53: Chapter 53 Coffin Nails

The Stooped Old Man did not continue his attack on the Frenzied Giant Bear; instead, he walked straight toward Nie Ning.

Seeing this, Nie Ning grew increasingly anxious and hurriedly controlled the Frenzied Giant Bear to charge over.

However, the Frenzied Giant Bear's combat strength was clearly inferior to the Stooped Old Man's. The areas struck by the hammer in the old man's hand became even more illusory and transparent.

Right then, Nie Ning remembered something.

According to the files Borton had given him, small holes would appear near the victims.

Connecting this to the Stooped Old Man's actions, Nie Ning immediately looked at the ground and indeed found three black nails driven into the earth.

Even more eerie was that Nie Ning's shadow was performing different movements than he was!

Since it was still the first half of the night and they were close to the prosperous Shangrong Alley, the lamplight was able to shine upon Nie Ning.

Nie Ning's shadow was standing upright on the ground, whereas Nie Ning himself was sitting.

The black nails were driven into the shadow, corresponding exactly to Nie Ning's legs and right arm.

Realizing this, Nie Ning gritted his teeth and propped himself up, reaching out with his only remaining left hand toward the black nails on the ground.

Since the black nails could leave marks on the ground, perhaps he could touch them too!

With a 'desperate times call for desperate measures' mindset, Nie Ning's left hand actually managed to grasp a black nail!

The black nail was icy cold, as if it had been kept in a refrigerator.

After several attempts, Nie Ning found that although it was just soil, the nail seemed as if it were stuck with glue.

By now, half of the Frenzied Giant Bear's body had disappeared, and the other half was illusory and ethereal.

Nie Ning knew time was running out and hurriedly activated his Seed of Dou Qi and mana.

As Dou Qi poured into his left arm, rising flames erupted from his palm. Nie Ning gritted his teeth and pulled hard on the black nail.

Gradually, the black nail was pulled out bit by bit.

When the nail binding his right hand was removed, Nie Ning's right hand finally stopped twisting and deforming.

Seeing that it actually worked, Nie Ning, though sweating profusely from the pain, continued to reach out to pull the nail binding his left leg.

After all, his left leg had been nailed for the longest time and had already been twisted and broken by that strange power, yet the heart-piercing pain was still increasing.

As the second nail was pulled out, Nie Ning's left leg also stopped changing.

But by this time, under the Stooped Old Man's attacks, only the head of the Frenzied Giant Bear remained.

Although it could still use its advantage as a soul body to attack the Stooped Old Man, it was only a matter of time before it was dispersed.

Just as Nie Ning anxiously tried to pull the last nail, he noticed the Stooped Old Man's body becoming as illusory as the giant bear's, as if his soul body were being attacked.

Furthermore, the Stooped Old Man actually allowed the bear to tear at his shoulder, turning instead to walk toward Nie Ning.

Nie Ning didn't understand what was happening, but his eyes accidentally caught sight of his flaming palm, which was currently holding the nail that had bound his left leg.

With the Stooped Old Man approaching, Nie Ning no longer had time to pull the final nail.

Seeing the Stooped Old Man in such a state, Nie Ning knew he wouldn't be able to escape even if he pulled the nail out.

After all, both his legs were now crippled; he wouldn't be able to crawl very far.

A look of resolution appeared in Nie Ning's eyes.

With his injured right hand erupting in raging flames, Nie Ning gripped the black nail with both hands.

Then, Nie Ning exerted every ounce of strength he had, and the black nail began to bend bit by bit under his immense force.

*Snap!*

The black nail was snapped in half by Nie Ning.

As the nail broke, the Stooped Old Man's soul body flickered, looking as if it might vanish at any moment.

Nie Ning quickly grabbed the other nail and snapped it just as the Stooped Old Man reached him.

However, even though the Stooped Old Man's figure was now so illusory it was almost invisible, Nie Ning no longer had time to pull the last nail.

A miserable smile appeared on Nie Ning's face, but he still controlled the Frenzied Giant Bear's head to continue biting the Stooped Old Man.

The outcome was unexpected; perhaps the Stooped Old Man's soul body was too weak, as the Frenzied Giant Bear actually managed to bite off the old man's left arm and swallow it.

Nie Ning didn't know where the bodiless giant bear was sending what it ate, but this action brought him hope.

However, the bear's biting speed was still very slow; clearly, the Stooped Old Man's remaining soul body was still quite resilient.

Seeing the old man raise his hammer, Nie Ning grabbed the black nail driven into the ground, and raging flames immediately erupted from his palm.

Although he couldn't snap the final nail, it made the Stooped Old Man's soul body even weaker.

Taking advantage of this, the massive bear head bit down on the Stooped Old Man's hammer-wielding arm and his head, then ripped them off.

The sound of the hammer striking did not ring out again. In moments, the bear head had devoured the Stooped Old Man's entire body.

With the Stooped Old Man's disappearance, most of the twisting force on Nie Ning's right leg dissipated.

Though Nie Ning was still in great pain, he felt significantly better than before, though his body was still unable to move.

Nie Ning then gritted his teeth and pulled out the final nail before lying back weakly on the ground.

Looking up at the beautiful starry night sky, Nie Ning felt infinite emotions, yet a smile touched his lips.

"It's good to be alive..."

...

After resting for a while, Nie Ning sat up from the ground.

He looked at the black nails on the ground. Aside from the one that was intact, the two broken ones had turned into black ash.

Nie Ning picked up the nail to examine it.

It was entirely black, about fifteen centimeters long, with a square body that looked like a coffin nail.

The icy sensation had weakened considerably; clearly, the Stooped Old Man's death had affected the nail.

Putting the nail into his coin pouch, Nie Ning looked at his legs.

Although his Extraordinary Self-Healing was starting to take effect, the injury to his left leg was simply too severe; the joint was broken, and the entire thigh had been twisted around once.

His right arm and right leg were slightly better; he estimated they would be almost fully healed after resting for a day or two.

Nie Ning scratched his head.

"How do I get back? Crawl?"

But it took over twenty minutes just to walk; if he crawled, he wouldn't get home until tomorrow morning.

Just then, the sound of bustling footsteps came from outside the alley.

Nie Ning immediately became alert and crawled into the shadows at the edge of the alley to hide.

"It should be around here, someone saw..."

The sound of voices came from outside.

Hearing the voice, Nie Ning was stunned for a moment.

Borton!

Nie Ning hadn't expected that Borton wouldn't give up looking for him out of fear of the curse.

After all, hearing the sound of nails being hammered meant provoking the Stooped Old Man, and the trigger range was near the victims.

If he hadn't killed the Stooped Old Man, Borton would likely have triggered the curse upon finding him.

"I'm over here."

Nie Ning took off his mask and shouted toward the outside twice.

Hearing Nie Ning's voice, Borton hurriedly walked into the alley...

...