Dax looked at that Thunder Strike Talisman, then at the completely unguarded man in black, smugly gloating.

  His gaze finally shifted from hesitation to vicious resolve.

  Took the talisman.

  Put on Ghost-Eye.

  Channeled spiritual power.

  "Go fuck yourself!"

  He knew this was the most outrageous thing he'd ever done "within the system."

  "Five Thunders—STRIKE!!"

  He didn't use that ridiculous activation gesture. Instead, he spat a mouthful of vital blood directly onto the talisman and slammed it toward that red dot.

  "BOOM—!!"

  Thunder from a clear sky on the narrow mountain road. Purple lightning like a raging flood dragon, striking directly at the most concentrated support point of the man in black's protective golden light.

  All energy precisely aimed at one spot. Do or die.

  The golden light seemed to be pried open at that one point. Under the lightning dragon's assault, it crackled and exploded like firecrackers ignited by a flame.

  The man in black's flesh was instantly torn open, his back even revealing golden bones.

  Dax's heart clenched: A "Golden Body." Truly Fourth Master's top dog.

  "Such nerve!!" The man in black laughed in fury. Knowing he'd capsized in the gutter, if he didn't leave now he might actually die here.

  He raised his hand with his last breath and tore open the void.

  Air ripped apart like cloth. A "portal" darker than the night itself opened before him.

  "Trying to run?!"

  Dax's eyes were red with killing intent. He knew that once this man got back, what awaited him was divine thunder annihilation, never to reincarnate.

  He lunged forward, unleashing his full "Earthbound" authority as a Land God. The asphalt beneath liquefied, snapping around the man in black's ankles like a swamp, and violently dragging the priest back just as he had halfway stepped into the portal.

  "Opening backdoors on my turf? Did you ask me first?!"

  Dax's eyes were crimson. In this moment, he wasn't like a down-and-out Earth God—more like the will of this land made manifest.

  The two rolled together, spiritual energies clashing.

  In that chaotic instant—

  Master Bai, who'd been playing dead nearby, let his rat-like eyes dart around.

  He watched that slowly closing portal, not yet fully vanished, and felt wild joy. When immortals fight, mortals suffer—but this was also the perfect chance to escape!

  Without a second thought, like a startled cockroach, he bolted and "whooshed" through in the final 0.1 seconds before the portal vanished!

  "Snap."

  Space closed.

  Ling barely propped herself up.

  She didn't stop him.

  "Run, old man."

  "Run back to your nest. Once I'm done here, I'll follow the GPS you gave me and collect some supplements."

  Center of the battlefield.

  The man in black was pinned to the ground by Dax, exposed bones scraping against the asphalt, every friction searing his nerves. Despite his severe injuries, he was still struggling, still snarling:

  "Jiang! You dare kill me?! I'm Fourth Master's most valued agent! My soul lamp is connected to his official hub! The moment I send a signal, my coordinates upload instantly… none of you will escape!!"

  Dax's hand trembled.

  The man in black caught that flicker of fear, grinning savagely: "Let me go now, kneel and kowtow, and maybe I'll…"

  Dax suddenly grinned back: "Then why haven't you sent it?"

  "You—!"

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "It's the middle of the night, yet Secretary Wang personally came out for one measly old Taoist, without even bringing proper guards—let me guess… You're here for some private matter—of your own, or something Fourth Master can't let see the light of day?"

  "You… don't you dare slander me!"

  "Doesn't matter whose business it is. The moment you send that signal, you can't afford the consequences either… am I wrong?"

  "Oh right, I've heard Fourth Master has more than one favorite. If it were Secretary Zhang on duty tonight, and he received the signal and came to find you barely breathing like this… what do you think would happen?"

  "Jiang… you really are a despicable bastard! Fourth Master has his eyes on you. You're dead…"

  "Glug."

  A strange sound cut off his threat.

  The man in black froze, looking up.

  Ling had somehow crawled over. Her face was covered in blood, but her eyes were eerily calm—calm like she was looking at a piece of bread.

  "Ling… what are you doing?!" Dax shouted in alarm. "We can't kill him!"

  Ling wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

  "Who said I was going to kill him?"

  She pulled out a purple clay teapot from her pouch—the one she'd swiped from Syrie earlier, now filled with the "Green Tea Tranquil Wine" she'd given Teon.

  "Let's knock him out first."

  With that, she shoved the spout directly into his ear canal and poured. This orifice had no coughing reflex—the liquid went straight into his spirit.

  The man in black didn't even have time to scream, let alone send any distress signal. His soul was like someone had suddenly hit pause—he fell into slumber, his body going limp.

  The eerie mist surrounding them also began to dissipate.

  Dax stared at Ling's bizarre operation, speechless for a long moment: "This… you can do that?"

  "You're the Earth God…" Ling glanced at Dax. "Burying a living corpse underground without it being discovered should be your specialty, right?"

  Dax looked at the vegetative divine official on the ground, eyes vacant, then at Ling's blood-streaked face.

