38: Chapter 38 If you're not coming, then I'll take over!

"Click!"

The lighter button was released, and the stairwell returned to dimness.

The next second, Gu Changming pressed his thumb down again.

"Click."

Another cluster of flames lit up, outlining the contours of his face before extinguishing in the next second.

He just stood there, unhurriedly repeating this action.

"Click."

"Click."

The firelight flickered on and off, time and again.

Light and shadow alternated across his face, repeating rhythmically in the silent stairwell.

"Click."

Gu Changming pressed the lighter once more.

This time, just as the flame flickered up,

the shadows at the end of the hallway wriggled without warning.

A twisted figure, seemingly composed of pure darkness, silently solidified and appeared opposite him.

The opponent had arrived.

The pupils of Tang Ningfei and the other two hiding nearby suddenly constricted, their bodies instinctively tensing up.

"Is it here?" Lu Shiyao, hiding at the very back, also poked her head out. She was a bit scared, but she still held out her phone, pointing the camera at Gu Changming's back in the stairwell.

This was the task Gu Changming had given her: to record the process as evidence, lest those Human Higher-ups still be hesitating or trying other things.

Gu Changming's finger on the lighter also stopped.

The flame burned steadily, emitting a faint halo.

By this light, Gu Changming calmly looked toward the black shadow that had abruptly appeared at the end of the hallway.

The Shadow Devourer stood quietly in the darkness, its blurry head seemingly facing the light source in Gu Changming's hand.

It didn't pounce immediately, but just stood there, meeting Gu Changming's gaze.

The two of them faced off silently across the dozen or so meters of the dim hallway.

The corners of Gu Changming's mouth curled up slightly into a faint smile.

It felt quite atmospheric, just like a movie.

The moment the firelight went out, the Shadow Devourer moved.

Its arms suddenly stretched and deformed; its left hand turned into a curved Shadow Scythe, while a sharp long spike burst from the front of its right hand.

In the next second, its entire figure lunged forward like a black arrow released from a bow!

Instead of retreating, the corners of Gu Changming's mouth curled into a nearly excited arc.

He drew his blade with a backhand motion. With a "clang" and a flash of light, he met the pouncing black shadow.

"He..."

Tang Ningfei's heart almost leaped into her throat; she instinctively wanted to rush out and help.

She really hadn't expected Gu Changming to just rush up like that.

She thought he only wanted to test if the rules they had summarized were effective.

Unexpectedly, Gu Changming hadn't used them at all and just charged in.

However, just as she moved forward, a hand suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Don't be in a hurry," Zhou Tunan lowered his voice. "No need to go up."

Tang Ningfei was stunned, then looked back into the stairwell.

In the dim light, Gu Changming held a Tang sword, his figure shifting and dodging, his blade light weaving an airtight net.

The scythe-shaped shadow arm hacked down, only to be parried by him as he stepped aside, his Tang sword sweeping toward the opponent's blurry torso.

The crisp clangs of metal clashing and the whistle of the sharp blade cutting through the air echoed densely in the stairwell.

Gu Changming was actually holding his own in a head-on clash with the Shadow Devourer, trading blows without falling into a disadvantage at all.

Tang Ningfei's eyes widened, and her breath hitched.

She knew Gu Changming was strong, but she hadn't expected him to be this powerful—to be able to confront this eerie Assessment monster head-on with just a Tang sword.

She couldn't help but think back; over the past two days, he had been following them and constantly dodging... perhaps they had been the ones holding him back.

The battle continued.

The Shadow Devourer's speed suddenly increased. The scythe and spike on its arms tore through the air, leaving afterimages as its offensive became like a violent storm.

Gu Changming's gaze was focused. The Tang sword danced before him as he parried, dodged, and counter-attacked. His movements remained precise, neutralizing one fatal attack after another.

The blade collided with the shadow edges, producing a series of ear-grating scraping sounds.

Unable to land a hit for a long time, the Shadow Devourer's body suddenly shrank, collapsing once again into a flat, two-dimensional black shadow that instantly merged into the dim surroundings.

In the next second, attacks came from all directions.

From the shadows in the corners, from the darkness of the ceiling, even from the shadow beneath Gu Changming's feet... scythes and spikes stabbed out from all sorts of tricky angles.

Gu Changming stopped attacking and shifted to parrying and dodging.

His movements were still swift, but his breathing had become slightly rapid, and the recoil transmitted through his arms when parrying had clearly intensified.

Once again, the Shadow Scythe swept past Gu Changming's scalp, shearing off a few strands of hair.

Gu Changming's gaze sharpened. He stopped entangling with the opponent, threw the lighter he was holding into the empty space ahead, and then clenched his fist forcefully from a distance.

"Boom!"

The lighter exploded in mid-air, and a ball of scorching, blinding fire instantly expanded, illuminating a small area around it.

Zhou Tunan, hiding in the dark, watched this scene, his eyelids twitching several times.

Wait, he had used this trick before too, but why was the firelight he produced so small?

The one this guy produced was just like the fireball Tang Ningfei cast.

At the same moment the light flared, the Shadow Devourer, which had been hiding in the wall's shadow with half its body in a two-dimensional state, suddenly froze!

Its blurry outline became clear for an instant under the intense light, as if bound by invisible ropes, falling into a brief state of paralysis.

Gu Changming flipped his wrist, and with a whistle of wind, his Tang sword slashed mercilessly toward the paralyzed Shadow Devourer's neck!

However, just before the blade could reach, the Shadow Devourer's body jerked violently, breaking free from the paralysis.

In its haste, it raised the scythe-arm it had just regained control of, narrowly blocking the fatal blow.

"Clang!"

The piercing sound of the impact echoed.

The Shadow Devourer used the force to retreat rapidly, its movements appearing somewhat pathetic.

The Shadow Devourer retreated deep into the hallway, creating a distance of over ten meters from Gu Changming.

Its blurry figure rose and fell slightly in the dim light. On its featureless face, the previous pure hunting desire seemed to have faded, replaced by a trace of clear wariness.

Gu Changming flicked his Tang sword, the blade emitting a faint hum in the air.

Then, he beckoned with his finger toward the Shadow Devourer.

"Come."

The Shadow Devourer didn't move.

It stayed in the shadows, its blurry head turning slightly as if re-evaluating the danger level of this troublesome prey, Gu Changming.

Gu Changming waited for two seconds. Seeing no reaction, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"If you won't come," he dragged his Tang sword, the tip scraping against the floor, "then I'm coming over."

...

At the corner, Tang Ningfei suddenly turned her head to look at Lu Shiyao.

"Aim at them and record clearly."

After saying that, she immediately turned back to look at Gu Changming's back.

She had a strong premonition that something jaw-dropping was about to happen.

Lu Shiyao nodded without taking her eyes off the scene. At this moment, not just Tang Ningfei, but she and Zhou Tunan could clearly feel it too.

Soon, something terrifying might be about to occur.