C8 Reversal Success

Lee Fei summoned the most basic skeleton soldier, which had a very poor resistance to damage and limited intelligence, capable of executing only simple commands autonomously.

As the summoner, Lee Fei shared a mental connection with the skeleton soldier, allowing him to project his consciousness into its body and control its skeletal movements.

This maneuver was fraught with danger, for if the skeleton soldier were to be destroyed while he was linked to it, Lee Fei's own mind would suffer greatly.

The skeleton soldier had a lifespan of only five days, after which the Soul Fire in its eyes would go out, leaving behind nothing but a heap of useless bones.

Lee Fei was now set to take direct control of the skeleton soldier's movements. He bit his tongue to sharpen his focus, then let his consciousness flow along the mental tether to the soldier, infusing it with his psychic force.

The transfer was a success on his first attempt. His perspective shifted to that of the skeleton soldier, and he immediately caught sight of himself – head bowed, body smeared with blood, one side of his face grotesquely swollen. It was a pitiful sight, and Lee Fei quickly turned away, attempting to lift his leg.

But mastering the unfamiliar body was challenging. Although he felt no pain or weight, coordinating even a simple leg movement proved difficult.

"Damn it, it's the leg that needs to move, not the arm," he muttered as he awkwardly raised a hand instead. If the skeleton could have spoken, Lee Fei would have been swearing.

After much effort, Lee Fei managed to walk, albeit slowly and with the risk of tripping over something – which would spell disaster.

The skeleton's movements produced a distinct "Kaka" sound as the bones clacked together.

Lin Laoliu, groggy and confused, was startled awake by the noise. His eyes flew open to the sight of a gleaming white skeleton, and he was so terrified that he wet himself.

Without mercy, the bone knife plunged into his open mouth and out through the back of his neck.

Victory was Lee Fei's, and he silently thanked the omnipotent Dark God. He was exhilarated; Lin Laoliu's life was now in his hands, and his fate was sealed.

Lee Fei's eyes, gleaming with a greenish hue, fixed on the other young constable, poised to strike.

The man's guard was down, as he was deep in slumber, utterly oblivious to the looming peril.

So young. If he were to die here, his family would surely be heartbroken.

But if he doesn't die, then I must. He's no saint anyway; hell is where he belongs.

A fleeting moment of compassion was swiftly supplanted by indifference. Lee Fei gripped the bone knife and thrust it into the young constable's throat.

At least his passing was serene, devoid of agony.

Reassuring himself with this thought, Lee Fei remained vigilant. He promptly directed the skeleton to move, awkwardly raising the bone knife.

His aim was to sever the ropes binding his own body. He proceeded with caution, knowing any self-inflicted injury would complicate matters.

With meticulous care, he cut through the ropes, and his body slumped forward from the post.

Lee Fei then began to withdraw his psychic force, as if a sponge soaking up water, drawing it back into himself.

Once his consciousness was fully restored, Lee Fei struggled to rise from the ground, issued a follow command to the skeleton, dressed himself, and strode towards the outside.

He wasn't intending to leave; rather, he made his way to the steps that led to the exterior. He reached out, removed the torch from the wall, and snuffed it out, plunging the dungeon into pitch darkness.

The skeleton soldier's clumsiness was evident; the stairs posed quite the obstacle.

Lee Fei assisted the skeleton soldier up the stairs, positioning it to stand guard at the exit, then seated himself on the steps and channeled his psychic force back into the skeleton soldier.

Unhindered by the darkness, the skeleton soldier could see perfectly well and stood its silent vigil, awaiting the arrival of its quarry.

As the minutes ticked by, the time for the guards to switch shifts arrived.

Two constables approached the dungeon entrance, laughing and joking. Zhang De unlocked the iron door and was greeted by complete darkness.

He grumbled, "This has got to be Lin Laoliu's doing. Always slacking off. I bet he's fallen asleep."

With no sense of caution, he descended the stairs, fumbling along the wall in search of a torch.

Lee Fei spotted someone descending and, gripping his bone knife, he slashed at the person's right leg. As the individual fell, Lee Fei thrust the knife into his chest.

"Ah! Ah!"

The screams echoed in the distance. The constable above assumed his partner had taken a tumble and quickly made his way down, only to meet the same fate as his colleague, screaming as his life slipped away.

The constables' quarters were close to the storeroom, and the anguished cries startled the remaining two awake. Believing something was amiss, they dressed and headed over together.

Upon opening their room, they saw the dungeon's iron door ajar, the space below devoid of light, making it impossible to discern what lay beneath.

The colt-faced constable peered into the darkness, a sense of unease creeping over him. He couldn't resist asking, "Zhang, what do we do now?"

Zhang, equally clueless, suggested, "Maybe Lin Laoliu and the others are pulling a prank on us, trying to give us a scare."

The colt-faced constable nodded and called out, "Lin Laoliu, Zhang De, if you're there, answer us."

Silence followed; there was no reply from the depths.

Exchanging worried glances, the colt-faced constable and Zhang felt their apprehension grow. Yet, they dared not leave hastily and chose to stand their ground.

After a quarter of an hour, Zhang proposed, "How about you stay here on guard, and I'll go fetch Mr. Hu?"

"No way, we should both go find Mr. Hu," the colt-faced constable objected, shaking his head. He was no fool to face an unknown danger alone.

Zhang, with a furrowed brow, countered, "But if we both leave, what if that kid escapes?"

"You're not thinking," retorted the colt-faced constable. "We'll just lock the main door from the outside. That way, the kid can't get out."

With that, he stealthily approached the dungeon and stretched his hand toward the iron door. Just then, a skull emerged from within, its eye sockets emitting a ghastly green glow.

The ancients held deep-seated beliefs in the supernatural, never doubting tales of ghosts and goblins.

