Chapter 60 Gushing Plasma

"Death?" Xiao Mu sneered, pointing at Pan Guang on the ground. "He's the one who's about to die. Muchen, stop acting like you deserve respect when you're just begging to be humiliated. There are seven of us brothers, and look at your side—the old, the weak, the disabled, and the fools. What makes you think you can fight us?"

"Looks like you bastards are truly blind," Chen Jiahe scoffed. "If any of you had used your eyes to see what just happened in this lobby, you wouldn't be standing here talking shit."

"Cut the damn crap!" another knife-wielding ruffian cursed impatiently. "Just rush them and take it! Why waste time yapping with them?"

"Do it!" Xiao Mu swung his arm down fiercely.

Six brawny men howled and lunged forward.

"Big Mouth!" Muchen barked lowly.

"Awooo—!" A black blur shot out like a flying arrow. Big Mouth's cavernous jaws snapped directly toward the bald ruffian charging at the very front.

"Aah—!" The bald ruffian only managed a single, soul-rending shriek before Big Mouth tackled him flat to the ground. His shoulder was instantly torn open by sharp fangs, exposing bone as a geyser of blood erupted!

"What the hell is that thing?!" Xiao Mu recoiled in sheer terror.

The remaining thugs were equally shaken by Big Mouth's savage assault, their momentum abruptly faltering.

"You're courting death!"

Muchen muttered a low cry, his figure moving like lightning. In a split second, he had closed the distance and was right in front of the knife-wielding man.

Seized by sudden mortal dread, the man raised his blade to hack downward, only to feel a blur before his eyes as an overwhelming, massive force slammed violently into his ribs.

"Crack!"

The sound of shattering bone was piercingly loud. The man shrieked as he flew sideways, an unknown number of broken ribs caving in, and passed out cold on the spot.

Chen Si gripped the fire axe tightly, her heart leaping right into her throat. Yet, watching Muchen move through the crowd as if no one was there, every strike clean and decisive, an inexplicable sense of security welled up from deep within her.

This man could always work miracles.

"Damn it! All together now! Kill him!"

Terrified out of his wits, Xiao Mu shrieked as he urged his subordinates forward, while quietly greasing his own palms and shuffling backward.

The remaining thugs were whipped into a frenzy by the gruesome state of their companion, closing in with angry roars.

Instead of retreating, Muchen pressed forward. With a flick of his wrist, a gleaming, ice-cold military dagger materialized in his grip, its blade flashing with a lethal edge.

"Splat!"

"Splat!"

As the blade light swept past, two more muffled thuds echoed. One man clutched his spurring throat, while another's chest burst open with a blossom of blood. They collapsed to the floor without even emitting a groan, clearly beyond saving.

In the blink of an eye, out of the seven men Xiao Mu had brought, four were already down, leaving only him and two others. Those remaining two were shaking so violently in their boots that they didn't dare make the slightest move, nearly dropping their weapons entirely.

"Y-You're a damn demon!"

Pointing at Muchen, Xiao Mu trembled so hard his teeth chattering could be heard, his voice shaking like a winnowing sieve.

"Know what fear is now?"

Muchen stepped closer, step by step, each footfall landing as if crushing the very tip of Xiao Mu's heart.

"Where's all that fierce attitude from a moment ago?"

"D-Don't come near me! Master Mu! I was wrong! I had eyes, but failed to recognize Mount Tai!"

Xiao Mu dropped to his knees with a heavy thud, snot and tears smearing all over his face.

"I beg you, spare my worthless dog's life with your great magnanimity! I'll never dare do it again! Truly, never again!"

"Spare you?"

The corners of Muchen's lips curled into a cold smile. He brought the toe of his boot down gently, landing squarely on the very hand Xiao Mu had used to point at him just moments ago.

"Aah—!"

A pig-like scream echoed throughout the lobby, accompanied by the distinct, sickening crunch of shattering bones.

"Take your pieces of trash and get lost."

Muchen lifted his foot, his voice chillingly cold to the bone.

"If I ever set eyes on you lot again, it won't just be one hand you'll be losing."

