Myriad Heavens: Who Let Him Into the Horror Movie?-Chapter 41 : The First Clash

Chapter 41: The First Clash
The eerie and dreadful alley was filled with gloom. A man of medium build, short-haired and exuding a sinister aura, held a straw effigy in his hand.
On the straw effigy’s face was a photo.
Anyone familiar with it could instantly recognize that it was a photo of Zheng Nan.
At this moment, several thin needles—each about the length of a finger—had already been pierced into the photograph.
The man still held another needle in his right hand, which he slowly drove into the mouth of “Zheng Nan” on the photo.
The fine needle easily pierced through “Zheng Nan’s” mouth and sank into the straw effigy beneath it.
Thinking about the agony the man in the photo must now be suffering, a twisted smile appeared on his face.
Killing one was far from enough…
A black cat passed not far from the man, glancing at him a few times before suddenly letting out a startled yowl. It darted into a messy pile of garbage beside the alley.
The man, who had just taken out another needle, suddenly froze.
“Head-Descending Curse Master? I could feel your aura from a long way off,” he said, tilting his head slightly toward the end of the alley.
“Na Mi? What a vile curse you’ve cast…” A man walked into the alley against the light.
His frame was thin, his voice hoarse, carrying an indistinct emotion. His body blocked the light, and the shadow cast behind him gradually engulfed the entire narrow alley.
From the silhouette, one could vaguely see that something was perched upon his right shoulder.
When the shadow finally covered his eyes, the Head-Descending Curse Master called Na Mi saw clearly the face of Li Zhen—and the strange, red-eyed bat resting upon Li Zhen’s right shoulder.
Na Mi cast a wary glance at the bat on Li Zhen’s shoulder, then suddenly burst out laughing mockingly. “Ridiculous. A Head-Descending Curse Master like you, reeking of blood and steeped in evil energy to the bone, dares to call me wicked? You think you’re qualified to say that?”
Li Zhen smiled faintly. “Evil path? So, one with blood and evil energy flowing through him cannot be a righteous Head-Descending Curse Master?”
His complexion was deathly pale, making his eyes seem even darker—like two bottomless black holes.
Since beginning his study of the Head-Descending Curses, fewer and fewer things could hold Li Zhen’s interest. The Na Mi before him was one of the rare few who did.
The red-eyed bat on his shoulder let out a sharp, eerie cry toward Na Mi.
Na Mi snorted coldly. “I’ve never seen a so-called righteous Head-Descending Curse Master with such heavy evil energy. Even standing this far away, I can sense the malice seeping from your body.”
The sinister aura and malice coming from the man before him were so overwhelming that even Na Mi felt a flicker of dread.
This person was by no means an ordinary practitioner. Otherwise, Na Mi—who lived only to kill—wouldn’t have wasted words with him.
Only those with real power were qualified to converse with him.
Li Zhen reached up and soothed the bat on his shoulder. “And what’s the difference between righteous and evil? I only kill those who deserve death—how does that make me anything but righteous?”
Na Mi drove the needle into the straw effigy in his hand before coldly replying, “It’s common knowledge that those who use Head-Descending Curses to harm or kill are of the evil path. Inevitably, they’ll be tainted by dark thoughts and fall into the demonic way.”
“I only kill those who deserve it. The good people who would have otherwise died because of them survive because I act. Would that make me an evil Head-Descending Curse Master?” Li Zhen stepped closer, stopping only when five or six meters separated them.
“Everyone thinks so,” Na Mi replied without looking up.
Li Zhen shook his head. “Then everyone is wrong.”
“The world agrees.”
“Then the world is wrong.”
Na Mi still didn’t look up. “I’m also killing those who deserve death. So why are you stopping me?”
Li Zhen spoke sincerely. “Before you make an irreversible mistake, leave Hong Kong Island. Go back to your Nanyang. That would be the best choice for you. Perhaps we could even exchange insights on the Head-Descending Curses—if you’re willing.”
“Leave?” Na Mi let out a low, guttural laugh. “You claim that killing the deserving makes one righteous. I’m doing just that—killing those who deserve death—and you tell me to… leave?”
Li Zhen’s smile slowly faded. “You call yourself righteous, yet you used a Love Curse to harm others, only to suffer the backlash that killed your own sister. Tell me, who bears the greatest blame?”
“Shut up!”
“It’s you.” Li Zhen smiled again. “You pinned the guilt on those few people and killed them, thinking it would ease your pain. But you seem to have forgotten—they helped you once…”
“I said shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Na Mi’s bloodshot eyes lifted toward Li Zhen. “If you try to stop me, I’ll kill you!”
He stepped forward for the first time.
A cold gust swept through the alley.
Li Zhen suddenly said, “Don’t be so hasty. Your sister might still be saved…”
As he spoke, the bat’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, the red light within them beginning to surge.
Na Mi, who had been staring at Li Zhen, suddenly froze. His eyes turned slightly vacant.
“Chirp…”
At the shrill cry of the Red-Eyed Bat, Na Mi was struck as if by a heavy blow and was sent crashing backward.
A piercing, drawn-out scream followed—it was unmistakably the cry of a Little Ghost.
Had the Little Ghost not shielded Na Mi from the bat’s sudden attack, the result would have been far worse than a mere fall.
“You tricked me?”
Face darkening, Na Mi scrambled up without hesitation and swiftly reached for an amulet pendant folded from talisman paper, worn close to his body.
He tore the talisman open.
A faint rustling sound broke out at once, as though something had flown free from within the paper.
The bat’s wings flapped violently in response.
Its cries were still arrogant, but judging from the rhythm of its wingbeats, it was clearly less at ease than before.
It seemed to have been temporarily restrained.
Li Zhen took another step forward. “I didn’t trick you. Your sister is merely dead. As a Head-Descending Curse Master, extracting and refining her soul—surely that wouldn’t be difficult for you?”
Na Mi let out a low, wrathful laugh from deep in his throat. “And what comes out would still be my sister?”
“Of course it would,” Li Zhen said sincerely. “She came from your sister’s body—it would naturally be her. I have experience with this. You should trust me.”
“When I kill you,” Na Mi hissed, his voice venomous like a curse from a hellish ghost, “I’ll refine your soul from your corpse!”
Before his words even faded, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
The darkness twisted—and that same sharp, childish scream cried out in panic, “No! I’m hurt already! I’ll die! Aaah—!”
Na Mi’s expression remained utterly cold.
After spitting blood, he quickly formed a strange hand seal in front of his chest.
A deep and eerie incantation poured rapidly from his lips.
Instantly, the narrow alley was swept by a violent, chilling wind.
An indescribable aura of dread surged forth, pressing upon Li Zhen’s chest until it felt hard to breathe.
Perhaps he had provoked the man a little too much…
Li Zhen’s heart contracted sharply as he stared fixedly at Na Mi.
It wasn’t only the external pressure—it was the mental weight that was truly terrifying.
In that moment, Na Mi seemed to transform into some unspeakable evil entity within the alley, opening a gaping maw filled with fangs, ready to swallow Li Zhen whole.