  He sat down hard on the ground, hands shaking as he fished out a cigarette. It took three tries to light it.

  He took a deep drag and exhaled a trembling smoke ring.

  "…You're completely insane."

  "But…" A glint of steel flashed in Dax's eyes. "Nice work."

  Dax looked at Ling— bedraggled as a drowned rat—and as the fear receded, a nameless rage surged up to his head. He was furious.

  He shot to his feet and raised his hand—

  "Thwack!"

  A crisp smack landed squarely on Ling's forehead.

  Ling was stunned. She was about to bare her teeth when Dax, eyes red, roared back:

  "You know why, since time immemorial, the Celestial Court has always achieved 'glorious victory' in its battles against 'villains'?"

  "Because when individuals like you get too strong, your brains start to rot!"

  Dax's finger trembled as he pointed at her nose:

  "You think you're hot shit, don't you? Think you're the greatest under heaven, and anyone who pisses you off gets it? Win and you fight, lose and you run?"

  "Thwack!"

  Another smack. This time Ling didn't dodge, just hunched her shoulders.

  "Idiot! You think your enemy is that Wang guy just now? Some specific person who strung you up and beat you?"

  Dax took a deep drag, his voice dropping from a roar to something bone-chillingly low. He pointed at the invisible "sky" hanging over the city, no longer knew if he was speaking to Ling or to himself:

  "Dead wrong."

  "Your enemy isn't some random 'person' making trouble for you. Just the opposite—they're drops of water on an assembly line. They clock in diligently, go to work, execute orders. They're not even trying to make your life difficult. They're just doing the 'right thing.'"

  "But it's these countless 'innocent' drops of water that combine into a meat grinder that never stops."

  Dax crouched down, staring hard into Ling's eyes:

  "When that machine starts running, it doesn't hate you. It doesn't even see you."

  "No matter how strong you are, no matter how sharp your teeth—you cannot fight this 'innocent' entire world!"

  Wind whistled through the cracks in the stones.

  Ling stared blankly at Dax. For the first time, she saw something in this sleazy, stingy Earth God's eyes—something heavier than the abyss itself.

  But Dax wasn't done. He hurled Ghost-Eye at Ling:

  "And another thing! Who said you could pull that stunt?! 'Bet big'?!"

  "In this system, you don't trust anyone! Including me!"

  "What if I hadn't caught it? What if I'd chickened out? Did a donkey kick you in the head?!"

  So that's what he was mad about.

  Ling lowered her head, wiping the blood from her face with the back of her hand, muttering quietly:

  "It's not like I handed you my life…"

  Her voice was small, with a stubborn duck-billed tone:

  "…That little lightning wouldn't kill me. At most… I'd look ugly for a few more days."

  Dax choked with anger, raising his hand as if to hit her again.

  "Smack."

  But when it came down, it was much lighter—ending up as a rough shove through her messy hair.

  "…Ungrateful little disaster."

  Dax grumbled as he pulled back his hand, turning his back to her. He took one last fierce drag to hide his still-trembling fingers.

  "Let's go. Hurry up and deal with this guy. Don't want this dragging on."

  "Dan… huh? Did that useless sack pass out from fright?… Shit!"

  Ling looked at the blood on the back of his hand but said nothing.

  She unconsciously touched the back of her head—the spot Dax had shielded so desperately when her soul left her body.

  This old fart…

  She didn't want to admit it, but… he was right.

  She'd been lording it over the Abyss for too long.

  Down there, she sat at the top of the food chain. No rules, only power. That absolute control had let her brain go soft—treating every whim as her birthright, treating this world full of tripwires and traps like her personal backyard.

  Before Secretary Wang had humiliated her like a dog, Ling might have tucked her tail between her legs and headed home just to avoid the hassle.

  But now, looking at the blood on her hands, she'd completely changed her mind.

  If she didn't settle this score,she'd be a pathetic coward even if she made it back home.

  Ling murmured to herself, but her eyes held none of the deference Dax had hoped for. Instead, an even wilder, more violent blue flame ignited within:

  "Got too comfortable and lost my brain? Then I'll grow it back! I don't care if you're all just cogs who 'had no choice'—anyone in my way can fucking die!"

  She fished out the last Qi Restoration Pellet from her Pouch and tossed it back.

  A warm current exploded through her. Not much, but enough to get by.

  Then she plucked out a fresh Earth Escape Talisman, spiritual energy flowing through her fingertips.

  This time, she didn't bother being sneaky.

  She stuck her tongue out at Dax, who was busy "moving the body" again:

  "Old Jiang! Thanks!"

  "You keep at it! I'm gonna go reboot this busted body—see you back at the temple!"

  "Hey! What kind of shit are you pulling now, you little—?!"

  Amid Dax's furious but helpless cursing, the talisman burned away.

  "Whoosh."

  Ling's figure was swallowed by a burst of yellow light, vanishing into the earth.

  Only her cocky words hung in the air—announcing that the most terrifying hungry ghost of the Abyss had finally set down her fairy wand and torn through the paper castle of playing pretend…