Chapter Eighty-Two: Dead and Buried

Staring at the giant's basin-sized eyes, Shen Wan panicked beyond measure.

Luckily, Lin Bufan and the others had already climbed down the iron chain, and the giant's hatred had shifted onto him.

"Get out of here now. Don't worry about me, I have a way!"

Thinking back to the grand way he had shouted that line, he nearly wanted to slap himself twice.

A way?

Yeah, right.

"You ignorant little ant, none of you are getting away today!"

The giant suddenly bent one leg back and kicked upward, and Shen Wan felt as though he had ridden a roller coaster; his thoughts were still on the ground, but his body was already in the sky.

It was obvious the giant meant to fling him off the top of his foot.

If he lost his grip and was thrown clear, Shen Wan would certainly plunge into the abyss.

"Do not strike the envoy while the nations are at war! I want to negotiate! Ah ah ah ah! Can't you give me a chance to speak?! Ah ah!"

Babbling nonsense to find an excuse, he scrambled upward like a drowning dog. Seeing a gap at the edge of the shoe, he no longer cared whether the foot stank or not and shoved his head straight in.

The instant the giant kicked out, he only felt a slight itch at his ankle.

He looked down unconsciously, only to find that the thing had actually burrowed into his shoe, butt in the air, still wriggling deeper inside.

"Throwing yourself into the net!"

The giant changed the kick into a lift and reached down to grab Shen Wan.

Shen Wan had just managed to turn over in the cramped opening of the shoe. The moment he poked his head out, he saw the giant's hand already coming for him.

In panic, he hurriedly reached for the Black Blade of Ten Thousand Demons on his back.

But the blade was too long, already wedged by his own back against the shoe lining, and his arms were too short; the more desperate he became, the more impossible it was to draw it.

Just as the giant's fingers were about to pinch his head, Shen Wan flipped over again and dove headfirst back into the shoe opening.

With the turn of his body, the hilt of the black blade followed into the shoe, while the blade itself swung out instead.

Head in, feet out, Shen Wan braced both hands on the hilt and heaved hard upward.

The blade suddenly thrust out, just meeting the giant's finger.

With a soft, wet sound, the tip pierced the finger and black blood burst forth in a torrent.

The giant shuddered and quickly withdrew his hand.

Looking at the tiny cut on his index finger, rage rose at once, and his red hair stood on end again.

Setting aside the countless ages, even from birth to this very day, when had he, a mighty giant god, ever been wounded by a human no different from an ant?

An insult. A grave, unforgivable insult!

Eyes bloodshot, the giant strained the lifted foot and slammed it viciously into the ground.

A violent sensation of falling from a great height struck Shen Wan all at once, and he had no time to react.

With a thunderous crash, it felt as though his brain were instantly shattered to pieces, while his internal organs churned and rolled like a storm-tossed sea. His limbs twisted, a surge of heat rushed up through his body, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood with a wet burst.

His mind grew sluggish, and his vision began to blur.

"Am I... going to die?"

Shen Wan murmured weakly. Hot streams were pouring from his nostrils, ears, and eyes.

He had never thought he would die from bleeding out of all seven apertures, and not even from poison. That was rather embarrassing.

As the thought crossed his mind, his body suddenly trembled. The Heavenly Spring Vein swelled violently, waves seeming to rise within him, and streams of energy became vividly apparent.

The pain weakened rapidly, and his internal organs hurried back into place.

His darkening vision brightened again, and his awareness returned at once.

"Ha... so this thing finally remembered to save me."

Shen Wan's body went limp, relieved that he had at last kept his little life.

Little did he know that if not for the protection of the Cold Sky Vein earlier, he would already have been shaken into a heap of minced flesh by that one blow.

The giant seemed to realize that the ant in his shoe was still alive. With a dull snort, he raised his foot and intended to remove the shoe and fish the creature out.

Shen Wan had only just recovered when he felt his body rising again.

