Chapter 495: The Strongest Spear
“Huh?” Jiang Shiyi was stunned. “Wait... did I hear that right? You want to reattach my head?”
“Yeah. Having you walk around headless like this is kind of a bad look.”
“A bad look...? Have you ever had your head knocked off?”
“Uh...” Chen Junnan thought about it seriously for a moment, then replied, “I don’t think it’s ever been knocked off, but it has been blown up before.”
“Is that the same thing?” Jiang Shi, who moments ago seemed afraid of nothing, was now visibly nervous. He was starting to feel this idiot squad leader wasn’t very reliable.
“You’re already like this...” Chen Junnan held Jiang Shi’s head in his arms, fumbled around in his pocket for a while, and pulled out a black metal hairpin. “Little master figures you can’t feel much more pain than this anyway... The cross-section of your wound doesn’t even look like flesh, it’s more like a sculpture. I’ll just use this little hairpin to pin your head back onto your body, like one of those dough figurines.”
“Hey...?” Jiang Shi was taken aback by this plan, then his face showed utter disbelief. “No way... This hairpin is way too short. Won’t my head just fall off again? Soon as I start running, it’ll fall off! And this hairpin is so dirty... it’s covered in mud!”
“Still way better than you carrying your head around! Stop wasting time!” Chen Junnan wiped the black mud off the hairpin and directly positioned Jiang Shi’s head forward. “Just tell me: do you want it on or not?”
“Uh...” Jiang Shi pouted. “Then... put it on...”
“I’m guessing it’s going to hurt like hell.”
“It already hurts enough as it is...”
“Alright!” Chen Junnan touched the wood-like surface of the severed neck, then jabbed the black metal hairpin sharply into it, leaving the tip embedded.
“Ow ow ow ow...” Jiang Shi’s head screamed from under Chen Junnan’s arm. “Ah, this hurts so much!! Did you hit my spinal cord? What if I’m paralyzed?”
“Oh, cut it out...” Chen Junnan helplessly lifted Jiang Shi’s head. “Little master is really curious—your head is already off, how does the pain from your body reach your brain?”
“That’s not that strange...” Jiang Shi said. “When I broke my arm once, each part could do its own thing... The hand could still crawl on the ground by itself...”
“Alright, alright...” Chen Junnan, feeling like he was about to lose his grip on Jiang Shi’s way of existing, quickly interrupted. “You headless kid! Bite your teeth tight, little master is about to put your head back on!”
“Ah! Okay!” Jiang Shi squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth tightly.
Chen Junnan seized the moment, lifted Jiang Shi’s head, and with a *crack*, slammed it onto the body.
“Aaaaaah!!” Jiang Shi stood on the spot, screaming miserably, his arms flailing wildly. “My head hurts! My head hurts! My head hurts!!”
“Uh...”
Chen Junnan couldn’t help but feel sorry for him seeing him like this, but at least now he had his hands free to move, and he looked more like a person than before. That was some help, anyway.
“Kid... are you... okay?”
“Okay my head!” Jiang Shi yelled. “No, no—I mean my head is NOT okay! The inside of my head hurts!”
Seeing tears streaming from his eyes, Chen Junnan felt a pang of sympathy. Even though they had just met, this kid had done enough.
“Then... do you want me to take it back off...?” Chen Junnan said with a bitter smile. “And you can carry your head as you run?”
“No... it’s fine...” Jiang Shi gritted his teeth and moved his neck a little. He found that the hairpin was just the right length, allowing his head to sit stably on his body. Other than the severe pain inside his head, there were no other drawbacks.
But the more he thought about it, the weirder it felt. He really had become like a dough figurine, with a broken limb reattached using an iron rod.
“Where’s my sword...” Jiang Shi turned around, bent over, and fumbled on the ground for a moment. The moment he lowered his head, his head nearly fell off again. He quickly reached up to steady it, then grabbed Lü Dongbin’s sword artifact to use as a crutch. “This should be about right...”
“Hey...” Chen Junnan frowned at him. “How about you do me a favor and lock the door?”
“No problem...”
Fortunately, Jiang Shi’s physical constitution was stronger than an average child’s. He could now barely move normally. Limping, he went to the door leading in the direction Di Tu had gone and locked it with a *click*.
“What now...” Jiang Shi said. “Where should we head...”
“Just take your cues from me.” Chen Junnan grinned slyly and said in a low voice. “From now on, no one speaks unless I speak first.”
“Uh... okay... got it...”
Di Tu stood in Room Ten, pricking up his ears to listen, and slowly a grave expression came over his face.
This team was really too strange.
That guy who said he wanted to make a bet had used a diversionary tactic—while Di Tu was outflanking him, he struck directly at the heart of the matter and revived that unkillable kid.
“Sounds like you also locked the door...” Di Tu’s ears and nose both twitched, trying to capture every movement in the entire venue.
“Round ended for ‘Participants.’ ‘Zodiac’s’ turn begins.”
Without hesitation, Di Tu opened Room Six and walked in. This was the room where Chen Junnan had been shouting earlier. Now, just one more round, and he could catch up to Chen Junnan and that unkillable kid. Even if they chose to lock a door, one of them would be left behind.
“That’s right... you’re all going to die...” Di Tu said with a smile. “Right here... I’m going to kill you all...”
Di Tu’s eyes gradually grew vacant, his mind suddenly filled with murderous intent. He felt as if there were a strange figure right in front of him, and all he could think about was tearing him apart completely.
When he came back to himself, Di Tu realized he was standing in the middle of the room. It felt like he had just experienced a subtle hallucination.
“What was that...?” Di Tu touched his head in confusion.
Had he... spaced out just now?
“Zodiac” round ends. “Participants” round begins.
Just as Di Tu felt victory was within his grasp, a shadow flickered at the open door on the north side of the room. A sharp-looking figure with a braided ponytail walked in deliberately, turned to close the door behind him, and stood silently before Di Tu.
“You...”
“My name is Song Qi.” The man said. “This name guarantees a fair duel between us in the ‘Land of Endings.’ No one will interfere until a victor is decided.”
“What the hell...?” Di Tu really couldn’t understand. At any time during this game, everyone else would stay far away from him. This was the first time in years someone had willingly walked up to him to hunt him. “How did you get here?”
“It’s my round, isn’t it?” Song Qi looked solemnly at Di Tu. “Should I make the first move?”
Di Tu saw that Song Qi was still far away. Though a little uneasy, he wasn’t exactly afraid. More curious, he sized up the man before him, cautiously considering what kind of attack he might use.
“Then I won’t hold back.” Song Qi pulled a small pebble from his pocket, rubbed it a few times with his thumb, and gently tossed it toward Di Tu.
Di Tu wasn’t stupid. He knew this man had thrown a stone before without any effect. But now they were in the same room; every move could mean life or death. He couldn’t be bluffing again. So he quickly stepped back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Could it be ‘Slip’...?” Di Tu stared intently at the small stone, never expecting it to suddenly spark like electric fire midair.
“Damn...!”
Before Di Tu could even cry out, the stone struck his forearm. With a red flash, it instantly erupted in scorching heat.
*Boom!!*
A wave of heat swept through the entire room. The explosion on Di Tu’s hand was moderate in size, but it blasted him back, slamming him against the wall just as Jiang Shiyi had been.
(Note: Starting Monday [2023.8.21], a special event for “Ten Days’ End” will go live. Prizes are very, very generous!! Including but not limited to iPhone 14, Switch, signed books, signed merchandise, etc. I will also post an unprecedented number of chapters during the event. Everyone get ready. On Monday, open the book chat, find the pinned post, and check the event details!)