The fat cat—or rather, the Duke—did not care at all about Han Su’s inner evaluation of it. It lazily cast Han Su a glance, then turned its body around. It swayed its hips forward a few steps before lazily turning again and sprawled carelessly at the entrance of a room.
The door of that room was ajar, with light leaking through.
From the cat’s expression and reaction, Han Su sensed sothing.
Though he knew this was an extrely dangerous action, thinking of his current predicant, he braced himself, shook his slightly dizzy head, silently recited a spell, and inched forward without making any sound.
Through the crack of the slightly open door, his gaze fell upon the scene inside, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Worm Monk.
That monster clad in a loose black clerical robe, covered head to toe in worms, was quietly sitting in a chair inside the room, reading a book.
If one ignored the worms on his body, his posture at this mont even exuded a kind of ancient statue-like grace.
The key he longed for hung at his waist.
The chair was placed right in the center of the room, and beside him, there was a container that could barely be identified as a bathtub. It was filled with dirt—or rather, crawling with various kinds of worms burrowing through the soil.
A girl was buried inside, with only her head exposed. She had long since beco numb and stiff, allowing the worms to crawl freely across her face and head.
Only her swollen red eyes proved she had cried before.
‘The Worm Monk is right here.’
Han Su forcibly suppressed his nervousness: ‘But how do I snatch the key from him?’
At this mont, he only dared to observe the room’s layout and confirm the key’s location before quickly withdrawing his gaze.
Even now, he could still see a few worms on the Worm Monk’s body suddenly raise their heads. Despite their simple construction, they swayed as if confused.
‘Too alert. These worms seem to have independent consciousness, yet they’re also fused with the Worm Monk as one. That ans there’s no blind spot at all...’
‘How to snatch the key?’
‘……’
As for rescuing people...
Han Su’s gaze swept past the girl in the tub—he didn’t even entertain that thought.
But just as Han Su rapidly devised several plans, he caught a glimpse of sothing at his feet and was suddenly alard—he saw the black fat cat swagger into the room.
“？”
This damn thing had no discipline at all?
Everything he was doing in the ancient castle depended first and foremost on finding obedient partners, so why had an utterly disobedient cat shown up?
And at this mont, inside the room, as the black cat walked in, the Worm Monk who had been quietly reading did not move, but the worms on his body suddenly raised their heads. One by one, patch after patch, they stared deathly at the black cat.
The worms were strange. The tips of their heads resembled black dots. Upon closer inspection, they looked like little eyes—so even bore pupil-like patterns.
The black cat seed utterly unaware, walking as if no one were around, and with a “scritch”, it jumped onto the table, leisurely stepping with feline grace before lazily sprawling out.
The Worm Monk suddenly raised his head, body slightly tensing. His eyes, along with the worms’, all focused intently on the bottle on the table, as if he wanted to chase the cat away but feared it might knock sothing over.
But he dared not make any big moves. The cat, however, did not care.
It had already locked onto a marked bottle at the edge of the table, stretching out a paw to slowly tap it.
The air seed to freeze. The bottle inched closer to the edge.
By now, the Worm Monk was so tense that the book in his hands slipped to the floor. His body leaned forward.
The worms on him slowly stretched out like black threads pulled from his body.
But neither he nor the worms dared move hastily.
“Swish!”
Just as the bottle was about to fall from the table, the Worm Monk could no longer hold back. He suddenly stood up, and all the worms on his body extended rapidly, reaching for the falling bottle.
But this sudden motion startled the cat.
Though it had caused the trouble, it seed shocked itself. Its plump body rolled, leaped up, and bolted.
But once it ran, things got worse.
With its sudden movent and fat body, it was like a tractor rolling over the table, sending countless bottles and jars flying in all directions.
The sky had fallen.
The Worm Monk seed so anxious that the worms on him stiffened. He lunged forward, bending to try to catch the falling containers. Beneath his robe, the golden key beca visible.
“There’s a chance!”
Han Su’s body jolted as if struck by lightning. He burst through the door.
Plans, danger—all forgotten. He acted on instinct and seized the opportunity.
