The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

Marv’s torchlight shone through the corridor behind him, but there was nothing!

All he saw were flat concrete walls and the floor and further away, where his torchlight couldn’t reach, was shrouded by complete darkness.

Darkness spread like mist before his sight. Marv felt his throat dry out, instinctively swallowing his saliva to ease the dryness but just as his Adam’s apple moved…

Dik!

A drop of water sounded from behind him.

Marv didn’t hesitate anymore and turned around immediately but he still couldn’t see anything!

There weren’t any water stains on the floor, but Marv was certain it was a drop of water that he had heard.

‘Phantom hearing! I’m hearing things because I’m nervous!’

Marv tried to calm down by telling himself this but his hurried breath proved otherwise, his method of calming himself less than successful.

After all, Kieran’s disappearance and the cold presence that he sensed felt utterly real.

He needed to leave! He had to leave this place!

These thoughts bloomed in Marv’s head and started to spread out of control.

Huu Huu Huu!

I’m leaving temporarily because I did not come fully-prepared! When I am, I will be back!

Marv adjusted his breath and stuffed his mind with useless excuses.

He then got ready to go back to where he came from, but just when he was about to move, he felt something cool on his neck.

A drop of water fell on the back of his neck.

Marv instinctively shone his torchlight at the ceiling. He saw a person hanging over his head.

With the light from his torchlight, Marv clearly saw the hanging person had bulging eyes, a purple face, and a tongue as long as a ruler, drops of saliva falling from the tip of its tongue.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Marv couldn’t hold back his frightened cry. He faltered backwards in panic and wiped away the saliva at the back of his neck.

Disgust and fear filled Marv’s heart as he looked at the hanging body in utter panic.

Fuuu!

A sudden wind came out of nowhere.

Tssk Gak!

The hanging body was swinging along with the sudden wind, the rope holding the body producing an eerie screech due to the weight and getting louder, as if it wasn’t produced from a single rope.

Marv held his torchlight tight and shone around the ceiling.

A dozen more hanging bodies instantly appeared in his sight.

Marv saw the dead bodies hanging like sausages on the ceiling, his face turning pale and his scalp becoming numb because he had a clear look at the faces of the hanging bodies.

He knew the hanging bodies! One was his employer, who had hired him to watch Kieran!

Why were they all here?

Something really happened in the gymnasium?

Impossible! It was just aschool myth!

Marv stuffed himself with all the excuses he could think of, his body honest enough to run away. He ran faster than he came and was running out of the gymnasium when arope flew out from the dark, faster than him.

Souu!

It caught Marv by the neck and hung him on the ceiling.

“Ugh! UGH! Ugh!” Marv was struggling as hard as he could, his legs swinging like a fish out of water.

In the end, an orange item fell off his body and the item was caught by a long, fair palm.

[Paralyze Ball]’s attribute appeared before Kieran’s vision again.

It wasn’t a new item, Kieran had gotten one before when he killed the Sil Sect attackers. It seemed like the [Paralyze Ball] was Marv’s trump card, which let Marv think he could use it to control the situation, just like the other watchers.

The watchers thought they could use the myth in the gymnasium to find the truth they sought, but in the end, they became part of the myth themselves.

Kieran already knew what would go down in the gymnasium when the sun came up.

As for the crying and the alleged treasure?

Both were nothing but a hoax.

Kieran arrived at the gymnasium and dealt with the watchers so that he could search the gymnasium beforehand, but his search was fruitless.

It was expected though; if there was any kind of treasure in the gymnasium, the school wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to the place.

The school would have expanded the search area and even if they couldn’t find it for the time being, they would have sent a guardian to guard over the so-called treasure, similar to Eiderburgh guarding the cafeteria.

Of course, Kieran wasn’t going home empty-handed either.

Kieran got an unexpected item from the leader of the watcher.

