activa-t Chapter 24 Pulling Teeth from a Tiger's Mouth
Chapter 24 Pulling Teeth from a Tiger's Mouth
It's too dangerous, it's safer to run away.
Screw the safety measures!
Zhou Xing abruptly stopped, twisted his waist and turned back, rushing towards a sweeping tentacle!
The tentacles crashed down with a vicious gust of wind. Zhou Xing shrank back, rolled close to the ground, and narrowly avoided the attack, getting covered in a foul-smelling slime.
Without pausing, he lightly touched the ground with his toes, his body springing up like a spring, heading straight for the monster's torso.
He strained to his limit, his steps quickened to the point of breaking, weaving between several long, fleshy whips, as if dancing on the tip of a knife.
In a flash, he spotted a gap, twisted his waist, and pounced to the monster's side.
With a stomp and a push on the slippery tentacles, it actually darted upwards along the gnarled, fleshy pillar!
"madman!"
Qingxu, who was retreating towards the cave entrance, caught a glimpse of this scene and spat out two words through gritted teeth.
The tentacles were slippery and sticky, but Zhou Xing had practiced boxing on the edge of an oil vat under Ip Man's tutelage, so his feet felt like they were rooted to the spot.
He rushed along the tentacles, his short knife flashing coldly. He aimed at the spot where the black arm ring intertwined with the flesh, twisted his wrist, and thrust the knife tip in, slashed, and then flicked it upwards!
"Sizzle!"
With a flash of light, he ripped a lump of flesh with black rings off the monster's "heart"!
It was scalding hot to the touch, and the lump of flesh had a corrosive effect, instantly turning the skin on my palm blue and black!
Zhou Xing grunted and quickly activated the [Human Puppet Appearance] technique. The skin and flesh of his palm tightened and hardened, and the black color faded away.
But even in that short moment, a great deal of energy and spirit was consumed.
"Hiss!!!"
The monster let out its most piercing and mournful howl since the start of the war, and all its tentacles convulsively recoiled.
Zhou Xing didn't stop. He turned his waist and legs, and with the force of the tentacles, he leaped towards the cave entrance and landed on his feet.
He forcefully flung away the flesh and blood, rubbed his armband haphazardly against the mud a few times, stuffed it into his arms, and then shot off again, disappearing into the gap in the wall.
Behind them, the monster roared even more furiously.
Behind the hole in the wall was a downward-sloping passageway, damp and dark.
Zhou Xing didn't stop for a moment, and sprinted forward with all his might.
The passageway was initially wide, then it branched off:
One path leads to an underground river, with a thunderous roar; the other narrows rapidly, allowing only one person to pass by bending over.
He bent down and squeezed into the narrow passage.
Behind them came the sounds of a monster's frantic crashing and the collapse of earth and rocks, but its enormous body clearly couldn't squeeze into the narrow passage.
The passage is short, but there is light at the end.
Zhou Xing rushed out of the passage, and suddenly the view opened up before him.
This is a completely different space, extremely high and extremely deep.
It looks like an ancient Chinese medicine cabinet magnified millions of times, or a honeycomb.
Above was a towering wooden dome, and all around were dark brown wooden lattices that reached the ceiling, with yellowed paper labels pasted on each small lattice.
Countless staircases, narrow bridges, and rope ladders crisscross between these cabinets, without any apparent order.
People inside appear exceptionally small.
The air was filled with a faint scent of herbs and old paper, completely dispelling the stench and bloodiness behind them.
The light came from a few gas lamps on the wall, their old-fashioned design providing a steady, bright glow.
It's unusually quiet, clean, and even a bit...refined here.
Only his own panting could be heard, along with the faint, distant "crackling" sound, like countless abacus beads being moved.
"Fu Sheng... damn it... Infinite Heavenly Venerable..."
I heard soft breathing behind me.
Zhou Xing turned around and saw Qingxu and Yunqing also leap out of the narrow path and land not far away.
The hem of Qingxu's Taoist robe was stained, and his hair was disheveled, but his breathing was still steady, and his face was paler than usual.
Yun Qing followed behind him, her moon-white Taoist robe still neat and tidy, only her hair was a little loose, with a few strands of black hair hanging down beside her cheeks.
"week……"
Qingxu seemed to want to say something, but in the end he only gave a slight bow as a greeting, his attitude being more polite than before.
The condescending air had faded, replaced by a scrutinizing and estimating gaze.
"Mr. Zhou, you have excellent skills and great courage."
Yun Qing smoothed her hair, smiled gently, and spoke with a sincere tone and a clear, melodious voice.
Zhou Xing nodded, and was about to speak when he heard a low shout coming from the shadows in the corner:
"Sir! Here! Here!"
It's He Jiu.
