"Impossible, what's happening... what is this... why can't I see anything... I... why can't I move..." The voice was filled with panic, fear, and confusion.
Everyone heard it, and their gazes converged on the baseball bat lying on the ground. Each face bore a different expression—some puzzled, some astonished, some incredulous, and others shocked.
"Such a thing actually happened..." Su Li let out a soft sigh, then glanced at Xu Xuehui with a smile. "Well done, kid."
Xu Xuehui beamed, her cheeks dimpling slightly.
On the ground, Zhang Ying's body, now reduced to just a torso, was completely engulfed in flames. The fire blazed fiercer, mingling with her piercing screams.
"Save me... Xu Haishui... save me... I don't want to die..." Suddenly, Zhang Ying's voice came in broken pleas.
She had heard Tao Bingjun's terrified cries and realized he couldn't save her, so she turned to Xu Haishui for help.
Xu Haishui, who had been controlling the flames, heard her voice. His face muscles twitched violently. He stopped abruptly, the fire on his right hand vanishing as he turned away, covering his ears, unable to bear Zhang Ying's screams any longer.
Without his control, the flames on Zhang Ying's body began to die out.
Su Li glanced at Xu Haishui, who had turned and covered his ears, understanding that while he wouldn't save Zhang Ying, he couldn't bring himself to kill her either.
Shaking his head, Su Li lunged forward, swinging the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in his hand.
His left arm was severely injured, the bones in half of it shattered, and he was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. He urgently needed spiritual essence. The tip of the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword scraped across the ground.
The giant's remaining torso suddenly rolled, raising its left arm to block.
The Dragon Rhinoceros Sword severed the massive left arm, but Su Li noticed the giant's body was splitting apart, like a cicada shedding its shell. The outer skin and flesh peeled away, and a pale, naked woman's body struggled to crawl out from within.
That woman was Zhang Ying.
Completely unclothed, she scrambled out quickly. Ding Longyun's eyes lit up at the sight, and he rushed over to get a closer look.
Zhang Ying saw Su Li approaching with his sword and forced a seductive smile, thrusting out her chest without shame to tempt him. "Wouldn't it be a waste to kill me? Don't you think I still have plenty of uses..."
Before she could finish, she realized Su Li was swinging his sword without hesitation toward her head.
Her face twisted in shock. Zhang Ying abandoned her attempt to flaunt her body, raising both hands. A series of foot-long blades materialized, spinning into a wheel-like shield to defend herself.
"Clang, clang, clang"—the metallic clash rang out as the blade shields shattered under the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword. Su Li spun around her, thrusting the sword from behind into her pale back, the tip emerging from her chest.
Zhang Ying couldn't keep up with Su Li's speed. By the time she reacted, she looked down to see the sword tip, slick with blood, protruding from her chest. Her heart had been pierced.
It was a fatal wound. A spiritual essence flew out.
Ding Longyun, who had rushed over, hadn't even had time to savor the sight before Su Li withdrew his sword. A bloody hole appeared in Zhang Ying's chest, her body pierced through, blood gushing out.
He let out a long sigh. "What a waste of a good thing... such a pity..." His voice was full of regret, his eyes still fixed on Zhang Ying's fallen body, unable to look away.
Ignoring his lament, Su Li focused on the spiritual essence merging into his body.
"Level 5 Spiritual Essence User: Spiritual Essence 33/70"
Killing Zhang Ying netted him three spiritual essences.
As the essence fused into him, it turned into an endless stream of heat, surging toward his aching left arm. Soon, the severely injured arm was enveloped and nourished by this powerful warmth. Torn muscles regenerated, and shattered bones reknit.
The pain vanished. Su Li let out a long, relieved breath, feeling light and refreshed, much more comfortable. Then he turned his attention to the baseball bat, from which Tao Bingjun's terrified cries still emanated.
Gong Xiao and Xu Xuehui were gathered around the bat, pointing and discussing.
Tao Bingjun was trapped in an endless darkness. He couldn't move, couldn't feel a physical body, couldn't see anything—only hear the sounds around him. Filled with fear, he screamed hoarsely, unsure of his own state.
"Possession by a corpse" had never turned out like this.
Su Li looked at Xu Xuehui. "Xuehui, how did you know his possession wasn't limited to corpses but could work on objects too?"
Xu Xuehui spoke softly, a bit embarrassed. "I saw a shadow... fly out of the giant toward that corpse, so I threw the baseball bat to hit it."
Su Li said, "And the bat hit the shadow, turning it into this?"
Xu Xuehui nodded.
Su Li and Gong Xiao exchanged glances, then both laughed.