[Name: Six-part Spotting Dragon (Replica)]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack: Strong]

[Defense: None]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a replica of the Six-part Spotting Dragon. Although unable to compete with the real one, it is very hard to come by. But in order to bring out its true potential, you need to combine it with the Seven-inch Seeking Dragon. For the sake of the item, it’s best if you combine it with the replica of Seven-inch Seeking Dragon, just to be on the safe side.]

…

[Six-part Spotting Dragon] was like a hollow chopstick. Kieran took out the other [Seven-inch Seeking Dragon (Replica)] and the former perfectly covered the latter.

When the two pair of chopsticks touched, it emanated a faint glow and when they truly combined, the glow shone and shook. After the light dispersed, both replicas were combined into one, a brand new item presented to Kieran.

[Name: Seven-inch Six-part. Jiaolong Chopsticks]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Type: I]

[Attack: I]

[Defense: I]

[Attribute: 1. Jialong Saliva; 2. Jialong Bite; 3. Jiaolong Soul]

[Effect: Seeking]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a replica of the Seven-inch Six-part. True Dragon Chopsticks. Its initial purpose was to search for the real seven-inch Six-part. True Dragon Chopsticks, but the outcome was disappointing.]

…

[Jialong Saliva: Anything the pair of chopsticks touch, it’s freshness will be elevated. The target’s weakness will be easily exposed, increased a certain Critical Rate]

[Jiaolong Bite: Anything the pair of chopsticks hold, a Constitution authentication no less than A rank will occur. The chopsticks will rip the part it holds if the target fails the authentication.]

[Jialong Soul: When the chopsticks are used for eating a hundred times, the user can temporarily summon the soul of Jiaolong (using the right chopstick); When it used for eating 500 times, the user can summon two Jiaolong souls or further save it to a thousand times to summon two stronger ones. 1 minute duration.]

…

[Seeking: When Six-part Spotting Dragon and Seven-inch Seeking Dragon are truly combined, it will point towards what you wished. 1 time per week]

…

“[Seven-inch Six-part. Jiaolong Chopsticks]?!”

Kieran looked at the combined chopsticks in utter shock. Despite being a replica, its legendary rank told Kieran the pair of chopsticks were outstanding. Never did he expect the rarity to reach Advanced Rank when combined. It surprised him, especially the [Seeking] effect.

Kieran immediately filled his mind with thoughts of seeking food higher than Proper Meal class, but the pair of chopsticks remained quiet.

“Am I using it the wrong way? Do I need a specific name and item? Or are my thoughts out of its seeking range?”

Kieran put away the pair of chopsticks as he pondered upon the methods.

Although he was eager to test the power of [Jiaolong Soul], the prerequisite forced him to give up the thought temporarily.

Eat a thousand times eh? It’ll be quick!

Kieran showed a smile after some calculating.

Dak Dak Dak.

Footsteps sounded further away, the light of the torchlight entering from the entrance. Standler and Maica carefully walked in, and when they saw Kieran, they heaved a breath of relief.

“First Seat, I feel something’s not right here,” Maica, with his animal instinct, said the moment he saw Keiran.

“Em. It’s not just eerie, it makes me heart race too,” Standler nodded beside Maica.

Kieran didn’t say anything to the two of them, pointing above his head instead.

Both of them followed Kieran’s finger to the ceiling, their faces turning ugly.

“MARV?!”

Standler shouted out of shock. Maica, on the other hand, scanned the rest of the hanging bodies and sized up his surroundings cautiously.

“I’ve already notified Professor Tyrese. You guys go contact the Student Council,” Kieran said.

“Yes, First Seat,” Both of them nodded and ran outside.

After the two of them went out, Kieran looked up at the bodies again, shaking his head helplessly before also leaving.

It wasn’t some heartfelt exclamation, it was just a sigh about life and death.

The hanging bodies warned Kieran that in order to never be arrogant and blinded by his ego again, he must stay cautious at all times.

After Kieran left, a series of soft sobs sounded throughout the gymnasium.

“Sob, sob, he is so scary… he almost scared a ghost!”

