used close-hand combat when dealing with me. The same was true for Uncle. But even so, I would definitely have suffered heavy losses. There is a high probably that the two of us might even die.”

Dong Linhai didn’t mention that he’d nearly sacrificed his life to save Lin Hangzhi. At the time, he blocked the knife without even thinking twice and was simply giving in to the instinct to protect an injured companion.

Before that, he didn’t dare imagine that he would do such a thing.

The entire castle was eerily devoid of people. The tense atmosphere caused them both to stop talking and focused on rushing all the way to where they’d hidden Agatha.

The little girl wasn’t stupid. When she realized that the city was no longer secure and that there might be a final crisis threatening everything, she considered Dong Linhai’s proposal and agreed to cooperate.

At that time, Agatha’s condition was already very bad. Her breath came hard and slightly fast. Her complexion had a blue tint to it, and her soft lips looked like it was losing blood. However, she insisted that she wasn’t uncomfortable and tried her best to cooperate with their plan and temporarily hide in the secret room that housed the five treasure chests.

They rushed over at the fastest speed. The moment they ran into the side hall, Dong Linhai froze.

The hallway was scattered with many doll corpses. Some dolls had their entire bodies cut open, revealing the stuffing inside. Some had their head nearly severed from their body, with the two connected by a mere scrap of cloth. Large masses of cotton wool spilled out, filling the carpet with a layer of white.

There was no blood, but the sight was incredibly chilling.

Their hearts dropped.

This can’t be!

Dong Linhai bit his lower lip. If the clearance mission failed because of them, he would never forgive himself!

They ran into the secret room where the treasures were hidden. The door stood partially open, exposing a ray of light.

Dong Linhai tightened his hold on Victor, while Ling Hangzhi slammed the door open. The moment he saw the scene before him, he couldn’t help but suck in a breath and stare.

A black Tang sword nailed Gray Wolf, the captain of the castle guards, high to the wall by its forehead. Its eyes were vacant, and its body hung limply; it was clearly dead.

A youth, who was supposed to be at the frontline, sat cross-legged on one of the treasure chests, the scabbard lying across his lap. He was looking at Agatha lying on the ground.

Hearing the two people break in through the door, Cui Zuojing turned his head and smiled. “Hi!”

Don’t mention Dong Linhai, even Lin Hangzhi was a little dumbfounded. “…What’s going on?”

“As you can see, I rushed over at the most critical juncture. I just happened to meet this thing that wanted to take the little girl away, so I just did something good.” Cui Zuojing jumped off the box and leaned over to peer at Agatha. “She was so scared, she fainted when I killed Gray Wolf. But, when I look at her, it didn’t seem to be because of fright?”

“She has been like this since yesterday.” Lin Hangzhi immediately went over to check on her. He very professionally lifted Agatha’s eyelids and looked at her pupils. Then, he checked her mouth to make sure there were no foreign particles in there. He frowned and said, “How long has she been in this state?”

“Since I came here. It’s been almost…ten minutes.”

“It seems like a symptom of suffocation. Normally, one minute of suffocation is enough to stop the heart, but she’s still alive.” Lin Hangzhi lifted the girl’s upper body, held her in his arms, and pressed down on her middle.

“Why did you decide to come here?” Dong Linhai suddenly relaxed, only to realize that his body was exhausted. His two legs were so soft that he could hardly stand and so he sat on a treasure chest.

“Allen disappeared yesterday and was injured when I found him. After he woke up from a coma, he said that he was attacked by a strange man on the road. I thought that something might happen on your side so I came quickly. By the way, where’s that man?”

“He’d already been taken care of.” Lin Hangzhi looked at Dong Linhai and smiled. “I was knocked out at the time. By the time I woke up, Dong Linhai and Victor had already killed the monster.”

Cui Zuojing said “Oh” and looked at Dong Linhai, who’d puffed out his chest without realizing it. He deliberately said, “Was it Uncle who did most of the work?”

