Chapter 502: Chapter 270: Ogiwara Family’s Big Task, Water Dungeon Dilemma_2
[You’re standing waist-deep in rotten and foul-smelling wastewater, completely surrounded by iron walls, with only a grid of reinforced steel above you.]
[Your hands and feet are shackled by symbol-etched chains that drain all your strength away as soon as you muster a hint of force.]
[Your awakening catches the attention of the guard stationed above your cell, prompting him to quickly leave, presumably to report it.]
[In no time, the figure of the ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ appears outside your watery cell.]
[He dismisses the guards around him, leaving just you and him in the cell.]
[The ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ squats down, high above, looking at you soaked half in the rotting water, he slowly begins to speak...]
[Are you still puzzled as to how he discovered your true identity?]
[With a faint smile, the ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ explains that entering the Castle Tower not only requires a boundary token but also a secret password. You failed to announce the password when you arrived, and you didn’t say a word when challenged by the guards.]
[And when you ordered the men to drop their crossbows and arrows, your unusual command drew attention and further scrutiny, subsequently exposing your true identity.]
[Upon investigation, it was found that four guards and two craftsmen had disappeared from the guard tower, leaving no trace of their bodies.]
[By then linking their discovery to your transformation to Xuan Yi during a daytime assassination attempt with the Ninja Dog, they concluded that you’re not merely sheltering witchcraft, but a terrible demon that steals bodies.]
[Knowing you possess such dark magic, he decided it’d be better to set a trap for you, knowingly inviting a bandit to dine... Now you are a prisoner, no different from the myriad of demons in the Dharma Temple.]
[Having said so, ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ pauses, then continues advising you to save your energy. Perhaps if you teach him your dark magic, you might leave the cage and suffer less physical torment.]
Even if Lin Xun wanted to teach the ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ the method to possess bodies or shells, he simply couldn’t. Besides, given the circumstances, even if he could, Lin Xun had no intention of sharing such ’dark magic.’.
[The ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ looked into your eyes and knew you weren’t ready to surrender, so he scornfully chuckled, stood up, and gave you a chilling look...]
[You try to break free from the chains, but you can’t muster any strength.]
"Ha, You think these chains can restrain me?"
With a resolute mind, Lin Xun switches bodies.
[You possess the shell of the ’Earth Giant Fallen Into Despair’!]
[With a shout of anger, your muscles bulge, ready to shake off the chains when suddenly the chains flash to life. In an instant, all your strength is sucked away, just like water being sucked up by a whale.]
[You collapse on the floor helplessly, spluttering as you choke on the polluted water, bursting into a fit of coughs.]
[The ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ still stares at you cooly and mockingly, seemingly encouraging you to keep resisting in hopes that despair will cause you to submit soon.]
[You roar in rage, trying to activate the racial talent of the ’Earth’s Heaviness,’ but your body begins bulging to transform into a giant...]
[Suddenly, the glowing symbols on the chains restrain your body, preventing you from even using your racial skills.]
Startled, Lin Xun quickly opens his panel to check.
All his abilities appear greyed out, obviously indicating they’re in a non-usable state.
Even all his equipment and items cannot be used and don’t appear when he switches bodies.
Even the Shell section at the top of his panel has a mark: Anomalous State.
Despite his frantic attempts at switching shells, he realizes he can’t break free of the chains binding him.
"...Is returning to Rest Page, the only way?"
With all the shells being ineffective, the only way to escape seems to be by killing himself and returning to Rest Page.
But by doing so, it would mark his second assassination failure, thus leading to an increased power of the Castle Tower. Even if he returned here, it’s highly likely he wouldn’t be able to conquer the place.
Stuck in a dilemma, Lin Xun frowns, trying various ways to escape.
When shackled by the chains, apart from being able to switch between shells, he can’t use any of his skills or items.
[...]
[After waiting for some time, the ’Head of the Ogiwara Family’ seeing that you haven’t given up struggling, loses his patience. With a sneer, he turns and leaves.]
[Soon, a burly brute appears in the cell. It’s the ’Big House of the Fire-Worshipping Ogiwara Family’.]
[As he strides in, the murky water around you ripples, and the entire cell seems to sway slightly.]
[The ’Fire-Worshipping Ogiwara House’ looks at you with a gloating smile, his chubby face squeezed into a ball, revealing rows of black and yellow teeth.]
[He opens the reinforced steel bars above you, swinging his iron whip straight at your face!]
[A searing pain shoots across your face, the first whip lash tearing your skin apart, causing blood to flow down your neck, staining both the chains and the putrid water surrounding your lower body.]
Lin Xun manages to remain expressionless, swiftly switching to the rugged and durable Earth Giant, as he would likely be whipped to death with the other shells.
[The ’Fire-Worshipping Ogiwara House’ brings down the second lash harshly, carving a bloody gash across your face.]
[He breaks into a frenzied whipping, vexed by your lack of screams of agony and deciding to use even more force...]
[...]
[With another stroke of the whip, your body is drenched in blood. The blood drips down the chains and taints the muddy water around you, creating something akin to a sea of blood.]
[You have sustained ’extremely severe injuries’!]
[...]
"How can I get out of this? If this continues, even the Earth Giant will be whipped to death."