While the Worm Monk and all the worms focused only on the falling bottles and jars, Han Su crossed the three to four ters in an instant.
He grabbed the key and yanked it forcefully.
“Zzzzz…”
At the instant Han Su seized the key—or rather, when he charged forward—countless worms that had been distracted by the tumbling bottles abruptly turned their heads.
Each worm’s head bore a miniature human face. Their gazes were like needles, stabbing into Han Su.
Currently, Han Su was still in a state of weakened self-presence and theoretically difficult to perceive.
But at the mont all those worms turned, he felt his Spiritual Power drain rapidly—like a plastic bag full of water.
What had been one leak beca dozens, then hundreds. The water level inside dropped instantly.
Never mind grabbing the key—Han Su could barely get close to the Worm Monk.
But he had already moved. The chance was rare. Han Su did not hesitate and instantly recited the Fisherman’s Chant: 【Gods descend with their divine decree!】
Then followed with the Disaster Managent Bureau’s Zero Sequence first clause: 【I shall plunge into the abyss!】
【……】
In that instant, in his mind, crashing waves surged, flowing through his right eye and into reality.
Imdiately, guided by a certain upheaving power, endless darkness rushed toward Han Su.
Though the room had lights, there were still patches of shadow.
With the spell, the already-dark areas turned pitch-black, and even the illuminated parts seed to be compressed.
Han Su’s figure was almost entirely erased, his presence obliterated. The worms extending from the Worm Monk showed a brief confusion.
……
Simultaneously, as Han Su recited the Fisherman’s Chant and his ntal sea revived, on the fifth floor of the ancient castle, in the corridor, nurous serpent-shaped bronze armor statues embedded in the walls suddenly flashed red in their eyes.
In the room where the old butler had just been spoken to, a long, sighing sound rose from the bronze coffin.
The heavy coffin was suddenly lifted an inch by a great force.
As if a voice of curiosity and joy echoed.
……
‘It worked!’
‘The blessing effect brought by the Fisherman’s Chant actually removed my presence entirely. Even the worms can’t sense .’
After casting this combination spell, Han Su imdiately felt the delightful effect. He grabbed the Worm Monk’s key and yanked hard.
At the sa ti, his other hand raised a dinner knife and slashed forward.
This was because it was unclear whether the key was tucked into the belt or tied on—so slashing the rope directly was more efficient.
“Snip!”
The rope holding the key snapped, and the key fell into his hand. Han Su quickly retreated.
But the key’s movent alerted even more worms. They raised their heads, and their tips began layer-by-layer transformation. With each change, the eyes grew larger.
Han Su felt his Spiritual Power draining like mad.
Even the Worm Monk sensed the key being pulled away. His body stiffened slightly, as if hesitating for a fraction of a second whether to turn around or continue what he was doing.
But in the end, he didn’t turn. Instead, he kept reaching for the fallen containers.
‘Seven seconds!’
Han Su already knew—after reciting the Fisherman’s Chant, he only had seven seconds to act.
But the more eyes focused on him, the higher the rank, the shorter the ti. Now, even though the Worm Monk hadn’t turned, the worms on his body noticed him, and Han Su could feel his Spiritual Power plumting.
Ti left...
...less than two seconds?
After pulling the key and retreating a step, just as he turned to flee the room, he felt his mind grow hollow. Even the invisibility effect was dropping rapidly.
If one worm equaled one gaze, then the Worm Monk was the natural nesis of his invisibility ability!
As he leaped forward, his figure rapidly erged in the air.
And in that instant of turning, Han Su glimpsed the girl in the tub. Wrapped in dirt and worms, she blankly looked up at him.
In the corner of his eye, he saw that as his form beca exposed in the air, the worms on the Worm Monk changed rapidly. Confirming his presence, the eyes at their tips degenerated into sharp mouthparts.
Their forms also rapidly elongated, lunging at him.
Like rows of black threads slicing through the room.
Han Su made a split-second decision. Without glancing aside, he dashed past the girl.
“Bang!”
As he sprinted out the door, he slamd it shut behind him, instantly cutting off the worms that pursued him.
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