He huddled behind a huge, half-open, empty drawer compartment, waving frantically, his face still showing signs of shock.
Zhou Xing walked quickly past.
He Jiu pulled him behind the cubicle, patting his chest with lingering fear:
"My goodness, we're finally out! What the hell was that?! It scared the hell out of me!"
"River demon".
Zhou Xing uttered two words, looked around, and said, "Someone in the Whitelight District mentioned the thing that appeared at the Old River Sluice Gate."
"A river demon?"
He Jiu was taken aback. "Water spirits? I've heard old tomb raiders mention them."
It's said that in large rivers, many people die violently, and their resentment lingers, clinging to water monkeys, turtles, and other such creatures, easily transforming them into these kinds of ghostly beings...
But that thing just now, its power was too strange, and it doesn't seem to match the records..."
Zhou Xing touched the armlet he had obtained by pulling teeth from the tiger's mouth, lost in thought.
[The River Demon (Liang Mancang)'s obsession: Kill me.]
Was Liang Mancang a human who turned into a river demon, or was he turned into a river demon by someone else?
Killing this kind of monster isn't so easy.
He Jiu didn't delve into it further, turned his head to look around, and spat:
"Whether it's right or wrong, sir, we... seem to have found the right place."
This is the green light zone, the "Sky-High Pawnshop."
"Junior sister, let's go find Mr. Yuheng."
Qingxu straightened his slightly disheveled Taoist robe and spoke to Yunqing.
He determined the direction and then walked up a suspended staircase.
Yun Qing nodded slightly to Zhou Xing, glanced at his face, and then followed him.
He Jiu glanced at their retreating figures and lowered his voice:
"Sir, the white counter pawns 'lifespan' and 'health'. The red counter manages 'memory' and 'skills'."
The Tao Zhu Gong we're looking for is in the middle green counter room, specializing in empty talk about "opportunities," "cause and effect," and "fate."
Zhou Xing scanned the dizzying honeycomb and looked at He Jiu:
"Is there someone in every counter?"
"No way!"
He Jiu shook his head. "Many of these shops are just for storing old items. I heard there are only about a dozen real shopkeepers. They say this kind of renovation is in accordance with some kind of feng shui."
"lead the way."
Zhou Xingyan's words are concise and to the point.
He Jiu swallowed hard and led Zhou Xing through the maze-like corridors and suspended staircases.
The higher you go, the more sparse the cubicles become, and the more fixed the lights become.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the echoing of their own footsteps.
After winding and turning for who knows how long, we finally arrived at a counter on the middle floor.
Before me was a tightly closed ebony door with brass trim. There were no markings on the door, only a fist-sized, extremely intricate brass abacus embedded in it.
He Jiu took a deep breath, glanced at Zhou Xing, and whispered:
"Sir, Tao Zhugong is inside. He... he only makes one kind of deal: buying 'cause and effect'."
After saying that, he stepped forward and gently pushed open the door.
The interior space is not large, resembling an old-fashioned accounting room.
A row of floor-to-ceiling ebony cabinets against the wall is covered with yellowed paper labels.
A huge rosewood desk took up half the space, and behind it sat a slightly plump middle-aged man wearing a navy blue silk shirt.
He was using a small copper abacus to do calculations under the light of a green gauze lamp. The beads made a crisp, rhythmic sound, with a quiet, desolate quality.
Hearing the noise, the middle-aged man put down his abacus and looked up.
He had a kind face and a prosperous appearance, like a typical pawnshop manager. Only his eyes were unusually bright.
He was Tao Zhugong.
"We are sorry for failing to greet our distinguished guest properly."
Tao Zhugong stopped using his abacus, looked up with a beaming smile, his gaze sweeping over He Jiu before settling on Zhou Xing.
"My friend, you look unfamiliar. Do you want to pawn something, or buy it back?"
Zhou Xing gets straight to the point:
"I want to know the background of the 'Tianjin Chinese and Foreign Charity Association': who its leader is, where it is located, and what its purpose is."
Tao Zhugong's smile remained unchanged as he gently manipulated a bead on an abacus.
"Charity organizations are rife with foreigners, local gangs, and sorcerer sects—the waters are too murky. Most importantly, they're still my long-time customers..."
The price isn't cheap.
He slowly and deliberately took out a blank, oddly textured, dark yellow piece of paper from the drawer, and tapped it with his fingertip.
"I'm a businessman, and I value fairness. I see that you have a strong destiny, but your fortune is unclear and uncertain. That's interesting."
He raised his eyes, looked at Zhou Xing, and his smile deepened:
"Alright then, we'll take your 'greatest opportunity and good fortune in the next three years'."
"Based on this, a contract is hereby established, and the intelligence will be delivered immediately."