The knife slashed diagonally, like a flash of lightning in the ink-colored darkness.
Chen Xu became alert in an instant and attempted to roll away to dodge.
But at the very moment his body moved, he suddenly felt a heaviness in his lower limbs, as if something invisible was weighing down his legs.
Especially his already injured right leg, which at this moment felt heavily burdened, as if it was stuck in a quagmire, unable to move an inch.
Seeing the blade coming for his neck, in that critical moment, Chen Xu shook off the heavy quilt from his body and flung it towards the direction of the oncoming white blade.
He had spared no expense in procuring this quilt, which weighed a full ten jin.
Under normal circumstances, Chen Xu would never have been able to shake it off single-handedly from that angle, but now with his Tri-Attribute having ample growth, with just one shake, the heavy quilt in his hand seemed to transform into a cloud of dark mist caught in a tempest.
The black cloud pressed down, the knife flash was instantly enveloped, along with the distorted shadow wielding the knife.
Not stopping there, Chen Xu immediately pushed with both arms, his whole body leaping into the air, using his weight to press down fiercely on top of the quilt.
"Ah!"
A muffled yet familiar scream emerged from beneath the quilt.
That was Lin Qi's voice.
As expected, it was Lin Qi!
In the darkness of the night, Chen Xu's legs were still heavy and weak, his vision blurry and indistinct, unable to see clearly, so he could only press his whole weight down to restrain the struggling shape beneath the quilt.
By then he was already filled with rage, determined to smother Lin Qi to death with the quilt directly.
"Mmm, mmm... Brother Chen, Brother Chen, spare me! Spare my life, and I'll repay you someday!"
Chen Xu did not relent, only speaking in a low voice, "Lin Qi, I took you as a close friend, yet you plotted to harm me, and now you want me to spare you? Never possible!"
Lin Qi, muffling his voice, said, "Brother Chen, I really did not mean to harm you. I came here... mmm! I just wanted to exchange heads with you."
Exchange heads?
Such bizarre words coming out of Lin Qi's mouth, spoken in such an ordinary tone, nearly made Chen Xu think he was hallucinating.
"Exchange heads?" he asked rhetorically.
"Yes, exchange heads. Brother Chen, your leg injury cannot heal, and now it's impossible for you to pursue the imperial examination path. But you are gifted and talented, so wasting such opportunities is regrettable, isn't it?
It would be better to trade your head with mine, then having your intellect and talents, I would surely advance smoothly in the exams!"
Lin Qi's voice was muffled in the quilt, his tone strained and low, yet developing an inexplicable sinister allure.
Chen Xu didn't respond, so Lin Qi continued, "Brother Chen, being unable to partake in the exams, your previous ten years of study would be all in vain. Don't you think it's a waste?"
Chen Xu snorted, "Letting you rise smoothly to success while I lose my life, isn't that wasteful?"
"How can it be considered losing your life? Brother Chen's head would be exchanged with mine, Brother Chen would still have a head. Moreover, with me carrying Brother Chen's head to new heights, how is that different from Brother Chen achieving success all along?"
Lin Qi's voice, haunting and slow, emanated from the quilt as if spilling a bowl of thick syrup in the dense night.
Causing one's heart and spirit to waver, almost making one believe he made perfect sense.
Chen Xu was momentarily in a daze, nearly falling for it.
But with his Essence, Qi Blood, and Divine Soul greatly augmented, his lost sense only lasted an instant.
At that very moment, Lin Qi's struggle turned abruptly violent.
Chen Xu quickly snapped back, "Bullshit! No difference my ass!"
He swung his vigorous right fist fiercely down towards the bulged area under the quilt.
Bang!
A punch struck, the quilt shaking.
Chen Xu immediately pressed down with his left fist, continuously striking with his right, bang, bang, bang! Each punch was heavier and more forceful than the last.
"Ah!" Lin Qi struggled and screamed, exclaiming, "Chen Xu, what good does going crazy do? You're a poor peasant kid, not even meeting the criteria of a humble family, yet you dare dream of advancing through exams. How's that possible?"
Bang, bang, bang!
Chen Xu didn't reply, only throwing his punches harder.
"Fool, wretch, damned thief!" Lin Qi cried out, his insults vulgar and rampant, "Ah! It hurts! Fool, even if you reached the exam hall, could you ever qualify as a Scholar, or an Advanced Scholar?
Once at the provincial exam hall, you know no one, not even the direction the presiding examiner's gate opens. Do you still think you could pass?
And achieving the status of an Advanced Scholar? But if it were me... ah!"
This time, Chen Xu pinpointed the location of the figure's head beneath the quilt, delivering a decisive punch.
Bang!
Smash——
The next moment, the figure, previously passive and beaten, suddenly gathered enough force from somewhere to unexpectedly forcefully break free from Chen Xu's restraint.
Suddenly, Chen Xu's waist and abdomen were numb, falling backward unprepared, his shoulder and back hitting the edge of the bed behind.
All of a sudden, a gale raged outside the window, the drizzle turning into pouring rain.
Yet the sound of rain didn't penetrate the room at all, only a flash of lightning and thunder tearing through the oppressive night, illuminating the dark interior as if it were daylight.
Only then did Chen Xu see clearly that his legs had somehow become wrapped in rings of ghastly white silk threads.
The white silk cocooned his legs tightly, from his ankles up to his waist and abdomen.
No wonder he had felt his legs so heavy and powerless, it turned out they had been entangled by these sinister silk threads all along.
And if not for seeing all this now, he wouldn't even sense his legs being bound, only feeling the weakness implicating them.
What kind of eerie trick was this?
In the white light, a humanoid shadow lifted the quilt and darted to the corner of the room.
That shadow, at a glance, looked like Lin Qi's form, but actually saying it's a shadow... it was more like a life-sized figure sculpted from pitch-black slime.
Outside, in the dazzling light, the slime-like figure of Lin Qi grimaced a twisted smile: "The Soul-Cutting Silkworm is already wrapped around your waist; no wonder I endured so many hits to delay until this moment. Chen Xu, you're doomed, haha..."
Chen Xu's heart was pounding erratically, yet a fierce resolve was rising from his bones.
This damned world, filled with all kinds of strange and exotic techniques, catching people off guard.
Yet earlier, he didn't know why his legs felt heavy, being unprepared, he couldn't think of a remedy, but now seeing the silk around his legs, what's there to fear?
Chen Xu reached backward, his hand delving beneath his pillow.
Underneath lay a kitchen knife he had hidden before sleeping!
The straight-spined, broad-bladed kitchen knife raised, just in time with the flickering lightning outside, Chen Xu had an epiphany, recalling a line from the Firewood Splitting Knife Technique: "Heart Fire runs deep, all things become firewood."
The Firewood Splitting Knife Technique cleaves not only firewood but all things under heaven.
The knife suspended three inches, discerning the grain of the wood, sights set on the opponent's weak point!
Chen Xu concentrated his mind and spirit, at the flash of lightning outside, boosting his Qi Blood, Essence, and Divine Soul all at once.
Instantaneously, his Qi Blood surged like a great river tide, Chen Xu swung the knife down.
The searing power sliced along the blade's edge, accompanied by the sound of fabric tearing.
Rip——
All the white silk ensnaring him instantly shattered, and Chen Xu leaped up, his muscles and bones resonating.
At this moment, forgetting the pain in his injured right leg, he seemed to transform into a bolt of lightning, appearing instantly before a terrified Lin Qi.
"No! How could you possibly sever my Soul-Cutting Silk?"
This was Lin Qi's final scream: "Ah——"
Slash!
The blade's flash cut through, and a soft, ball-like head abruptly fell to the ground.