Era of Magic and Martial Arts

Zheng Hang’s expression remained unchanged, and in the next instant, he vanished from his original spot like a ghost.

There was no sound of wind, no trace of footsteps, not even the air seemed to ripple, as if he had torn open a fissure in space, instantly relocating to appear beside the Beautiful Spider.

Zuo Bai’s fingers, which had been supporting his spectacles, froze for a moment. His face looked three times worse than when his heart had been pierced during the sneak attack. He stared fixedly at the place where Zheng Hang disappeared and reappeared.

"Thirteen meters of silent, traceless blink. No ripples in the sewage, no visual afterimages in the air. Is this true... teleportation?"

Zuo Bai dropped his playful and teasing demeanor, a rare grave expression appeared on his face.

Zheng Hang’s movements were incredibly swift; as his arm subtly lifted, the entire limb transformed into a two-meter-long streak of black, resembling a soft sword forged from darkness.

The black light slashed down abruptly, too fast for the Beautiful Spider to react.

Screech—

Five stinking tongues were severed at the root, spinning upward with a nauseating stench of decay.

Feng Yuhuai, at such close range, had no place to dodge and was smacked in the face by the flying tongues.

In an instant, a large patch of skin was peeled away, revealing a horrific visage beneath, half covered in pollution scarlet lines and the other half showing regressed and raw flesh.

Fetid blood sprayed out like a fountain, some splashing onto Feng Yuhuai and some onto Zheng Hang.

With a mixture of genuine pain and theatrical flair, Feng Yuhuai let out a weak scream, her stiff eyes looking plaintively at Zheng Hang.

Blood splashed onto Zheng Hang as well, but when it struck his suit and cheeks, it didn’t seem as if it hit solid flesh; instead, it was like heavy rain splashing into a lake, merely causing ripples on the surface.

After the rain, the lake quickly returned to its calm, unscarred and untouched.

Zheng Hang’s arm retracted, reverting back to five fingers. As he lifted his hand, his sleeve fell half an inch, revealing black veins snaking over a pale wrist.

He clasped his five fingers like a crane claw reaching for prey, straight and soundless, no disturbance in the air, appearing soft and weak.

Pong—

Like a previously mute television suddenly blaring, abrupt and startling.

The sound of shattering flesh stunned Feng Yuhuai into silence, her eardrums throbbed from the unexpected explosion, making her forget to scream.

Her pupils shrank rapidly to pinpoints, her gaze seized by the scene before her.

She was terrified to see two of Beautiful Spider’s heads caving in simultaneously, web-like cracks emerging under the blue-black scales. Then, both heads collapsed inward together, the cracks spreading in perfectly symmetrical trajectories.

At the moment the first head burst, rotten pus and red-white pulp intertwined to form a foul-smelling firework, the rancid stench assaulting her nose;

The second head followed closely, fragments of bone and scales exploded in the same macabre display, even the brain matter splattered on the walls mirrored each other precisely.

"Strange, I only saw him strike one head, how did the other head explode too?"

Feng Yuhuai’s pupils constricted to pinpoints, even though she was the one rescued, an indescribable chill surged in her heart.

"No, they didn’t explode at once..."

Her thoughts quickly whirred as she focused on the remnants of the two heads,

"There was a 0.5-second delay between them, the head on the right appeared like a delayed frame, even the trajectory of the spurting cracks was almost identical!!"

The Beautiful Spider’s massive body trembled on the spot, then all twelve legs lifted off the ground, catapulting backward like a cannonball with a whistling wind.

Feng Yuhuai felt her body relax abruptly as the spine deeply embedded in her chest was flung out, dragging with it a string of rotten lines and silver mucus.

Her body slid down like a picture falling from a wall, slowly along the wall pipe, finally landing with a splash into the sewage.

The icy sewage instantly enveloped her body, the stench soaking into every inch of skin, as if trying to immerse her completely in the smell.

Yet, she remained still, blankly tilting her head and gazing at Zheng Hang.

Her expression was like a wronged lover, pitiful, her eyes glistening with faint tears, as if they might fall at any moment.

A look that could easily arouse any man’s protective instincts.

But Zheng Hang merely looked down at her indifferently, his face cold like frost without any trace of emotion.

His gaze was pitch-black, deep as a black hole devouring everything, Feng Yuhuai couldn’t even see her own reflection in those eyes.

Instead, she caught something all too familiar from those dark pupils—a primal, chilling hunger.

Zheng Hang’s eyes lingered on her for a second, then a low, eerie sound rose from his chest, like coming from the crack of another world:

"Why is it that every time I see you, you are in such a sorry state? Truly not beautiful at all. Being like this, you’ll make me lose interest in you."

That voice was bizarrely dull, pressing down on Feng Yuhuai until she could scarcely breathe.

Her body trembled slightly, an icy dread rising in her heart.

Compared to last time, the [Mask] before her appeared more enigmatic, more terrifying.

His presence seemed to transcend species, becoming increasingly elusive and more frightening.

Reflecting on her past arrogance and ignorance, she realized how foolish it was to fantasize about teaching him a lesson upon their next encounter.

Now it seemed that such thoughts were suicidal, she felt overwhelmed with relief that she hadn’t found the opportunity to act.

"I must be mad..."

She murmured to herself in her heart, filled with unspeakable sorrow and despair,

"To think I could teach this monster a lesson, I should be grateful and honored that he considers me his girlfriend..."

Feng Yuhuai reflected bitterly:

"If I can beat ten of my past selves now, why do I feel more acutely aware of the chasm between [Mask] and me? It’s not shrinking at all; in fact, it seems ever more impassable like an abyss.

Is it that I’m not trying hard enough? Damn it, it can’t be that I’m not trying enough. I’ve even assimilated my best friend, what more do I have to do?"

Feng Yuhuai really couldn’t figure out where she was lacking. Facing [Mask] twice, with total impotence each time, shattered her pride thoroughly.

She had to ponder:

"So, the problem isn’t with me; it’s that this man in front of me... is completely unreasonable.

Last time, he was merely toying with bones, but now he’s become as unfathomable as a shadow?"

Feng Yuhuai couldn’t understand the change and could only reach a conclusion that made her heart sink deeply:

"Compared to him, I’m so normal, so ordinary.

This guy is the real, total monster... yes, how can a human compete with a monster?"