A Good-for-Nothing

187. A Long Night (1)

Translator: Dragon Rider

He Zheng quickly shut the half-open doors tight and then hurried back to check Qiu Luo’s wound.

Qiu Luo was in a very bad condition. He Zheng found that where there should have been Qiu Luo’s heart in the chest, there was nothing there.

He Zheng’s eyes abruptly fell wide open. Flustered, he fumbled his cellphone out of his pocket. There was no signal, but the Flashlight function was still usable, though the battery was running low.

“Li–Light a candle. It’ll be safer if we got some light.” Qiu Luo’s voice was tinged with feebleness.

“Okay.” He Zheng rose to his feet in a flurried manner and cast the light from the cellphone around the hall. When he glimpsed an idol as the light hit it, he gave a start. The statue had angry, popping eyes and an air of dignity about it, looking so intimidating as though even demons would be daunted. The idol on the left side was holding a Chinese brush, and the one on the right side a golden saber. Right between these two lifelike statues was a larger, more commanding one, which was gilded all over, wearing a tall crown, and had a faintly sympathetic expression on his face, but when He Zheng looked carefully at its face, it struck him as callous and unfeeling.

Having no idea why he was doing it, He Zheng stopped flashing light at the face of the idol, put his palms together and kowtowed several times to it. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I mean disrespect. It’s really just that I was running for my life… If I manage to get out of this place, I promise I’ll burn a lot of votive offerings to express my gratitude. Please forgive me.”

He Zheng gave another two kowtows, but there was no response of any sort from any of the idols. It was very quiet, and he could tell that Qiu Luo’s breathing was becoming weaker. He Zheng muttered, “I want to find a candlestick and light a candle, because those monsters out there are so scary and I need candlelight to deter them from entering. I’m really sorry for the disturbance…uh… seniors.”

After saying this, He Zheng took out his cellphone once again. Not daring cast the light onto the face of any of the idols, he gingerly searched in front of the incense burner table. Strangely enough, there were many candlesticks on the table, but they only had short wicks on them.

“Oh, no. How am I supposed to light them?” He Zheng had just finished his sentence when, remarkably, his eyes fell on a little matchbox on the side, which was spotlessly clean, as though someone had specially prepared it for He Zheng.

Taken aback, He Zheng looked up at the idols in panic. Those statues were as lifeless as always. He Zheng put his palms together again, bobbing his upper body nervously. “Thank you, seniors.”

Unaware of what kind of gods these idols represented, He Zheng addressed them as “seniors” for fear of calling them by the wrong names.

He couldn’t afford to waste any time, quickly took out a match and struck it. A candle flame instantly started to burn, and its light was actually brighter than the one from the cellphone. He Zheng lit all the candles in one breath, brightening the interior of the whole temple hall.

It was a temple, but there was only one hall, in which three idols stood. By the candlelight, He Zheng got a clearer view of Qiu Luo’s condition. He was a horrifying sight – his whole front was covered in blood, as though he had just been scooped out of a blood pool.

He Zheng ran up to Qiu Luo really quick. “Qiu Luo, are you okay? Hang in there. I’m sure we’ll make it out of this place alive. Li Zong will definitely find us.”

As if on cue, a familiar voice suddenly came from the other side of the thin wall.

“I’m right outside, baby. Come out. I came here to save you.”

He Zheng’s insides did a somersault and he immediately turned, intending to pull the doors open to make a reply to Li Zong.

But Qiu Luo abruptly grabbed his wrist, weakly looking at him, the bridge of his nose drenched with cold sweat. “Tha–That’s not Grou–Group Leader Li.”

He Zheng was stunned. That voice was heard again. “Where are you, He Zheng? I’ve killed those monsters. I’m here to get you out.”

Just now He Zheng had been flustered, and now he had collected his thoughts and realized that it was by no means Li Zong’s voice. Although it sounded exactly like Li Zong, he couldn’t remember a single occasion when Li Zong had called him “baby.”

“It’s that monster!” He Zheng paled visibly, staring at the shabby wooden doors which didn’t even seem able to block the wind well. He really worried that those monsters would break through the doors and force their way in.

“Give me a hand. I need to perform Qi circulation.”

“All right.” He Zheng, supporting Qiu Luo, helped him sit cross-legged. He really admired Qiu Luo. This was not a mere cut in the head – his chest had been penetrated, but he was still hanging in there. No matter what Qiu Luo said in these circumstances, He Zheng wouldn’t raise any objections.

“I…I’ll practice Qi circulation to nurse my wound. You…need to be careful. Things will get better wh–” After a bout of coughing, Qiu Luo continued, “when day breaks.” He Zheng nodded repeatedly.

“I understand. I can still cast lightning spells. There’s no need to worry. If the worst comes to the worst, I’ll just use lightning to strike those monsters to death.” He Zheng clenched his teeth. Qiu Luo told He Zheng to bring the Lingering Frost Sword to him. When He Zheng picked up the sword, he found that there were a couple of cracks in the blade of it, one of which was about twice a finger’s width in length and looked quite dreadful.

He Zheng had some vague, sneaking speculations. Xiang Hailou had once said that everything in this world, especially implements, if bathed in the essence of the sun and the moon long enough, would become sentient. During the past hundreds of thousands of years, there had been a lot of implements that developed sentience and acquired the ability to transform into humans. Was Qiu Luo the sword spirit of Lingering Frost Sword, by any chance?

He Zheng’s mind was in a whirl. The disturbing voice outside seemed to becoming warmer.

“Good boy, come out here.”