“Leave this place, sob sob…”

“Leave this place, sob sob…”

…

Professor Tyrese brought a group of school securities to the gymnasium 3 minutes after he was notified. The good ol’ Professor suffered a headache when he saw Kieran in front of the entrance.

“Are you the grim reaper? Death follows wherever you go!”

Professor Tyrese ordered the guards to seal the gymnasium before he spoke to Kieran.

“It’s just a coincidence,” Kieran said seriously.

“Coincidence?” Professor Tyrese shook his head, obviously not buying Kieran’s words.

Perhaps in terms of personality, the professor was a good person, but in terms of work, he was efficient and faithful to his duty, not simply brushing his work away.

He checked everything carefully by shining his torchlight all over the gymnasium.

“Where is the power? Why is it still not on?” he asked.

“The power will be right back, professor,” one of the guards answered.

After the switch was turned one, the electric current generated by the generator flowed through the entire building.

The gymnasium lit up moments later.

Everyone saw the dozen of hanging bodies on the ceiling.

Despite that fact that it wasn’t the first time everyone had seen a dead body, when the scene entered their eyes, they couldn’t hold back their terrified gasps.

Some, who were less brave, turned pale, like Standler.

Regardless of condition, Standler would have to answer to the security guards, together with Maica and Kieran.

“What happened here?” Professor Tyrese asked Kieran.

“The crying gymnasium and the hidden treasure. Standler told me the stories, I got interested in the treasure, and I joined them. Since we had to move in pairs, I got grouped up with the weaker Marv, but when we came in, he disappeared right away. I later found him hung to death here,” Kieran stated his side of the story. It sounded reasonable, at least in everyone’s ears.

“Did you hear anything?” Professor Tyrese asked.

“The wind, I heard an unusual wind blowing,” Kieran answered.

The professor then ordered the guards to search the entire gymnasium, with no stones to be left unturned.

Kieran wasn’t worried about it, as he did not leave any visible trails, especially on the ropes, which he controlled using [Living Rope Technique] to make sure no fingerprints would be left behind.

When the questioning ended, Kieran, Standler, and Maica stood where they were as they watched the guards search the entire gymnasium.

Meanwhile, outside the gymnasium, the Student Council had sent people over and stood guard on every single entrance and exit. They were there to assist the guards in controlling the situation, even the ex-Branch Leader Gutti came along.

When she saw Kieran, she quickly went up to him.

“Branch Leader, please stop doing something so dangerous. You aren’t just placing yourself in danger, you might even put others in harm’s way,” Gutti said righteously.

“It’s not the First Seat’s fault, we dragged him here…”

Standler explained but under Gutti’s glare, Standler’s voice grew softer new Ofer eventually going silent.

Gutti put away her angry glare when Standler shut his mouth.

“You’ve piled up a lot of work in the Branch Office since we started school. I think you should head over there and settle them, since it won’t be as easy as signing some papers. If you fail to carry out your duties as Branch Leader, your benefits will be recalled.”

Gutti turned around and left after she stated her words like a robot.

However, two steps later, she suddenly stopped.

“I’m very impressed that you can persuade a Dark Eater.”

Gutti then walked away faster than she had come.

Standler and Maica exchanged glances after they saw her off.

“Is there something wrong with her? Can’t she talk properly?” Maica asked.

“Who knows, maybe something is wrong with her head,” Standler said carefully after a glimpse at Kieran and spotted a normal looking First Seat.

He then quickly diverted the topic.

While the two aides were chatting, Kieran’s sharp senses picked up an unusual presence from a group of security guards.

They were walking towards the gymnasium and to the common eye, they were slightly colder than the rest, but looking no different than the other guards otherwise. However, in Kieran’s eyes, this new group of security guards were similar to war-veterans, while the security guards who had arrived earlier were a bunch of rookies in training.

The difference was that of heaven and earth.

When this group of security guards came over, they took out a never before seen instrument.

It looked like a communicator, but bigger and there was a row of indicators on it.

The instrument was turned on and the indicator lit up from green to red in an instant.

An irritating alarm then sounded when the red indicator reached its limit.

Di Di Di Di Di!