Dong Linhai immediately glared and said loudly, “The main contributor is me! Uncle was the one who finally solved Pan Chuangen, but if I hadn’t bought precious time for Uncle, Brother Hangzhi would have died!”

Cui Zuojing was thoroughly amused by his reaction and shook with laughter. Dong Linhai was so angry that he muttered a few words in a low voice. He knew that he couldn’t fight Cui Zuojing no matter whether it was making noises or engaging in actual combat, and so he could only silently endure.

Although Cui Zuojing gave Dong Linhai a hard time as was his habit, he saw Victor’s weakened and slumbering state and understood that he wasn’t exaggerating. He took Victor from Dong Linhai. Feeling the unstable fluctuations of Victor’s power, he frowned and asked, “What’s wrong with Uncle?”

“That monster injured him, but it didn’t take him long to turn into a very big tiger who could kill that monster with a slap.” Dong Linhai scratched his head. “I don’t know the details. At that time, I was fighting Pan Chuangen in the hallway.”

Dong Linhai may not know, but Cui Zuojing couldn’t be more clear that the first seal on Victor’s Prisoner of Body had been unlocked.

He could finally use a part of the power that belonged to the Master of Body.

Cui Zuojing was very happy for Victor. This kind of opportunity to lift the seal was hard to come by. At least they were starting to make progress on his seals.

Lin Hangzhi asked, “How are things at the city wall?”

“Many dolls became sick after being exposed to the rain, but fortunately, Wang Que boiled some herbal water and they were much better after drinking it. The monsters were also mostly cleaned up. It was just that the crows were a bit annoying. By the way, what kind of monster was that man?”

“It was a half-goat man with ram horns. Uncle said that he was the faun god, Pan.”

Cui Zuojing nodded in understanding, “In that case, it shouldn’t take too long to win the battle at the wall. My guess is that once dawn arrives, everything will be over.”

“Hmm…:”

The girl in Lin Hangzhi’s arms frowned slightly and let out a faint moan.

Everyone immediately looked over. Agatha’s thin fingers trembled and she slowly opened her azure blue eyes.

Lin Hangzhi could feel that her breathing was much smoother and more stable than before.

Seeing the three people in front of her, Agatha blinked in confusion. Then she noticed Gray Wolf nailed to the wall by the Tang sword, and instantly remembered everything she’d experienced.

She stared blankly at Gray Wolf, who’d been the captain of the squad of castle guards that had protected her for so long. She sniffed and closed her tear-filled eyes.

“Thank you.” With Lin Hangzhi’s help, Agatha reluctantly stood up. She hesitated and still took a small step to the side, widening the distance between Lin Hangzhi and herself. Then, she gave him a nervous, apologetic smile.

Lin Hangzhi didn’t mind. After all, he was nearly 30 years old. As a doctor, his temper had long been polished smooth. How could he be offended when he understood Agatha’s fear so well.

“Hold on a little longer. It will be over soon.”

Agatha nodded. She looked at Gray Wolf on the wall and couldn’t help biting her lower lip as she wept for him.

Cui Zuojing pulled out the Tang sword, and Gray Wolf’s body fell heavily to the ground. Without even bothering to look at it, he held Victor in one arm and said, “Let’s go. Don’t stay here.”

Agatha staggered slightly as she walked. Since none of the men could help her, they could only slow down and walk out slowly with her.

A flash of lightning slashed across the night sky and, soon after, thunder followed. The four of them walked through the long hallway. Seeing the bodies of her dolls scattered throughout the hall, she could no longer suppress herself and began to sob.

Cui Zuojing let out a silent sigh and placed Victor, who was still in a coma, into her arms so she could have something to comfort her.

As soon as they turned the corner, they ran into the maids who’d come to look for Agatha in a panic. The barbies were relieved when they saw their little master. They immediately surrounded her in a hurry and asked after her well-being.

Lin Hangzhi and Dong Linhai looked at each other, and they both saw relief in each other’s eyes.

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