Chapter 308: The Jiangshi Unleashed
“Tom, without pure oxygen, what’s your longest underwater breath-hold record?”
The long-silent Taotie suddenly spoke.
Tom was caught off guard by the question.
“Without pure oxygen?” he repeated.
“Yeah,” Taotie nodded. “How long?”
Tom answered without hesitation, “18 minutes!”
“Whoo…”
Taotie let out a deep breath. “18 minutes is enough!”
An 18-minute underwater breath-hold demonstrated Tom’s prowess as a top-tier assassin. The world record for this, even with pure oxygen intake beforehand, was only 24 minutes and 33 seconds.
For Tom to hold his breath for 18 minutes without oxygen was nothing short of incredible!
“Listen carefully,” Taotie said seriously. “When I say ‘inhale,’ take a deep breath. Then hold it. No matter what, even if you feel like suffocating, do not breathe until I say so!”
Although Tom didn’t understand why, he nodded in agreement.
Seeing Tom’s confusion, Taotie explained, “These things—Jiangshi—they don’t rely on eyesight. Their eyes are just decorations. They track their prey by sensing breath and body heat. If you don’t breathe, it won’t sense you.”
After hearing this, Tom gave a thumbs-up. “Wow, impressive! I really learn a lot with you!”
Taotie’s eyes widened.
“Damn it! Princess has corrupted you!”
He didn’t bother explaining why that phrase wasn’t exactly a compliment. Instead, he peeked into the bronze coffin. The corpse inside had fully transformed.
Without hesitation, Taotie pried open its mouth and pulled out a jade cicada. Then he reached beneath its crossed arms and retrieved a jade plaque.
“What a waste…”
He shook his head in regret before throwing both artifacts toward the tomb entrance.
One of those artifacts was a special talisman that prevented corpses from rising. As long as it remained in the coffin, the body might decay, but wouldn’t move. Removing it broke the suppression, allowing the corpse to resurrect.
If explained scientifically, the talisman disrupted the body’s magnetic field, preventing reanimation. Removing it caused the energy field to explode, bringing the corpse back to life.
How ancient Taoists and sorcerers figured out this technique was a mystery to Taotie. But he knew one thing: just because something was lost to time didn’t mean it wasn’t real.
Suddenly, a scratching sound came from the coffin.
It was waking up.
No time to waste—Taotie shouted, “Inhale!”
Without delay, he took a deep breath and held it.
Tom immediately followed suit.
Outside, the mercenaries of Ragnarok were examining the jade artifacts Taotie had thrown when the corpse inside the coffin sat up.
It sniffed the air.
Then, as if sensing something, it turned toward the tomb entrance.
Seeing the massive, black-furred monster standing in the coffin, Tom’s eyes widened in shock. The breath he had been holding nearly escaped.
Luckily, Taotie reacted quickly, covering Tom’s mouth before he could exhale.
The Jiangshi sniffed the air again before stepping out of the coffin.
Its heavy footsteps echoed in the chamber.
Outside, one of the mercenaries on guard noticed the hulking figure emerging from the darkness.
“Shit!”
Terrified, he raised his gun and fired a full burst.
The bullets clanged off the iron armor covering the Jiangshi’s body, denting it but failing to stop its advance.
The mercenary panicked.
Screaming, he stumbled backward, tripping over himself in fear.
His reaction caught the attention of the others, who abandoned their examination of the jade artifacts and rushed to the tomb entrance.
Seeing the massive figure, the squad leader assumed it was Taotie stepping out.
Without hesitation, he raised his gun and unleashed a burst of fire.
When the bullets didn’t faze the creature, his expression changed to disbelief.
He rubbed his eyes.
Reloaded.
Then shouted, “OPEN FIRE!”
The other mercenaries, most of whom had never faced anything remotely like this, hesitated in terror.
Some were so scared they literally wet themselves.
“Ah, shit!” the squad leader cursed, firing another volley.
At last, the others snapped out of their daze and joined in.
The tomb was filled with gunfire.
Shell casings clattered against the stone floor.
Under the relentless barrage, the Jiangshi staggered backward.
Its iron armor was riddled with holes.
Even its chest was torn open.
Yet it kept moving.
Relentlessly pressing forward.
Bullets couldn’t kill it.
The mercenaries, who were far from elite soldiers, had never encountered anything so terrifying.
Finally—
One of them broke.
Screaming, he threw down his gun and ran.
A trail of liquid marked his escape.
Panic spread like wildfire.
One after another, the mercenaries abandoned their weapons and fled.
Soon, only the squad leader remained.
Click!
His gun ran dry.
Reality hit him like a freight train.
He reached for a new magazine, swapped it in, and prepared to fire—
But before he could pull the trigger, a dark shadow loomed over him.
He froze.
Slowly, he looked up.
A massive, black-haired, snarling face filled his vision.
“Oh, sh—”
A pair of hairy, clawed hands seized his throat.
He was lifted off the ground.
His vision blurred.
Desperately, he drew a knife and stabbed at the creature.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
Each strike was weaker than the last.
Until, finally…
His movements stopped.
