Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Soul-Whip cut through the night sky, its cracks booming like thunder, one after another.

Inside the workers’ shed, I lashed the men until they were sent sprawling in every direction.

The whip didn’t seem to work as instantly as the tea had.

The skin on the workers’ faces split open very slowly.

Their joints were stiff, but their strength was terrifying.

I took a few hard hits myself, but they didn’t slow me down in the slightest.

Anyone I managed to grab, I slammed to the ground and gave them several vicious lashes.

At last, amid the cracking of my whip, muffled human screams began to mingle in.

One after another, they collapsed to the ground, clutching their dissolving faces and howling in agony.

These workers had been caught up in disaster for no reason. All they had done was get greedy for a few cups of wine, and they had nearly lost their lives for it.

Just then, I suddenly realized that Wei Liang, who had been so enthusiastic about opening the wine and offering toasts earlier, and Zhu Tie, the truck driver, were both missing from the shed!

“Hurry, hurry! The tea’s too cold. It won’t work as well!”

The moment I thought of Wei Liang and Zhu Tie, the two of them came back in from outside!

They were carrying several thermos flasks, sweat pouring down their faces. Without even looking up, they rushed straight into the workers’ shed. When they saw me, they both jumped in fright.

“Mr. Long, why are you-”

Wei Liang started to say something, only then noticing the workers lying all over the ground.

The workers were a complete mess, still groaning nonstop, but the fleshy membranes on their faces had clearly melted away.

Wei Liang froze there for a moment, his unfinished sentence stuck in his throat, as if he had no idea how to continue.

I strode forward and grabbed Wei Liang by the collar.

Zhu Tie tried to come up and stop me, but one look from me scared him stiff.

“You did this, didn’t you? You knew there was something wrong with that wine!”

“What are you trying to do? Kill the workers, or kill Liang San?!”

“No, Mr. Long, you’ve got us wrong!”

Wei Liang waved his hands again and again. “I had heard some rumors, yes, but I didn’t take them seriously. Zhu Tie and I drank tonight too. You saw that, didn’t you?”

“The two of us only escaped because we ran out early and borrowed tea from some nearby villagers. That’s how we survived.”

Wei Liang was shaking all over from fear, and his words came out jumbled, but he didn’t look like he was lying. “I only reacted when I happened to see a white film growing on the workers’ necks.”

“I immediately told Zhu Tie to run with me to the nearby village. I knew tea could counteract the wine, so neither of us dared waste even a second.”

Beside him, Zhu Tie nodded along, still holding the thermos flasks full of tea.

For a moment, I didn’t know whether I should believe them.

By then, Liang San had recovered quite a bit. He staggered over on unsteady feet.

“Brother Long, I’m on pretty good terms with Boss Cheng. We’re all legitimate businessmen. I don’t think he’d go so far as to cause deaths.”

Since Liang San had said as much, and Wei Liang and Zhu Tie really had brought back tea, I couldn’t keep holding on to Wei Liang.

Once Wei Liang regained his freedom, he immediately put some distance between us and gave me an apologetic smile. “You really are capable, Mr. Long. I’ve heard that this Cellar-Buried Wine is terribly evil.”