BXBX NOVEL Chapter 113 - In Action: Part 2
In the middle of the dungeon was a wide arched corridor, where there were prison cells on either side. And on each side, the cells were some distance apart from each other.
Lin Sheng was standing near the gap between the cells, shaking his head as he skimmed around. He reached to touch the wall, which felt solid and cold, and its rough black stone surface was covered in honeycomb-like eyelets. He glanced down at the stone-brick floor under his feet. The neat stretcher-bond pattern of the floor looked antiquated.
Lin Sheng raised his wooden shield as he slowly moved deeper down the arched corridor. Cracked skulls were left about in the rows of rectangular-shaped recess in the wall on his left. Large candles glowing in light-yellow flame could also be found in some of the coves. There were also awl-shaped, solid candleholders on wire rope hanging down from the ceiling at intermittent intervals. These candleholders were part of the lighting system in the passage.
After walking for a distance, Lin Sheng saw six gray cloth bags left about in front of the cell on his right. Each of these cloth bags was almost as large as a sandbag. He went up and stomped his foot on one of them. It felt soft and emitted a muffled sound when kicked. It could be grains in the bags.
Just then, a series of heavy footsteps came. Lin Sheng peered ahead through the thin blanket of gray fog in the corridor and saw a team of black-armored soldiers carrying shields and swords marching steadily in his direction. There were five of them, each was about one-meter-eight tall, exceptionally well built, and draped in thick and heavy metal body armor–even on the face. They almost looked like Mechwarriors from a distance.
These soldiers had noticed Lin Sheng just as soon as Lin Sheng did. For a moment, there was a deadly silence on both sides. And then with a jerk, the five heavily armed soldiers lunged out at Lin Sheng with their shields and swords, stomping like the sound of war drums. The first soldier rammed at Lin Sheng in full force. Lin Sheng drew his sword aiming at the soldier’s waist as he cleverly dodged aside in a swift motion, slitting open the armor and the flesh of the soldier with sparks flying and black blood spattering out at once.
Lin Sheng was no longer the weakly of the past. With extraordinary Level 3 strength and the memories of so many warriors in his mind, he was strong and battle-hardened. In a series of false steps, Lin Sheng quickly made it past the encirclement to the rear of the enemy. In an abrupt maneuver, he spun around, dropping his shield to hold his sword with both hands to his ear with a blazing white light glowing on the blade of his sword.
“Quantum Slash!”
As a streak of white light fluttered around the soldiers, the broadsword in Lin Sheng’s hands shattered in an instant. The broken pieces dropped to the ground at once. At the same time, black blood began to squirt out from the cut wound in the throats under the helmets of the remaining four soldiers, who then dropped dead on the ground with a thud.
Lin Sheng glanced at the hilt and let out a sigh. He discarded it and picked up another sword from one of the bodies on the ground. Similar to the old one, this one was also a double-edged broadsword with some pattern engraved on the sides of the blade, the thickness of which was a few millimeters more than the shattered broadsword. It was at the right thickness and to Lin Sheng’s liking.
Lin Sheng squatted on his knee and took a helmet from one of the bodies. He shook the helmet before putting it on. “Nice!” He smiled. Aside from being a nice addition to his armor, the helmet was a small consolation to Lin Sheng’s dismal spirit after losing his original broadsword. Having tasting success, he tried out the greave and metal boots too. In the end, he decided to put on a full set of armor that he looted from a body. “This at least 50 kg, if not more. These soldiers must be damn good weightlifters.”
But something was strange. Lin Sheng was transfixed for a second when he realized that none of the soldiers had memories that he could ingest. He swung the sword in his hand and glanced down at the soldiers from whom he had taken the helmet. These soldiers were just regular men, albeit their skins pale and face expressionless. They all died with the same expression—their eyes were wide open.
“Are they soulless, or it’s just me that is unable to take in the fragments of their souls?” Lin Sheng sheathed his sword and was off again, leaving the bodies behind.
The metal boots clanked loudly as he walked. He skimmed the cells on both sides as he walked past them. The cells were no inmates there except for a toilet, an iron bed, a chair, and a small iron table.
Soon, a sharp left turn filled with a thin blanket of gray mist appeared ahead, where something was around the corner. Lin Sheng slowed down his pace, his hands firmly clenching on the hilt with heightened alertness. As he inched closer, the thing at the bend slowly emerged, finally revealing itself. It was a man, wearing a long robe and an iron mask, standing motionless like a statue in the fog.
The man was right in front of Lin Sheng but looked as if a stationed guard, or merely a statue. Without warning, the statue-like man suddenly moved and pointed his hand at Lin Sheng. A pale green mist instantly appeared on the tip of his finger, swirling, surging, and then forming into a ball.
A dozen green tentacles bust out from the green gas ball in a split second. It happened so quickly that the tentacles had arrived within feet of Lin Sheng in a beat. Lin Sheng stopped dead in his tracks before he came to his senses and immediately bent his body backward while raising his wooden shield in front. A powerful force was pushing him back. Each of the tentacles was as thick as a human’s arm, and their corrosive nature would leave behind streaks of burnt mark on whatever they touched, including on the wooden shield. The pale green slime from the tentacles stuck to Lin Sheng’s wooden shield hissed menacingly. Even the walls in the surroundings that had been spattered with the hideously sticky stuff were eaten into, leaving behind countless of holes on the surface.
After retreating several steps, Lin Sheng aimed his eyes at a gap between the waving tentacles. He timed it correctly and lunged out. With his sword already drawn, he swung it in a rapid motion and then struck the man, forcing him to retreat. The tentacles froze, and the man began to spit blood under his mask as he was hit right in the chest. The man leaned against the wall with blood continuously gushing out from his mouth, while the tentacles lunging out from the misty green ball quickly lost their strength.
Seizing on this opportunity, Lin Sheng charged forward with his Shield Bash, and his wooden shield glowed in a sacred light. This time, Shield Bash hit the target, the man’s body began to hiss and emit a disgusting burnt smell in the air. The man in a long-robe, still spurting black blood in his mouth, struggled desperately. But he was pinned under the shield and completely motionless after a while. Then, plumes of black smoke began to rise from the man’s body and formed a streak of blackline before rapidly disappearing into Lin Sheng’s chest.