Clutching his blood-dripping hand, Xiao Mu scrambled away on all fours, dragging along the two cronies who were on the verge of wetting themselves. They fled the property lobby in a pathetic panic, not even daring to look back once.

Having dealt with these buzzing, sightless flies, Muchen didn't even spare a glance at the wailing Xiao Mu on the floor, turning straight to Dr. Li: "Let's go. To the emergency stairwell."

The smell of blood in the lobby had yet to disperse. With heavy hearts, the group followed Muchen through the chaotic mess, arriving at the emergency stairwell entrance leading to the upper floors.

Dr. Li pointed upward: "Up through here, all the way to the 10th floor, is the entrance to the emergency corridor."

The stairwell was dimly lit. The group held their breath as they carefully climbed upward, the suffocatingly sweet and sickening stench in the air growing increasingly dense, almost thick enough to touch.

At last, they reached the 10th floor.

The scene awaiting them at the entrance of the emergency corridor plunged everyone into an abyss of freezing terror, a chill surging from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their heads.

What should have been a heavy metal fire door was now completely sealed shut by a layer of black crystals, half a meter thick and gleaming with a dim, ominous luster!

The crystalline formation was still expanding outward at a visible rate, its surface jagged and terrifyingly grotesque, radiating a soul-crushing silence and despair.

"H-How the hell are we supposed to get past this?!"

Xue Youyou's voice carried a sob. The sliver of hope that had barely been kindled was instantly smashed to smithereens by this wall of despair before them.

Dr. Li's lips trembled: "The situation... is far worse than I imagined! Crystals of this thickness are utterly impossible to break through, and once you come into contact with them—"

She left the sentence unfinished, but the unspoken words were far more terrifying than anything else could be.

Despair, like a freezing tide, once again submerged everyone present.

"It's over... It's all over..."

One of Pan Guang's former subordinates slumped limply to the floor, not a single trace of color remaining on his face.

"We can't get out! We're all going to die right here! We're dead for sure!"

Dr. Li shook her head weakly, muttering to herself, "It's too thick... The hardness of this crystal... I'm afraid even heavy demolition tools wouldn't be able to crack it, unless..."

Unless what? She couldn't think of a single solution.

Muchen's brows knitted into a tight knot as he stared fixedly at the constantly pulsing, ominous wall of black crystals before him.

Even for him, facing anomalous crystals of this thickness felt troublesome.

Charge through by force? The risk was far too great; once contaminated by this creepy substance, the outcome would be no better than turning into a statue.

Were they truly destined to be trapped here to die?

Just as everyone was at their wits' end and despair spread among the crowd, Chen Si suddenly stepped forward.

"Let me try!" she clenched her teeth. The fear on her face hadn't entirely faded, but her tone allowed for no objection.

"Chen Si, you..." Chen Jiahe wore a worried look.

Ignoring him, Chen Si closed her eyes and focused all her mental energy. That familiar, peculiar energy surged from within her once again—clearer this time, and far easier to wield than before.

"【Mental Barrier】!" Chen Si snapped her eyes open and shouted in a low voice.

A pale blue, transparent barrier expanded explosively outward from beneath her feet, instantly forming a hemispherical protective dome roughly three meters in diameter, tightly sheltering everyone inside. The edges of the barrier brushed against those dark black crystals, emitting a soft sizzling sound, yet remained completely undamaged!

"T-This is..." Dr. Li's jaw dropped so wide an egg could easily have been shoved inside.

"My special ability." Sweat beaded on Chen Si's temples; maintaining this barrier demanded an immense drain on her energy. "It should be able to temporarily block the radiation and erosion from those crystals. Move quickly!"

Muchen cast a scrutinizing glance at Chen Si but refrained from asking questions, immediately ordering, "Everyone, stay close! Don't fall behind!"

He took the lead and reached out a hand. Under the insulation of the mental barrier, the seemingly indestructible "crystal wall" actually became somewhat ethereal, allowing him to push right through it! The group hurried to follow, stepping directly into the emergency corridor completely choked by the black crystals.