Chapter 131: Sin Artifact Malfunction?

This was its supernatural barrier, a masterpiece it had created alone.

The living, exhausted from infighting and with nerves frayed, were precisely at their weakest when it appeared.

But the staffs now were not what they used to be.

Xue Tinghai, holding more than two Sin Artifacts in one hand, faced this probing attack—especially with the ghost aiming to kill everyone.

He simply could not die!

Within the supernatural barrier, the moment three people broke the first layer of restraint and became free, the massive threads from the giant hand immediately entangled their limbs and heads, greatly reducing their mobility.

Only Fang Shenyen, accustomed to this kind of restraint, managed to throw the porcelain vessel before losing control.

It was a Sin Artifact from the Fourth Branch, one he had seen Tian Wen use before.

When activated, the vessel would release a dense supernatural black mist to block attacks from ghosts.

This was his guess; he could only hope the object was counteractive, or he and Ji Li would inevitably die.

After all, his Ghost Eye alone was insufficient to withstand even a single attack from the ghost.

Even if this was just a probing strike!

Only Xue Tinghai understood that, strictly speaking, the porcelain vessel was a functional Sin Artifact.

Its effect was to release black mist, concealing living targets from the ghost’s perception.

Of course, for those already entangled in threads, its effectiveness was uncertain.

But if it worked, the object could be considered counteractive to some degree.

Under Xue Tinghai’s shocked gaze, the spinning porcelain vessel flew straight toward Ji Li.

Ji Li caught it and immediately activated it!

This was the first time he had ever touched a Sin Artifact’s physical form. Feeling its immense supernatural energy, he was thrilled.

He awaited the Sin Artifact’s power to break the supernatural barrier.

One second… two seconds…

Time dragged painfully. Ji Li’s expression stiffened as he realized the bottle contained nothing.

Fang Shenyen gritted his teeth through the pain in his limbs, feeling a thread that had pierced his flesh during his previous struggle rubbing against his bone.

Meanwhile, Ji Li showed no reaction at all.

Fang Shenyen turned sharply and saw Ji Li equally confused—the porcelain vessel seemed completely ineffective in his hands.

But it shouldn’t be like this!

The vessel had two uses left—how could it do nothing?

Ji Li experienced no side effects, no vomiting blood, no teeth falling out. This could only mean the Sin Artifact hadn’t activated.

“This… shouldn’t be happening…”

Xue Tinghai, witnessing this, was momentarily stunned. He couldn’t understand why.

He had even planned for Ji Li to bear the cost of using the Sin Artifact first, allowing the Fourth Branch staffs to escape.

Yet unexpectedly, the artifact failed in Ji Li’s hands.

Ji Li was stunned, glancing between the porcelain vessel and Fang Shenyen’s shocked expression, finally reading the answer in Xue Tinghai’s eyes.

“I… can’t use Sin Artifacts…”

It was both a question and an exclamation. Ji Li didn’t understand, nor was he certain.

Perhaps the vessel itself was faulty, or perhaps it was due to the ghost’s special powers.

The next moment, a dull gunshot rang out. A bullet whistled past Ji Li’s ear, the sharp wind lifting his hair.

A strand of hair was cut by the bullet, falling to the ground.

The gunshot split his tiger’s mouth, shattering the porcelain vessel.

Smoke curled from the barrel as Xue Tinghai coldly regarded Ji Li, saying nothing.

A small patch of white appeared in his temple—he had used a Sin Artifact again.

One by one, the threads around him snapped. A new wrinkle appeared on Xue Tinghai’s face.

He had sacrificed a portion of his lifespan to escape.

That shot could have killed Ji Li, but he had only destroyed the vessel. Now he understood.

The Sin Artifact was fine. The ghost was fine. The problem was Ji Li.

This terrifying man… could not use Sin Artifacts.

This realization nearly made Xue Tinghai laugh aloud. Despite Ji Li being a formidable enemy, without Sin Artifacts, he could not survive the increasingly perilous mission.

Schemes, intelligence, personality—all were meaningless against the raw power of Sin Artifacts.

Xue Tinghai was used to the convenience they provided, so he naturally thought this way.

Having Sin Artifacts or not was a completely different matter.

Now, Xue Tinghai moved as if in a world with no one else, one hand supporting a Sin Artifact.

Hu Li and Tian Wen, at his left and right, were like two frozen statues, forcibly dragged away right under the ghost’s gaze.

Sister Qing’s body was left in the seventeenth-floor corridor, and the other Sin Artifact she held was taken by him as well.

It was an iron box, and the moment he lifted it, a clanging sound came from inside, indicating that the real Sin Artifact lay within.

Xue Tinghai strode away, empowered by his Sin Artifact.

But that wasn’t the key to his safe departure. The most important fact was that the ghost didn’t want to kill all the living.

Everyone present understood this. If it truly intended to kill indiscriminately, these people wouldn’t have been able to use their Sin Artifacts and would have long been dead.

The mission hadn’t even started—this was merely a probing execution.

Yet even this single attempt had made Ji Li and Fang Shenyen taste the bitter flavor of despair.

Ji Li could no longer remain standing. After the earlier mental shock, he felt his body weakening more and more.

With a crash, he collapsed to the floor, but he forced himself to sit up with the last of his strength.

Xue Tinghai had left. The Fourth Branch was gone, leaving only a cold corpse behind.

In this first clash between the Fourth and Seventh Branches, tactically, Ji Li had won.

Even at great cost, he had prevailed in terms of strategy.

But in terms of outcome, he had been utterly defeated.

Due to the gap in raw power, he and Fang Shenyen were completely trapped on the seventeenth floor, at the mercy of the ghost harvesting fragile human lives.

Now only Ji Li and Fang Shenyen remained—they could not survive.

Outwardly, they were doomed…

As silence settled around them, people and objects waited for death to arrive.

Ji Li was deep in thought, pondering how to turn the tables in this desperate situation, when suddenly…

Meow~

A sharp, unexpected cat’s meow echoed in his ears.

He spun his head toward the sound and saw, in the dim light, a gray tabby cat darting across the end of the seventeenth-floor corridor!

That was the spot where Kondo Sei had left, near the stairs leading off the seventeenth floor.

The tabby cat flashed past, leaving only a shadow, without pausing.

Yet that brief glimpse made Ji Li suddenly realize something crucial.

The ghost’s layout this time had a colossal flaw—an enormous chance for the living to survive!