It turned out Xu Xuehui didn't understand the principle either. Her eyes, enhanced multiple times, were unique. She had caught a glimpse of Tao Bingjun's "soul" the moment he possessed the corpse and instinctively threw the bat at it. Unexpectedly, the soul was sucked into the bat upon contact, now trapped in this lifeless object—unable to see, move, or escape, as if imprisoned.
Su Li said, "It seems this guy's possession has serious limitations. He can't freely choose a body to possess. Once his original body dies, his 'soul' is forced to latch onto the first object it touches, whether it's a corpse or something else."
Gong Xiao hummed in agreement. "If he latches onto the wrong thing, he's in trouble." She lightly kicked the baseball bat, sending it rolling across the ground.
Tao Bingjun finally quieted down, having heard everything. "So you're saying I'm now stuck in a baseball bat?" he suddenly asked.
The idea of becoming a bat was unbelievable.
Gong Xiao smiled faintly. "That's right, Mr. Tao. This bat is sturdy and solid. It won't break anytime soon, so you'll be stuck here for a long time. Given your current form, you probably don't need to eat or drink, so you won't starve."
Ding Longyun finally walked over, laughing heartily. "So as long as this bat isn't destroyed, he's trapped here forever?"
Su Li nodded slightly. "In theory, yes."
Tao Bingjun finally relented, his voice pleading. "Everyone... I can submit to you. Help me out, and I'll be your underling, obeying everything you say."
Su Li retracted the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword into his chest. Ding Longyun picked up the bat, grinning. "Too bad you missed your chance. You said only one side could survive. Goodbye, Tao Bingjun—no, see you never!"
With a strong heave, he hurled the bat far away.
"Whoosh!" The bat flew through the air, carrying Tao Bingjun's venomous voice. "You'll all die horribly! If I ever get out, I'll kill every one of you—"
Ding Longyun laughed loudly. "Get out? Wait until this bat rots away at the bottom of the water, and you'll be free. That should only take a few thousand years."
Unlike iron, this aluminum bat wouldn't fully corrode. If Tao Bingjun waited for it to completely decay, it would be eons later, in a world transformed beyond recognition.
He might not even last that long before his mind broke.
Gong Xiao frowned, glaring at Ding Longyun. "That was reckless. Throwing it into the water isn't safe. What if some monster destroys the bat and brings him back?"
Ding Longyun scratched his head. "Relax, what monster would care about a baseball bat? Why would it destroy it? He'll be stuck at the bottom forever."
Gong Xiao countered, "What if one does?"
Ding Longyun argued, "Monsters only go after flesh and blood. They won't bother with a bat. Otherwise, they'd have wrecked our raft by now. And if we don't toss it, we can't carry it around forever—that'd drive us crazy."
Su Li watched them argue, then said, "His revival conditions are very specific. The bat has to be destroyed near a corpse. In this water, there's almost no chance of a corpse being around for him to possess. And if he possesses anything other than a corpse, he can't come back."
Gong Xiao looked at Su Li.
Ding Longyun grinned. "Right, even the bodies we throw in get eaten by monsters. There's no corpse left for him down there."
Su Li added, "The probability of him coming back is nearly zero. Since Brother Ding already threw it, let's not dwell on it."
Gong Xiao nodded slightly, accepting Su Li's reasoning. She was uneasy, but the chance of Tao Bingjun returning from the water was indeed almost nil.
Besides, it was late at night, and the depths were perilous. They couldn't dive in to retrieve the bat.
...
...
...
The bat, propelled by Ding Longyun's strength, flew about seventy or eighty meters before losing momentum and plummeting into the water with a splash.
The hollow aluminum bat was light and wouldn't normally sink, but Gong Xiao had added weight rings to increase its heft and lethality. It was heavy enough to sink immediately.
"Heh... these fools, thinking they're so clever..."
From within the bat came Tao Bingjun's sly, triumphant laugh.
The bat's surface suddenly bulged with brown material, extending into two scaly arms.
"These idiots think I'm completely trapped in this bat, unable to move. They don't realize that even without a normal body, I can still use my ghost claws."
"With these claws, I can move and control the bat. I'll kill a monster first, get a corpse, then use the claws to destroy the bat. I'll possess the monster's body and come back to life. Heh... Su Li, just wait. When I get out, I'll find a way to kill you and take your body."
"That girl next to Su Li is gorgeous—curves in all the right places. Way more tempting than Zhang Ying. Once I take his body, I'll live as him. How fun. Then his women will be mine too. Heh... heheh... Too bad this bat has no eyes. I can't see a thing. How long have I been sinking? Why haven't I run into a monster yet?"
As he thought, he moved his ghost claws, flailing blindly in the darkness.
Suddenly, he felt something bite down on his claws, pulling them outward.
With no eyes, he couldn't see what was happening, only sense it through his claw arms.