Chapter 64: The Place Closest to Death

  "Tap—tap—tap......" In the pitch-black underground palace, only the monotonous sound of footsteps echoing on the ground could be heard, with no sense of direction at all. After walking for so long, it was still impossible to tell where one was, and everything in front, back, left, right, and everywhere else seemed to be the same, visually exhausted and numb...

  "We're here, crazy!" Big Treasure's voice suddenly rang out, and I came to my senses a bit, following his line of sight. The front was no longer pitch black, and the space had suddenly become vast. Under the dense green fluorescent light, the scene in front looked like it was from another world, with fireflies-like lights dancing around, shining brighter against the dark background, like the vast universe, mysterious and beautiful beyond compare!

  At that moment, I was stunned. My head was already a bit dizzy from hunger, and I couldn't help but rub my eyes. How could there be such a beautiful place inside the underground palace? Was I having another hallucination? When I opened my eyes again, in front of me was still a green glow, as if it wanted to illuminate the entire space!

  Not an illusion!

  Unconsciously, I took a few more steps forward, and suddenly felt a sense of danger in my heart. My feet paused for a moment, and the next instant, my mind became exceptionally clear, and even my vision cleared up a bit. Looking at the extremely eerie beauty in front of me, my breathing had already become rapid, and my heart was about to jump out. But when I saw those corpses that were rotting and incomplete under the fluorescent light, the extreme beauty instantly turned into an extreme hell!

  I have never seen so many dead people, the front 3,600 square meters of open space, comparable to half a football field, is all flashing with a faint green light, that is to say, this more than 3,000 square meters of space is filled with corpses?!

  "What's wrong, Da Bao?" I looked at him in confusion, as he was now smiling slightly with the corners of his mouth raised, and although his face was still pale, it could be seen from the slight curve of his lips that he was not in a bad mood.

  "Feng Zhi, what do you think of this place?" Da Bao suddenly turned his head and smiled at me, with green sparkling lights still flickering in those black eyes.

  "It's okay, just... there are too many dead people! I feel like my legs are trembling. Can you imagine being surrounded by a sea of rotting corpses, with only one ghostly companion, no living person, no breath of life, the entire space filled with an overwhelming stench of decay, the smell of death... the closest place to death..."

  "Aren't we good brothers? Didn't you say you wouldn't abandon me? Now, in the future, just stay with me..." Da Bao's smile grew even brighter, and under the fluorescent light, his smile had a hint of distortion and eeriness. I suddenly felt a bad premonition, looking at him incredulously, asking: "Stay with you? Here?"

  "What's wrong, don't you want to?!" Da Bao's smile disappeared, and he suddenly glared at him with a cold gaze.

  Although I have been unwilling to believe it, but now that things have come to this point, I know that no matter how much I privately believe in Da Bao, it is impossible for him to want me to stay with him until death... or is it? No, if I stay here, what's the difference between this and being dead? If there really is a difference, then it's that this is even more painful than death! Either way, I'll be scared to death sooner or later...

  "Da Bao, do you really want to stay here?" I looked at his cold eyes and couldn't help but frown, continuing: "There's only the two of us here, and my body won't last for many more days. If I die, will you truly be happy?"

  "Die?" Da Bao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly pointed at me and burst out laughing: "You're afraid of death? Ha! So you're also afraid of death! Hahaha, hahaha, it's really laughable!"

  Dabao was laughing uncontrollably on the other side, but it sounded more like crying. In this eerie and vast space, it felt even emptier. Am I afraid? Of course, I am! I'm afraid that if I die, I'll never know the truth! I'm afraid that if I die, I won't be able to avenge my loved ones! I'm afraid that if I die, I'll never see the killer's moment of atonement!

  "I know you resent me." Da Bao's laughter gradually stopped, and I said guiltily: "They all say that you want me to die. I don't believe it, nor do I want to believe it. Can our feelings of so many years really be destroyed just like this?"

  "Hum, do you still want to move me with your hypocritical words? Fengzi, why wasn't it you who died?! Why wasn't it you who died?!" Da Bao roared crazily, his grief, pain and hatred bursting out all at once!

  "Yes! I was wrong to you, it was my indirect fault that killed you, but don't you really want revenge?! Don't you want me to find out who the real culprits are that murdered you? Don't you want to see those people who harmed you all go to hell?"

  "Do you think I'd still believe you now?!" Da Bao suddenly pounced over, his icy breath instantly piercing my bones. He sat on top of me, tightly pinching my neck and bellowing: "Regretting it now? Know fear? Are you scared to the point of wanting to thoroughly kill me?! Hahahaha, Feng Ci, you're really naive to the point of being beyond salvation! Do you know how much I've hated you these past few years, to the point of wanting to kill you?! Back in the forest, I could have directly killed you. Looking at how scared you were back then, it was almost laughable!"

  "Ahahahaha! Although I really want to kill you quickly, I can't! I won't let you die that easily! I'll make you suffer slowly in despair, and it's all your fault!" Da Bao furiously roared, pinching my neck hard, continuing: "It's all because you came to this broken place! Now that my body has become like this, are you happy?! Originally, I still wanted to play with you for a while longer, but since you're in such a hurry to die, I know I don't have much time left. So just wait slowly for death here, it's so big and there are so many people accompanying you in burial, you can be said to have died in the right place!"

  His neck was pinched and he could hardly breathe, Da Bao's expression also became more and more distorted, intense hatred spewed out from his eyes, I was shocked to see it, originally Da Bao hated me so deeply! Did he already hate me to the point of wanting to kill me since our first meeting after coming back? Were all these days of getting along with him, his smile, his behavior all just an act? Does hating deeper mean smiling more brightly?

  Just as I felt a strong suffocation, the force on my neck suddenly loosened, and I coughed heavily several times. Then I saw Dabao staring at his own hands in disbelief, muttering: "Why? Why did it become like this again! Why! Why!" Dabao's expression was on the verge of collapse, he roared angrily while stretching out his hands to punch me, but the expected pain didn't come. His hands passed through my body, feeling only coldness...

  "Sorry, Da Bao, I'm not going to die yet, I have to avenge myself first! After I've avenged myself, I'll definitely go find you and apologize. You're not willing to let those murderers get away with it either, are you? You don't want them to escape justice either, do you?" He sat on me with an angry face, staring at me, and continued: "If you don't believe me, I can take you out of here right now, we'll go somewhere else to find clues. I'm sure we won't be able to find those people!"