Under the protection of the dual veins, and with the earlier ordeal as experience, his mind gradually adapted to the wrenching discomfort of being torn free.

"Dammit, again!"

This time Shen Wan was genuinely alarmed. As the saying goes, once or twice is enough; there should not be a third time.

Good grief, this hulking fool was endless.

Knowing he could no longer sit and wait for death, he simply braced himself against the shoe wall and the top of the foot, then shoved his body straight out through the shoe opening.

Grabbing the fluff at the opening, he used both arms to haul himself onto the shoe.

Then, with a reach of his hand, he finally drew the Black Blade of Ten Thousand Demons from his back and gripped it tightly.

Seeing the giant's huge hand reaching again, Shen Wan grit his teeth hard, raised the black blade in his hand, and brought it slashing down at the giant's ankle.

Though the Black Blade of Ten Thousand Demons was a ruined divine weapon, it remained incomparably sharp.

Even if the giant's skin was thick and tough, without the protection of spiritual power he was still flesh and blood.

Shen Wan put all his strength into this strike.

"Shhkk!"

Black blood sprayed in a fountain from the wound, and more than half the blade sank in.

The giant's body trembled violently. He bared his teeth and let out a low roar.

"I'll kill you!"

He instinctively kicked upward. Shen Wan lost his footing at once and was sent flying, the blade still in place and already torn from his grip.

His body floated in midair, limbs flailing desperately, yet he could not move an inch.

He only felt the light before him being blocked. Lifting his eyelids, he saw the giant's enormous hand already closing in.

"It's over. I'm dead."

Shen Wan's heart turned to ash. There was nowhere left to flee.

The giant did not swat him away. Instead, he seized him in one hand.

"Wait, wait! Listen to me, this... this is a misunderstanding!"

Shen Wan struggled with all his might, but it was utterly useless.

The giant gave him no chance to live. His five fingers clenched hard, and Shen Wan felt his whole body being compressed together, his bones crushed in an instant, while searing pain erupted from every corner of him.

"Aaaaah!"

His screams echoed across the entire altar.

Still not satisfied, the giant raised his other hand, intending to use both hands to knead this hateful human into flesh paste.

But just as the two palms drew together, a clear voice sounded by his ear.

"Please stop. He is my husband."

That was the language of the giant god clan.

The giant froze. He had not heard his people's tongue for more than ten thousand years and for a moment failed to react, even wondering if he had imagined it.

His fingers paused slightly before tightening again.

Then that voice sounded once more.

"Clan leader! Please stop!"

The voice was urgent, and the giant's body trembled violently when he heard it.

This was no hallucination.

He turned his head somewhat stiffly and looked in the direction of the voice.

At the giant's feet stood a graceful figure.

And in the next instant, that figure began to swell rapidly, growing in the blink of an eye until she stood as tall as he did.

The two faced each other, and the giant could hardly believe his eyes.

Tears glimmered in the woman's gaze. Her cherry-colored lips trembled as she dropped to one knee and said in a bright voice:

"Descendant of the giant god clan, Miyake, pays respects to the clan leader!"

The words rang out like a clear silver thread, utterly real.

Time seemed to fall still, yet the giant's mind was blank.

Even the groan Shen Wan gave as he clung to his last breath could not break the giant's reverie.

His body trembled even more fiercely. Looking at the woman kneeling before him, his consciousness seemed to have crossed ten thousand years of empty space.

"You... you are... a descendant of the giant god clan?"

At last, the giant spoke in a trembling voice, using the giant god language he had not spoken in ten thousand years.

The woman did not raise her head. Instead, she nodded and once more said firmly in giant god tongue:

"Descendant of the giant god clan, Miyake, pays respects to the clan leader!"

"Ha..."

The giant's entire body went slack at once, and a broken breath escaped his mouth in fits and starts.

Then he split his huge mouth open and, with a loud wail...

He cried...