The incident unfolded with shocking abruptness. Both witnesses were petrified by the eerie spectacle before them, their souls nearly leaping out of their bodies in terror.

"A ghost!"

In that instant, Lee Fei seized the chance to bolt from the dungeon, wielding a knife and aiming a vicious chop at the colt-faced constable's head.

The blade was razor-sharp, and a head soared into the air.

Zhang spun around, desperate to flee. Lee Fei was hot on his heels, slashing wildly at his back, but each strike missed its mark.

Reaching the doorway, Zhang stumbled over an object and took a nasty fall. Scrambling to his feet, he faced Lee Fei.

Zhang edged backward, pleading, "Brother, let's talk this out. Spare me, and I'll act as if I never saw you."

Lee Fei, knife in hand, paid him no heed and swung the blade down towards Zhang's head.

Zhang narrowly avoided the blow, but the knife found his shoulder, spilling blood.

Pain can make the timid scream, but it can also ignite a fierce resolve in the brave.

Zhang was of the latter kind; wounded by the knife, he surged forward, intent on wresting the weapon from Lee Fei's grasp.

Lee Fei clung to the knife handle, blood splattering his face, while Zhang, unable to pry the knife away, sank his teeth into Lee Fei's arm, hoping to force him to release the knife through sheer agony.

A ripping sound pierced the air.

The bite shredded Lee Fei's clothing and tore away flesh, loosening his grip.

Elated, Zhang reached out to grab the knife.

But Lee Fei lunged at him, tackling him to the ground and, despite excruciating pain, hammered his fists into the back of Zhang's head.

The human skull is particularly fragile at the back, and such blows were too much to bear. Zhang quickly succumbed to unconsciousness.

Lee Fei retrieved the waist knife from the ground and plunged it into Zhang's back, right through the heart.

Exhausted from the ordeal, Lee Fei collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

The recent events replayed in his mind, a harrowing reminder of how close a call it had been.

Earlier, the two had hesitated above, unwilling to descend, which had driven him to the brink of panic. Finally, in a bold move, he had retracted his psychic force from the skeleton soldier.

Taking advantage of the moment when the skeleton soldier popped its head out and startled the two men, Lee Fei seized the opportunity to charge out with his blade. The action may have appeared simple, but it was fraught with peril. Had the two not been utterly petrified, Lee Fei would have stood no chance against them.

After a brief respite, Lee Fei returned to the dungeon, hastily bandaged his arm with a strip of cloth, and slipped on a constable's boot he had removed from one of the men. He issued a final command to the skeleton soldier: attack anyone who enters the dungeon.

With his machete in hand, Lee Fei then stealthily made his way out of the darkness.

Once out of the dungeon and in the backyard, he took a deep breath of the fresh air. A sense of rebirth washed over him, his emotions swelling with the urge to let out a triumphant yell. But he quickly quelled the impulse, oriented himself, and strode briskly towards the front yard.

Reaching the gate, Lee Fei was startled by a noise from outside. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on the machete, fixating on the gate.

The gate creaked open, and Lee Fei, machete at the ready, swung at the figure emerging from the darkness. A woman's scream halted his strike, and he diverted the blade at the last second. The machete thudded into the gate as Lee Fei's eyes focused on the young woman before him, strikingly beautiful.

After a moment's scrutiny, Lee Fei inquired, "Who are you?"

Still recovering from her fright, the woman patted her chest and curtsied to Lee Fei, responding, "My name is Zhang Qiao'er. Are you the gentleman from the Western Regions?"

At her words, a surge of killing intent flashed through Lee Fei, but he masked it with a nod and casual tone. "Indeed, I am from the Western Regions. How did you come by that information?"

Zhang Qiao'er, noting Lee Fei's disheveled appearance and the fresh blood on his machete, surmised that he had endured considerable hardship and that the blood was a testament to the lives claimed by his blade.

Instead of answering his question, Zhang Qiao'er posed her own, "Did you kill all the constables, Young Master?"

Lee Fei nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

"Bravo! Those animals deserved to meet their end long ago." Zhang Qiao'er applauded, her approval evident. Noticing Lee Fei's quizzical look, she elaborated, "I come from a fisherman's family. Tragically, I caught the eye of that villain Hu Zheng, who abducted me to be his concubine. And the constables, under Hu Ren's lead, abetted that fiend in his countless misdeeds."

She took a brief pause before adding, "Last night, Chen Kuo met with the bandit to plot against you. I waited for the vile bandit to fall asleep before stealthily coming here. If the opportunity arose, I intended to find a way to rescue you."

Now understanding the full context, Lee Fei's desire for vengeance subsided. He nodded, saying, "I see."

Zhang Qiao'er took hold of Lee Fei's arm and urged, "To avoid detection by those rogues, let me escort you swiftly out of the city. Escape will be much harder once day breaks."

Lee Fei shook his head, replying, "I cannot leave just yet. They've taken something from me that I must retrieve."

"But Young Master, wealth is trivial compared to your life," Zhang Qiao'er insisted, her voice tinged with urgency.

Unwavering, Lee Fei shook his head again and declared, "The item they took is of great significance to me. I cannot abandon it."

Without the round rod, he would forfeit his chance to depart this world, compelling him to take certain actions.

Zhang Qiao'er exhaled a resigned sigh. "Very well. I have a secluded residence within the city. You could take refuge there for the time being."

Lee Fei was still wary of placing his full trust in her, especially with his current injuries necessitating a safe haven for recovery.

Feeling vulnerable, like a wounded bird leery of trusting others, he contemplated briefly before nodding in acceptance. "I appreciate your kindness, Miss Zhang."

A smile blossomed across Zhang Qiao'er's face, radiant as a lily in bloom. She gestured towards a direction, beckoning Lee Fei to follow her lead.